The level and trend of interest rates play major roles in both financing and the investment decisions made my firms. Changes in interest rates may result in changes in a firm’s bond and stock price as well as in the rates charged the firm by banks and other lenders. Such changes may affect the cost of financing enough to make an apparently profitably project turn unprofitable, or vice versa. The difference between long-term and short-term interest rates may influence a firm’s decision to issue bonds or seek short-term financing. Interest rates are the price of money. A borrower uses funds today, promising to repay them over time from future income. A saver forgoes current spending in order to store currency income in the expectation of earning a return that will increase the value of those savings over time. Thus, interest rates reflect the cost of moving income across time. As with any price, interest rates rise and fall because of changes over time in demand and supply; in this case, the demand and supply of capital. There is not just one interest rate; there are a myriad of interest rates and therefore, expected investment returns—from rates on short-term certificates of deposit at the bank, to rates offered on bonds issued by multinational corporations, to expected stock markets returns. Interest rates or expected returns on these investments differ because of risk difference between them.