For a bond issued at a premium, the order of yields from highest to lowest is:

• A. Coupon > Current Yield > YTM > YTC
• B. YTM > YTC > Current Yield > Coupon
• C. Current Yield > Coupon > YTM > YTC
• D. YTC > YTM > Coupon > Current Yield

Answer: (A)

When a bond sells at a premium, the fixed coupon payment remains in the same dollar amount, so the coupon rate stands out as the highest yield measure. The current yield, which is the annual coupon divided by the market price, falls below the coupon because the price is above par, pulling the yield down.

Yield to Maturity takes into account not only the coupon payments but also the fact you paid more than par and will only receive par at maturity. That premium is gradually amortized over the life of the bond, which reduces the overall return compared with the coupon alone, so YTM is lower than the current yield for a premium bond.

If the bond is callable, yield to call reflects the return assuming the issuer redeems the bond at the call price at the earliest call date. With a premium bond, the call price is often at par or near par, which can erase much of the premium and result in an even smaller return than YTM. Therefore, yield to call tends to be the lowest.

Putting it together, the typical order from highest to lowest is: coupon, then current yield, then yield to maturity, and finally yield to call.