Glossary

The return on 10-year US government bonds, the benchmark for borrowing costs worldwide.

The Australian Financial Review, a national business newspaper.

South Africa's system of legal racial segregation under white-minority rule, which ended in the early 1990s.

A NSW Police unit equipped with semi-automatic rifles to respond to attacks.

The Australian Taxation Office, the federal agency that collects income tax and GST.

A reaction whose product speeds up the reaction that makes it.

A rocket-powered missile that flies a high arc and falls on its target. Harder to intercept than drones.

The New South Wales town whose Mount Panorama circuit hosts the Bathurst 1000 touring-car race.

The interest rate a government pays to borrow for a set period, set by trading in its bonds. When yields rise, bond prices fall and borrowing costs across the economy follow.

The list of orders from large investors that a bank collects to set the price and size of a share offer.

The process in which a company's bankers collect bids from large investors to set the price of a share offer.

The North Sea crude oil benchmark used to price most of the world's oil.

A short-term visa that lets a person stay lawfully while another visa application or appeal is decided.

One of the strains of the Ebola virus, with no widely licensed vaccine.

The timing of money flowing in and out of a business.

The Reserve Bank's overnight target rate, which anchors variable home-loan, savings and business rates.

A major hurricane, with winds of 178 to 208 kilometres an hour on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The property of a molecule that exists in left- and right-handed forms.

The share of homes offered at auction that sell on the day or just after.

A survey measure of how confident households feel about their finances and the economy. Below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

Finding and monitoring people who may have been exposed to an infection.

The 31st UN climate summit, in Antalya, Turkey, from November 9.

The pressure on households from rising prices for housing, food and fuel.

The split of the bill for a program between the Commonwealth and the states.

Official estimates of what a policy would cost or save the Budget.

Serious acts such as murder, rape or persecution carried out as part of a widespread attack on civilians.

A German telecommunications group and the majority owner of T-Mobile US.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the federal department that runs the Smartraveller travel advice service.

When new shares are issued and each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

A mid-level state court that hears serious criminal trials.

A batter dismissed without scoring a run.

The European Central Bank, which sets interest rates for the countries that use the euro.

A warming of the central Pacific that alters weather worldwide. In Australia it tends to bring hotter, drier conditions.

The rules for how votes become seats.

A tool carried in an aircraft cockpit for use in emergencies.

Shares held back and locked up, so that they cannot be sold for a fixed time after a float.

A one-point kick in rugby league that sends the ball over the crossbar from open play.

A method of execution in which a group of soldiers shoots the condemned person.

The first sale of a company's shares to the public, also called an IPO.

A technical inquiry that examines systems and logs to find out exactly what happened.

A large US Army base in Texas.

Contracts that trade before and after the main session and signal where shares are likely to open.

Use of public money for political advantage that is not clearly illegal.

A membership granted by a club without the usual fee. Members of Parliament must declare certain gifts and benefits.

A Yemen-based armed group aligned with Iran that controls much of the north of the country.

A neutrino telescope made of a cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice fitted with light sensors.

A write-down in the value of an asset on a company's books.

An assault with an indecent element. It is an older offence name that some states have replaced.

A NSW body that decides major projects that attract many objections.

The first sale of a company's shares to the public, when it lists on a stock exchange.

The fees that a merchant's bank pays the card holder's bank each time a card is used.

The permanent court in The Hague that tries individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A UN court set up to try those most responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda; it closed in 2015.

Students on visas who pay full fees. They are a major source of university revenue and of net overseas migration.

A US investment bank and brokerage.

Weekly US applications for unemployment benefits, an early sign of layoffs.

A task force of federal police, state police and ASIO that investigates terrorism-related matters in each state.

A court case in which a judge decides whether a public body's decision or action was lawful, not whether it was right.

A cricket ground in Durban, South Africa.

Liquefied petroleum gas, a fuel such as propane or butane, carried as a liquid in pressurised tankers.

A lower-grade iron ore that must be processed into a high-grade concentrate before sale.

What a business pays its bank each time a customer pays by card.

The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, which updates the budget forecasts, usually in December.

US elections held halfway through a president's term, when all of the House and a third of the Senate are chosen.

The output a plant is designed to produce when running as planned.

A US stock exchange dominated by technology companies and its main index, the Nasdaq Composite.

An end to a war agreed by both sides at talks, rather than imposed by victory.

Arrivals minus departures of people staying or leaving for 12 months or more. Governments set targets for it.

Arrivals minus departures of people who stay or leave for 12 months or more.

Tiny, almost massless particles that rarely interact with matter. Billions pass through your body each second.

The minimum time a prisoner must serve before applying for parole.

The panel chosen by Norway's parliament that selects the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The US chipmaker whose processors are widely used to train and run artificial intelligence.

Pauline Hanson's right-wing populist party, now rising in the polls.

A technique that places light-sensitive proteins in chosen cells so their activity can be switched on or off with light.

An arrangement with the ATO to pay a tax debt over time.

A barbiturate used in lethal injections in the United States.

The federal scheme that subsidises prescription medicines. It is one of the largest items in the health budget.

The iron ore region of north-west Western Australia.

A large US investment manager that specialises in bonds.

Directing public money to particular electorates for political benefit.

A ministerial meeting held shortly before a UN climate conference to prepare the negotiating text.

A firm that advises investors how to vote at company meetings.

Kept apart from other people to stop a possible infection from spreading.

The Reserve Bank of Australia, the central bank that sets the cash rate.

Held in jail while a case proceeds, rather than released on bail.

Australia's central bank, which sets interest rates and oversees the payments system.

Iran's elite armed force, which operates separately from the regular army.

The extra price buyers pay, or return they demand, because something might go wrong.

A public inquiry with wide powers to examine a major issue.

The index of the 200 largest companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, the main measure of the Australian sharemarket.

Saudi Arabia's national airline.

Emissions a project causes indirectly, such as when its coal is burned by customers.

The greenhouse gases a project causes indirectly, such as those released when its coal is burned by customers. For a coal mine they are by far the largest part.

A court order that authorises police to enter and search a place for evidence.

The federal agency that runs Medicare, Centrelink and child support payments.

Tankers that move sanctioned oil while hiding who owns them or where the cargo is going.

The licensed radio frequencies that carry mobile signals.

The narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which a large share of the world's oil passes.

Applying pressure to a person's neck. In Queensland a separate offence since 2016.

Superannuation funds, which pool workers' compulsory retirement savings and invest them in shares, property and bonds in Australia and overseas.

An extra fee a business adds when you pay by a particular method, such as a credit card.

The RBA rule from October 1 stopping businesses adding fees for paying by EFTPOS, Visa or Mastercard.

Extra fees added to a bill when a customer pays by card.

An Iranian news agency generally regarded as close to the Revolutionary Guard.

A visa that lets international graduates stay and work in Australia for a period after study.

A visa that allows a stay for a limited time, such as for work, study or a working holiday.

The longest format of international cricket, played over up to five days.

The principle that courts may try the gravest crimes wherever the accused is found.

The price put on a whole company, worked out from the share price multiplied by the number of shares.

Moving from one visa to another while inside Australia, often to extend a stay.

Australia's national rugby union team.