Final answer:
The statement is false. Treasury bills are a popular marketable security, but certificates of deposit and mortgage loans are not considered marketable securities as they are not easily traded on public markets.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that Treasury bills, certificates of deposit, and mortgage loans are the most popular marketable securities is false. While Treasury bills are indeed a highly popular marketable security due to their safety as short-term investments backed by the faith and credit of the U.S. government, certificates of deposit (CDs) and mortgage loans do not classify as marketable securities. Marketable securities are easily bought and sold on public markets and highly liquid. Certificates of deposit and mortgage loans are not typically traded on public markets; CDs are time deposits with banks and mortgage loans are individual agreements between a lender and a borrower.
Market instruments such as U.S. government bonds (including Treasury bills, notes, and bonds) are very popular, with the government being an extremely safe borrower and paying relatively low interest rates. CDs can also be market instruments, but they are not as readily marketable as Treasury securities, especially when it comes to smaller CDs (small CDs are often not considered marketable securities). Mortgage loans, on the other hand, are non-marketable assets that are typically held by the original lending institution or sold to other entities in the form of mortgage-backed securities but are not traded by investors in the same manner as marketable securities like Treasury bills or corporate bonds.