This section describes the material risks relating to the securities. For further discussion of these and other risks, you should read the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the accompanying product supplement for principal at risk securities and prospectus. We also urge you to consult your investment, legal, tax, accounting and other advisers in connection with your investment in the securities.
Risks Relating to an Investment in the Securities
■The securities do not guarantee the return of the face amount of your securities at maturity. The terms of the securities differ from those of ordinary debt securities in that they do not guarantee the return of the face amount of your securities at maturity. If the securities have not been automatically called and if the ending price is less than the downside threshold price of 75% of the starting price, you will be exposed to the decline in the price of the underlying stock, as compared to the starting price, on a 1-to-1 basis, and you will receive for each security that you hold at maturity an amount equal to the face amount multiplied by the performance factor. In this case, you will lose more than 25%, and possibly all, of the face amount of your securities at maturity.
■The securities do not provide for the regular payment of interest. The terms of the securities differ from those of ordinary debt securities in that they do not provide for the regular payment of interest. Instead, the securities will pay a contingent coupon payment but only if the stock closing price is greater than or equal to the coupon threshold price on the related calculation day. However, if the stock closing price is less than the coupon threshold price on the relevant calculation day for any interest period, we will pay no contingent coupon payment on the applicable contingent coupon payment date. If the stock closing price is less than the coupon threshold price on each calculation day, you will not receive any contingent coupon payments throughout the entire term of the securities. It is possible that the stock closing price will be less than the coupon threshold price for extended periods of time or even throughout the entire term of the securities so that you will receive few or no contingent coupon payments. If you do not earn sufficient contingent coupon payments over the term of the securities, the overall return on the securities may be less than the amount that would be paid on a conventional debt security of ours of comparable maturity.
■The contingent coupon payment, if any, is based on the stock closing price of the underlying stock on only the related quarterly calculation day at the end of the related interest period. Whether the contingent coupon payment will be paid on any contingent coupon payment date will be determined at the end of the relevant interest period based on the stock closing price of the underlying stock on the relevant quarterly calculation day. As a result, you will not know whether you will receive the contingent coupon payments on any contingent coupon payment date until near the end of the relevant interest period. Moreover, because the contingent coupon payment is based solely on the value of the underlying stock on the quarterly calculation days, if the stock closing price of the underlying stock on any calculation day is below the coupon threshold price, you will not receive the contingent coupon payment for the related interest period, even if the price of the underlying stock was at or above the coupon threshold price on other days during that interest period.
■Investors will not participate in any appreciation in the price of the underlying stock. Investors will not participate in any appreciation in the price of the underlying stock from the starting price, and the return on the securities will be limited to the contingent coupon payments, if any, that are paid with respect to each calculation day on which the stock closing price is greater than or equal to the coupon threshold price, if any.
■The market price will be influenced by many unpredictable factors. Several factors, many of which are beyond our control, will influence the value of the securities in the secondary market and the price at which MS & Co. may be willing to purchase or sell the securities in the secondary market. We expect that generally the level of interest rates available in the market and the value of the underlying stock on any day, including in relation to the starting price, the coupon threshold price and the downside threshold price, will affect the value of the securities more than any other factors. Other factors that may influence the value of the securities include:
othe trading price and volatility (frequency and magnitude of changes in value) of the underlying stock,
owhether the stock closing price of the underlying stock has been below the coupon threshold price on any calculation day,
ogeopolitical conditions and economic, financial, political, regulatory or judicial events that affect the underlying stock or securities markets generally and which may affect the price of the underlying stock,
odividend rates on the underlying stock,
othe time remaining until the securities mature,
ointerest and yield rates in the market,
othe availability of comparable instruments,
othe occurrence of certain events affecting the underlying stock that may or may not require an adjustment to the adjustment factor, and
oany actual or anticipated changes in our credit ratings or credit spreads.