- Flash Crash: Definition, Examples, and Implications
A flash crash occurs when electronic securities trading systems trigger a dramatic drop in price and rebounds within minutes. While flash crash occurrences are happening more often, many investors still don’t understand what causes them. Read on to learn how… read more…
- What is a Block Trade?
One hundred is a lot of shares. Literally, when trading stock one “lot” is defined as 100 shares. A round lot is any number of shares evenly divisible by 100, while any other amount is considered an “odd lot.” Block traders do not deal in lots of shares. They operate on a scale several orders… read more…
- What Is Tail Risk In Investing?
The edge case scenario is realistic, but too remote to come up in daily events. Arguably, how well you manage unlikely outcomes largely defines your skill in a profession. Lawyers call them “bad cases,” and warn every first year law… read more…
- What Is a Dead Cat Bounce?
It is clear that, once upon a time, finance types had a little more fun with their jobs. How else to explain how “dead cat bounce” came to be a widely accepted piece of financial jargon? The odd term refers to… read more…
- CFA vs. CAIA: What Is the Difference?
A chartered financial analyst (CFA) is a financial advisor who has earned the title of CFA through extra accreditation, including a rigorous three-part test, from the CFA Institute . A Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) specializes in alternative investments such… read more…
- How to Invest in UCITS Funds
There is no lack of investment opportunities in today’s financial sector, but every investor’s situation is different, and many welcome new options. If you’re seeking alternatives beyond mutual funds and stocks, you might consider UCITS funds. UCITS stands for the… read more…
- The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Explained
With investing, the higher the risk, the more an investor expects to earn. The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) tries to estimate how much you can expect to earn given the amount of risk. The model is often used in… read more…
- What is the ‘Dogs of the Dow’ Investing Strategy?
When tracking your investment portfolio, you might compare it against a stock market index such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Ideally, you want investments to beat the Dow. The Dogs of the Dow investing strategy attempts to identify value… read more…
- Systematic Risk: What Investors Need to Know
Investing in the stock market inevitably brings risk, and diversifying a portfolio doesn’t eliminate it. There’s always a systematic risk. In other words, there’s always an inevitable risk that affects a market segment or the market as a whole. Systematic… read more…
- Swing Trading: Definition, Strategies and Risks
If you’re stock market regular, you’ve likely heard of day trading: The buying and selling of securities within the same trading day. But maybe you’d like a slightly longer lead time for such transactions. Enter swing trading, which is basically… read more…
- How a Price-Weighted Index Works
Assessing the value of a company or security can take a few different forms. You can measure all stocks or securities equally, or use market capitalization. Another choice: a price-weighted index, in which each member company’s stock in an index… read more…
- What Is Market Manipulation and How Does it Happen?
The hyper-volatility of GameStock shares in January 2021 forced questions about what exactly market manipulation is onto center stage. What had long been seen as something only unscrupulous Wall Street giants could do now looked very much like something any… read more…
- What Is the Bid-Ask Spread?
Since buying and selling stock is a key component of investing, it’s important for investors to understand trading terminology — especially the term “bid-ask spread.” If you have no idea what that means or how it affects your investment mix… read more…
- What Is High-Frequency Trading?
High-Frequency Trading (HFT) is controversial. Some investors say it lets people capitalize on opportunities that vanish really quickly. Others say that HTF distorts the markets by processing large numbers of orders in fractions of a second. Regardless, this trading method uses algorithms to analyze multiple markets and identify investing opportunities based on those conditions. If… read more…
- Systemic Risk: What You Need to Know
Systemic risk is the risk that a company-level event could destabilize an entire industry. Think back to the financial crisis of 2008, when many companies deemed “too big to fail” did exactly that. To safeguard your investments for the next… read more…
- What is a Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP)?
As one of the most highly regarded compliance certifications, the Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP) designation helps professionals increase their skills as well as knowledge of industry regulations. Read on to discover the importance of the CRCP and how… read more…
- What Are Restricted Stock Awards (RSAs)?
Restricted stock has become a common offering among employers in the last 20 years. There are two main types: restricted stock awards (RSA) and restricted stock units (RSU). Both can be lucrative parts of a compensation package, but they have… read more…
- Ways to Sell Your Annuity for Cash
An annuity is an insurance contract you can use to create an income stream. You can purchase an annuity to draw payments against in retirement as a supplement to tax-advantaged or taxable savings accounts. But what if you want to… read more…
- What Is a Certified Financial Marketing Professional (CFMP)?
Marketing professionals within the finance industry may escape licensing exams like the Series 7. However, the Certified Financial Marketing Professional (CFMP) designation from the American Banking Association (ABA) requires some testing of its own. A CFMP demonstrates expertise in bank… read more…
- Leverage: Definition and Use in Investing
Leverage is a common financial concept you may often hear in reference to maximizing investor returns. Commonly used by investors and companies alike, leverage is a technique that utilizes debt instead of equity to buy an asset. The expectation is… read more…
- Neighborly: A Way for Investors to Fund Community Broadband
Neighborly is an investment company that allows investors to invest in communities seeking funding for internet infrastructure. More specifically, it focuses on bringing fiber broadband access to disadvantaged communities in the U.S. by way of direct investments in its qualified opportunity fund (QOF). As of now, investments in this QOF are only open to accredited investors,… read more…
- A Guide to Reading Stock Tickers
If you’ve ever watched a financial news program or visited a website that covers the stock market, you might notice an endlessly cycling parade of numbers, symbols and abbreviations. These collectively make up a stock ticker, which provides snapshots of… read more…
- What Is an Endowment, and How Do They Work?
An endowment is comprised of money donated to a non-profit organization. This sum of money is typically placed in an endowment fund, which is then invested. The return from those investments are used to fund the organization’s operations or grow… read more…
- How Dividend Payouts Work for Investors
Dividends are bonus payments companies give to stockholders, offering immediate income while you wait for potential future gains if the stock price rises. They serve as both a reward for investors and a confidence booster for the company’s stock. While investing in dividend-yielding stocks can provide extra income and an upfront return, it’s important to… read more…
- 6 Tax-Free Investments to Consider for Your Portfolio
Investing is a powerful way to grow your savings over time. However, one of the downsides is that you generally have to pay taxes on your investment gains. And of course, the more you pay in taxes, the less of… read more…