[1]Patented Aug. 12, 1924. 195049271 UNITED STATES 'PATENT OIFFICE. JOHN CHADBOUP.N RORISON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. CHART. Application filed@February 13,1922. Serial No. 535,995. To a7l wh,o?n it qhay concerii.- B,e it kno ",n that I, JOHN CHADPOUIZN ROP,ISON, P. citizen of tl-ie, United States, and relsiclont of the city, cou),ity, and State of New Yoi-l@:, have iiivented certain ne@w aiid iiseful Improvenients in Cli,,trts, of whiel-i tbc,. T-ollo,winv is a sip@e,cific,ation. IFI-lis i-nvention relates to eharts for vi,-@tially indicating the compar@,,-,Ltii,e yields io o-,q various classes 01- investnieiits an@l al@o for slioi@,ing a-t a gltiiiee@ the gener@al state of tl-ie@ se@eiirltv markec. The invention lic-i-eiii illustrited is particulai-ly aidapted to the bond busine,,s bu;t can re@a-di 1 be@ a,pplied 5 Y i5 tO varibus other business, s-Lieli@ as sto,cks, mol.tg.,I-Ues, iiisurai-ice, and Qirqilar investinent actii,ities. O.ne; object of the inITentioll is to provide, ii,ieansivhei--eby qiL,,ic@l,, coml:),%rison bet-@veeii 20 V,triOUs issues of se@e-Lii-ities caii be inade. Aiiother object is to proiicle means iATlie,reb-,, the, )rield o,ii tny -zecLirity caii be .1 readily cletermiiied. A furtlier object i-.- to provide, means 25 l@,liei-eby the clifferent classes of securities l,isted can I)e readily distingttished. Another object is t,o pro,iide, ineans A),Iiereby tlie, ma@tlirities o'l various iiives@tiiic,nts e,,tn be, reidil sliown. Y 3o ri iii-ther objects will be apparent fro@m the followin,o; descrii)tioii when read in coiineetion ivith the accompanying drawings ill Ai,hich Flo I -. I rei:@i@esel-its ve,i@v diagra.inmatic,,Llly tli,t. cove,tino- a @)5 'I cil peri;d of 100 years fors@,,e,eiir@ities yieldin(7 fro-in 3@/c to 9@'o; the price. etirves and certai-n Iiiies being omitted iii@t@l-ie intereq-t of -,implicit,,, of ill-Listratioii; il'ig. 2 is ,i dptail iieiv slioaving price 40 ei-Li-ves of cl,.stinctive cliaracter to re resent P different interest or coupon rates; Fi . 3 is ,t plan view of a mov,,tbi@e, m,,trIK:er 9 iil@ili7@ed to designate a. given -zecurity; Fig. 4- is a fiill size view of a portio,.i of 45 Fi@g. I sl-iowiiig in det.a.il v,,iriotis price (,,uri,es, maturity lines and yield line deIii-ie@,,tted on the cli@irt, -Lnd also slioiving several moval.)Ie marli:erg corresponding to IT,- ,,riotIS seciirities. Th6 portio-n illtistrated 50 ill 'LhiS fi(-Ytire corresl)onds to tl-i6 dotted rect,,ii-igle Pi slioivi i.n Fi@g, 1. Fig6 5 is t detail of a movable strip ddapted to be used in connection with the chart 55 Re-ferriiig first to I"ig. 1 tl-ie !el-iart is divided into a multiplicity of horizontal -,pace!@ by Iiiies de-signated 1922--2022 inellisive, representing the yelrs of m,,,tturity of va-riolis sectirities. iii tlil figure the h6rizontal matlirity liiies x represent chiefiy @6o fiie, year intervals. In the chart as actually used, ho-%veyer, the, iiiaturity lines are usulally draiirii to represeiit litlf year. inte,@vals as Fig. 4, but sho-Avii in the larger cletail, MELY) if de,sired, be drawn to represei-it any con6,5 ienient periods. Th el-iart i diiided ver- s e tically by a iilimber of lines y represe@nting (liffere nt percentages o@f yields on ilivestme,nts. The spacino- betiveen the, vertical yield lines iii Fig. 1-corresponds to a, yi6ld 70 of ciie@-half of olie peree@nt but in aetuil piactiep, tl-ie chai-t is rule@d ivitli he,,tvy lines Fig @ 4, sl)a-,e,-l to@ represent the differeiiee 11-1 yield of 5/100 of l@lo, ai-id the sp,,tee, between these, heaiy lines is divided b,y lilies 7r) ,@/2 into five equal parts eae-h part 6f which repres ents 1/100 of: l@'o. AVIiile it has , not been sliown in Fig. 4 in a(@tu,,Ll practice, the gl)@a ce betlyee-ii tl-ie lines y2 i,., dividecl ilit6 five equal p,,trts representing 1/500 of 1%. so A mtiltiplicity of pi-ice curves @,, are plotted oii the cliart corresponding io seeliiities of variolis lilar]K@et @ vaILICS ,tt variou s colipon rates. These curves are so plotted thit the-y intersect the, maturity 8,5 Iii-ies x @at p ints which correspond to the 0 yielcl on the sectirity at the giveii coupon rate. The ge-iiertlly @ accepted practice ass-Limes that the proceeds of the coupons, (or of 90 the interest payments), as the coupons inattire, (or as the iliterest dates come dtie), are reinvested .it thp, same income rate AA7hich the boiid yields a-t its purchase price. This basig h,,ts been takeii into consideration 95 ii-icalclilating aiid plotting tl-ie priep, curves on this el-iart. There is ,t separate, line o for each clif-@ ferent market price and tho m,,lrket prices are printecl adjaceiit to the s(@veral Iiiies z. @loo Theso lines are.deliiieated so that thp, coupon rate c,,tii be re,tidily distingliisl-ied. For exan-iple, iii Fig. 2 price c-Lirves z for a 3@'o boiid.1's indic@tted by a curve haltil'lg @mall three-sicled figiires printed @alon(r its len- h; loi g' a 3-I./2@/o boiid is desig.iia,ted by ,t three-sided figure having a, dot ,tdjacent thereto:, @@L 4@o bond by,a line@@-witli four-sided figures alon(,@ its len,@tli; a 5@,, bo@iid by a,,:fout-- sided fi,-Lire tnd a dash thr6ugh the line @-1-10
[2]1,504,271 and so cii; aii 8@lo bond being indicated by tvvo adja.ceiit foursided fio-ures as indicated in Fig'. 2. For simplicity of illustratioii the charactelilistic markidus oi-i the prie,e c-Lirves 5 have 6@en ornitted i.n 7@'io-. 4, froin ci-iryes e2i,ce,pting the one repr,eseiitino, a 4@/o bond zn selling a,t 84. In this fi(ftire tl-ie, coupoii rates and selling prices halte, beeii inclica'ted at the terminatio-n of tl-ie price curves :,tlon(y 10 the b6rders of tile figure i@ the interest clearnes--,, Along oiie side of the chart is a series of figur,es sliowing the dates of m@ aturity of dif@ ferent bonds ai-id above eacli year figi-ire is 16 printed tiie abbreviation Jan. to Jtn. indicating that a bond marked on the corr@esponding n-iattirity line x falls di-ie bet.ween Jitntiary and Juiie inclusive or in otlier words, the first half of the, correspond210 -illig year. Below eacli year figtire is printed the abbreviation Jul. to Dee.@ to indicate tlia@t the bond falls due between July ancl Deceinber inclusive of tllqt ye,,tr. At the riglit side of tl-i,e cliai-t is printed a series ,25 of figures representing the difference iii tiine betw,een the clirrent year aiid the inaturity -date prin:ted at the left side of tlip, chart. F.or exan-ip'le, considering the July to Decen,iber liiie for the yeai- 1937; oii tl-ie rlgl-it 00 si-de of the chart it -will be seen that the liu@mera,l 15@1/2 ilidic,,ites that froi-i-i the first -lialf of the year 1922 to the last half of the year 198T is 15-1/2 yeai.,s. Therefore, @iny bond falliiig due iii the latter part of 193-@ 3.,5 'has 1,5 1/2 @Tears to i-tiii al-id this caii be very quickly le,,ir-ned by glaiicing at the cliirt. 'rg petpetuate the chart the maturity dates sliown at the left in Fio- 4 will usi-ially be print@ed on @t n-iovable strilp S such as shown 40 '@n Fial. 5 a-nd this strip will be iiioved iip one space every -Qix illontlis to keep the ch,,irt tip to date. The gtl-ip will be fastened L-). place by a thumb tack t or the like. At the same tin-le the movable iiiarkers will be @45 nio-k,ed up al.oiig tlieir respective price curves o so that they lie on the proper matilirity line,s. TI-te fi(,ilires i,,epresenting thie years to maturity, printed at the riglit of the, el-iart. of course, reniain fixed ,tnd correctly indi@O cate t'lie time intervals between tl-ip- current year and thedifferent years of iuaturity. The various securities dealt in by ,t bojid .broker or otlier inveq-tment houses will usually bo tlesignated bv a iiaovable m,,Lrl@.er ,5,5 Stich -,Ls illtistrated in Ficr. 3. This marker is preferably in tho form of a tliuinb tacii: hitvin(y descriptive matter thereon relliting t-o the p4rtici-ilar bond in qtiestion. Preferablv tlle i-nlrl@er has pri-iited tliereoii Iiiies m 60 ai-idn perp@ndicular to ca6l-i otlier, wliieh are zlisefill to properly position the i-narker in ptirRIlel relation t6 tl-ie mattirity lines x and -th@-- yi@ld lines y. The inarker illtistrated i,n Fig. 3 @i@epreseiits a 7@'o, 20 year, sinli:ipg -@f-i-iiid,'gold -boncl, issued by the State of Queenslaiid to matiire in the year 1941. Tlie, abbreviation-, "-i@- c@, 0, dtic Oct. I" iiidicite that the interest is payable ill April and October, and that the 'boiid is payible oji October lst) 19411. This particiilar bond is 70 (lesignated on Fi(T. 4 by the iiiai-l@er desi(rt, nated "Queen 7"@(-Lild 'it -%i,ill be seen tliat-, this lies oii the iiiaturity line correspol-idilig to the second half of the year 1911. It will also be seen that it is on the price etirve ol 7 r) ivhlcll is desi(ynated 7/118 which iiidicates that this is a 7@,o bond selliii- at 118. The line i)t on the niarlier lies lialf way between two vertical yield Iiiies y' and, tlierefore, it can be readily deterii-iiii'ed, by couiitin(,r the 80 tliree spaces tnd the lialf sp,,Lce to the rio-lit of -he nearest heavy Iii-ie, y' ivliicli is mtrl@ed that the bond yields tpproxiiiiately 5.48.5@Ic. Consiclering the bond slioivil next I)OVE 5 8 iii Fig. 4, designated "Siviss 8" it ivill I)e seeti 'Lliat this bond lies on the price ciiri,e ii)arked @_@2 wliieli represciits aii 81/,) boncl sellliig at 129. This bond ivill also ),ield - Lpproxiiiiately 5.485@lo as -%vill also tlie, t)oii(is ()O ii-iarked "NYT 4-1/2" and "SOO 4", these markei-s lyijao- on the I)rice ciii-i,es tiid :Fl i-esi)ectivelv representiii,y -,i 4-1/21/'/,) 1.)oii(I sellii-ig at 89, aiid a 47,, 1.)ojid sellii-i(- i-(@ 84. Thiis it NNill be appreciated, thit :it -.t -laiiec the chai,t shows that these boiids of varioiis coiipoi-i i-,ites and iiiatiii,iiig @it dilT(@i-(@iit tiiii(@ iiitel-@,als i-etui-ii the s@iiii@ yield oii tlio iiivf-@sti-rieiit. The iiiovable iiiarkers Li-e citlier colored, I 01' slit(led or sliaped in soiiie, distiiictin,e i@,ay l'O iiidicate the class of seciirity. For ilist@IDC(" in Fig. 4 the bonds designated GE, Bl.,. A-4N-C, are sliaded siiiiilai@ly to ropresc@nt iiiclustrials, wlilcli in I)ractice al-C, 105 The Go-k,@crniiient bonds ii-iarked QUE14,@N, S@'irl,SS, SWED, UK, ark, ill sliade(I to repi,eseiit green. The piiblic iitility boii(I NYT is sliaded. to represeiit I)Iiie,. 'I'lie - ](,g,,il railro-,td bonds, for e@.,imple, SOO aiid YOC 110 ai@,e slit,-Ied to rel)resent recl. Or iii:ii,l@ers represeiiting diff ei-ent classes iiiay be sliaped, for exaiiipi@, sqiiare, trian(liilar, o(-t@to-oii,,i] tiid so f-,c)rtli. Iri this way a i,ery qtiielr, coiiiparisoii bet-%veen diftei-elit types of boiids 115 can be iiiade. The chart will coiitain ,t grett niiiiiber oi@ price etirves, @,, Z" Z2 ,tiid so for(-,ii, correspondiiio- to all prc)bable selliiioI)i,ices :ii@ -,ill probable coupon rates. Ai-i(I tll(" 1I)tel-- 1,20 sectioii of anv zit :I -ii,eii given price i coupon rate i-,,itli ni@itui-ity lines AN,ill ijidic,,tte the vield at that 1),trticiilai- rall-e 111(1 priee as Avill be understood. 1 2@, The selling pi-ic(,,s of bonds ziii(I otl)et- securities fltictuate froii-i tiiiie to tiiyi(,, aiid tll(@ Iiiovible iiiarkers will be iiiov(,d Iloll.',)' tlieil,- respective ii-iati,ii@it@T lines :it sileii tiiiies S( that they lie oii tli'@ price ciii-Ne coi-i-esl)oji(ling to the curreiit ii-iar-liet price aiid coupoii
[3]1,504,271 rate. For example, the bond "SOO 4" is sliowii in full lines on the price ctirve -,4 for a 4% bond selling at 84. And ,tt this piice as indicated above the bond yields appi-oxim,,ttely. 5.485%. If it sl-iould sell at 83 the i-ii-,irkel. SOO would be, m6ved along @ts iiiati,irity line to the price curve, ;,,,5 representing ,t 47o bond selling a,t 83 (the first dotted position to the riuht) This inter1( sects the Jul. to Dec. maturity line for the year 1938 a.t a point which indic,,ttes tl-iat the bond will yield appi-oximately 5.597o. Or if this bond sold at 82 the marker would be moved to the price line o6 for ,i 47o bond 15 sellin(y at 82 as shoivn ,it the extreine rio:ht dottg position mhich shows a yield of @pproxim,,ttely 5.6967c. I h,,tve indicated in similar iiianner tl-ie n-iovements of tl-ie "NYT 4-1/2" in full lines '@O selling ,it 89. on the line PI' and in dotted F7 lines selling at 88 on the line , ,it which it yields ,tpproxiinately 5.58257o, ,tnd on the line zll represent,ino, a 4-1/27o bond selling at 87 at ivhich Tf yields approxim@itely 25 5.C)Sl@le In a sil-nil,,tr way the. niovements of the marli:er, for the boiid iii,,trli@ed "SIVISS 8" is shoavn, the price lines Pfl and P," represe,,ntiiig 8,7o bolicls gelling respectiiely it 1,28 ,iiid ll-)T aiid )Tielding approxiiiii,,ttely 30 5.55757, and 5.631%. An@the@ position of this iii,,trker is indicated to the left of the full line position shonving tl-ie ma'rker located on tl-ie pi-ice curve zll assum . iiio- t,l-ie n bond to sell at 130, whiel-i will indictte th,,it 35 it this price th bond ill yield approxie w in,,ttely 5.4137@'o. The bond marked "UK 5-1/2" is selliii(r ',It pir and, thprefore, yields exactly 5.50@'o. There -,tre no price curves corresi)6nclino: to 40 the bonds selling at par, the lines rel)resent the price curves for issues @it par bein(y coincident ivitl-i the yield lines, as Nvill b@e' Uliderstood. From the ,tbove it ivill be apparent that 45 a quick comparison of the rel,,,ttive v,,tllie of different bonds m,,ty be readily m,,ide by observiiig the loc,,itioii of the markers correspon(ling to these bonds on the ch,,Lrt@ The yield basis tipon which a security sells is 50 tisually an index of tl-ie sti-ength of the seelirity. The lower the yield of any partiel'ilar isslie, the Ili the @-YrAde in the in,,trket or publi.c opinion. Witli this in ii,iind, it can i@eaclily be seeii ,Lt ,i@ glaiiee tl-i,,tt 55 the bond iiiarl@ed "GE 3-1/2" (Fig. 4) NvoLild be co-.nsiderecl the soundest puieli,,ise. The four boiids intrked respectively "QUEEN, SWISS, NYT and SOO" ,tre of the next gi,ad6 as fir as they can be judged by their 60 yield. If ,in invesfor is partial to any p,,trticulai- type 6f seelirity, the colors or other cli@,i-ticteristies of the ma@kers will indicate ,it a glalice the eoliiparat,ive standing of the e 11 ,TiiT rent bbiids in the p-,trtic lar class of se65 clirity he is interested in. The device can tlso be used as ,t bond yield t,,tble ivhich Nvi I @it a glance give the yield on securities at many different prices -,tn.d coupon rates, thus iiiaking it possible to obtalin, with a great degree of aectiracy 70 ,tnd speed, the yield of any standard coupon rate of ,t bond ,it any probable price. To tise the device as ,t yield table the oper,,ttor can follow -vititli a stylti,,@, along the matlirity line of any p,,Irticular bond until he comes 75 to the price curve corresponding to the market v,,Lltie of the selected bond it its given co-Lipoii rate. The intersection of this price curve ivith the iiiaturity line will lie on or bet%veeii certaiii of the yield lines y froiii 80 wliieli the pei-centage of yield c,,in be re,,tdily read. The. device w-ill e-.iable an investor to deteril-iine ,tt a gl,,tnce jtist whpt issue or issties are the best i.nvestnient according to his ptrtictilal, neects, or wli,,it iss-Lic Or issuep, 85 L 11 re the i-iiost desir,,ible for hil to dispose of ' The de-N7ice is also 'It cross-index of all actiie issties. For any ye,,ir or yeai-s it can be le@irned ,it ,t glance by reading froi@ii left to riglit or vice vers,,L w hich tlre the Iiio-her 90 or loiver o,r,,tde of see-Lirities i,eiiiemberiii t, 9 tilat tlle lower tl-ie yield the Iiigher the gr,,tcle, Or ieadiiig fioiii top to bottom one can quiel;@ly learn iNIiieh seciirities liave the earlier or 1,,tter nlaturit'les. 95 Heret ofore in ordei- to deterinine the yields of bonds ,it different coupon rates it liis been necessiry to i-esoi-t to different tables tisu,,tlly iilade tip in books of iiian3T pages and containing ,t greaf i-iiimber of fi(y- 100 tires. In ordei- to iiiili:e r@ coiiiparison of 37ields ol-i different securities at different prices and coupon i-ates, it h,,Ls been necessary to ex,,tmine slieli t,,tbles witli c,,tre, iiiakilify 1- lotes 'CiLnd intei@pol,,itioiis. This takes 105 time ,tnd involves coi-isiderable 1,,ibor. My device stves at le,,Lst t.1-iree distinct steps in yiel(-l fio-til@ing. First, the coml)utn iiig of the difference iii tin-le, between the ciii-rent 3Tear and the d,,ite of m,,ttlirity of 110 the Dai'ticiilar issiie in question. Secoiia, loeating iii the t,,tbles of boiid v,-LILles the printed figtiies represent,iiig the rougli approxiitt,,ttions of 3Tield, and tliird, interpol,,tting the yield fi-om the above i-nelitioned printed 115 Fgiires. AlTith my deiice the comparative val-Lies Pnd cliar,,teteristies of L. ;2@reat number of seciii-ities can be qliiekly ,is-c'ertiiiied oiid the ivliole st@ite of the security i-ii,,trk-et can be 120 (,,@isily vis-t-ialized. The distinctive markers eiiable iiii,estors, de,,tlers or brokers to,coinpai-e v,,irious securities in the same class with one ,tnotlier ,tnd ,tlso Nvith seeiirities in other elisses. 125 While I h,,tve described iiiy invention ivith p@irticLilar reference to a cliart for indiccitiiig i,ariotis particiilars relating to bond i Ssties, it is to be Lip_derstood that the i.nvention is not limited to stich use as it is well 130
