the relationship
between interest rates and time, determined by plotting the yields
of all or as many
bonds of similar credit quality (eg: Treasuries or AA - rated Corporates), against their
maturities; yield curves typically slope upward since longer
maturities normally have higher yields, although it can be flat or even inverted; the Fixed Income Search Results Scattergraph shows several smoothed yield curves for
different fixed - income product types and credit qualities; these are based on
bonds that Fidelity recognizes and are not equal to the entire universe
of bonds, which is significantly larger than the number
of bonds offered by Fidelity on any given day