Benchmark

Standard to measure, monitor, price or evaluate a security or derivative or financial performance.
(1) Performance goals against which a company´s success is measured. Benchmarks are often used by investors to help determine whether a company should receive additional funding or whether management should receive extra stock.
(2).In relation to investments, a benchmark is a reference portfolio or index constructed on the basis of the objectives for the liquidity and risk of, as well as the return on, the investments. The benchmark serves as a basis for comparison of the performance of the actual portfolio.
(3).A rate used as the basis for adjustable rate loans or mortgages. For example, the treasury market is the benchmark for the corporate, mortgage backed, international and emerging credit markets.
(4).A bond, frequently the most recent, sizable issue, whose terms set a standard for the market. The benchmark bond usually has the greatest liquidity, the highest turnover, and is the most frequently quoted.
(5) Similarly used in the commodities field particularly oil.