Talk:Basis point

Basis Points Interpration
Dear all, Recently FOMC Changed the fed rate to 5.75 from 6.25. how to interpret the same in context of Basis Points.--Akaswanand 14:27, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Basis points are not 0.01%: they have a time dimension as well and are 0.01%p.a. Furthermore it is wrong to say they are mainly used for amounts less than 1%p.a.  They are mostly (in fact exclusively) used for describing differentials to an absolute rate, e.g.  the 1yr swap spread is 2 basis points; we will pay Libor plus 125 basis points for this funding. 121.217.29.27 (talk) 13:04, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Other meanings?
There seem to be many finance meanings of "basis point" or at least "point". Could someone explain? When the Fed changes interest rates, those "points" appear to be full percent. I gather that for individual equities, a one-point change is really a one-dollar-per-share change. Then there's "points" as it refers to the Dow or NASDAQ. I think both this page and Point should make that clear. —Ben FrantzDale (talk) 23:27, 26 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Point as you mentioned in terms of equity prices means dollar.
 * Point in terms of rate means one percent.
 * Basis point in terms of rate means one one hundredth of one percent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.200.32.170 (talk) 20:17, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Generally Canadians seem to pronounce basis point as 'beeps' and Americans 'bips.' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.5.45.163 (talk) 04:08, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

Fraction of percentage or fraction of percentage point?
After reading this article i still don't know if basis point is one hundredth of percent, or one hundredth of percentage point. Is it possible that this term is used in both meanings? (I'm basically sure about the latter one). But in this case article should be divided in two sections. Or maybe its authors simply don't understand the subject? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.212.123.62 (talk) 23:43, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

Adding a disabiguation hatnote?
Recent (loosely speaking) editors: Greetings and felicitations. When someone says "basis point" is what I hear is "bias point" (which redirects to biasing). Does anyone have any objections to my adding a disabiguation hatnote to the article for "bias point"? (Ira Leviton: I know I'm asking you twice—once on both talk pages—but I thought I'd be transparent about my proposed changes.) —DocWatson42 (talk) 08:53, 6 August 2019 (UTC)


 * I think it's a good idea – I'm sure that you're not the only one who hears that. (I'm also putting this comment on the other page for the others to see.) And thanks for asking my opinion, I was just a very peripheral editor on of these pages.
 * Ira Leviton (talk) 13:22, 6 August 2019 (UTC)
 * It surprises me that they sound too much alike. And they are in quite different fields right. That said, if the confusion in the proposal is real, I would not mind a hatnote.
 * My first question would be, after looking into this: why is this symbol in the infobox not in the row with "percent, per mil"? And: to me, there is more confusion at hand with percentage point, which is in the same topic field and so more prone to confusion (as I experienced reading this article just now).
 * So I propose, independent of OP, to add a similar deconfusion hatnote for percentage point. -DePiep (talk) 15:36, 6 August 2019 (UTC)


 * Done.  You're welcome—I'm just passing through too.  I just was trying to look up the definition of "basis point".   That fine with me. ^_^ —DocWatson42 (talk) 04:52, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

Confusion abounds
"If used interchangeably, the permyriad is potentially confusing because an increase of one basis point to a 10 basis point value is generally understood to mean an increase to 11 basis points; not an increase of one part in ten thousand, meaning an increase to 10.001 basis points." This attempt to explain confusion is very confusing. It's confusingly worded - I eventually understood it after three reads - and also I'm dubious that any such confusion would arise. If you were say "interest rates, currently at 10%, are increasing by 1%" no-one is likely to interpret that as 10.1%. Why should that be the case with permyriad? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tesspub (talk • contribs) 15:51, 13 August 2019 (UTC)