market discount

Market DiscountIf you buy a bond in a secondary market, the market discount is the face value of the bond less the sum of the amount you paid for the bond and the amount of accumulated original issue discount (OID) from the date of issue that represented interest to any earlier holders. Bonds are sold for less than their face value when rising interest rates make their stated interest rate less competitive.(i got the explaination from the website msn money centre)