GLOSSARY OF TERMS
The current economic crisis has brought these esoteric terms into mainstream conversation.
| TERMS | | Write Down
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An accounting action a company makes when an asset or class of assets loses value. The decline in value is reflected in the reduced total on the asset side of the company's balance sheet.
As mortgage defaults and foreclosures have surged and the market for mortgage-backed securities has vanished, global banks and brokerages have written down more than $300 billion in assets.
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