- What Is the Fintech (Financial Technology) Industry?
There was a time when finances and technology were separate, like church and state. If you needed money, you went to the bank. If you wanted to play games, you used a machine. But now, there is fintech: The marriage… read more…
- What Are Equity Capital Markets (ECM)?
If you own a company that is looking to get an initial public offering (IPO), you might need to raise equity capital from financial institutions. However, you can do that through equity capital markets, which are broader than the stock… read more…
- All You Need to Know About Risk Parity
All investors seek a balance between risk and return that works for their temperament and circumstances. Allocation of capital drives many investment strategies, but some focus on risk allocation instead. One such strategy is risk parity, which spreads risk across… read more…
- What Is a Private Equity Fund?
It’s likely that most investors rarely thin about the world of private equity, even though private equity funds control billions of dollars in assets. In the best cases, they reap enormous returns for their investors and help launch some dynamic… read more…
- Behavioral Economics: A Guide for Investors
Investing and financial planning can all be about numbers, so it’s easy to see why economists long assumed people approach these subjects logically. Researchers have found abundant evidence that people often are more irrational about finances, investing and reading markets… read more…
- An Introduction to Investing in the Bond Market
The bond market is a safe harbor when the stock market starts going pear-shaped, or just feels a bit wobbly. They come in all shapes and sizes from Treasury to junk and are often a very strong option for someone… read more…
- What Is a Market Profile and How Do You Use One?
Investing smart means using the right tools. Whether that’s considering a stock’s volatility metrics or its price history, you won’t invest as well without the proper resources. One such resource? The market profile chart, first used in 1984. A market… read more…
- Delta Neutral Investing: What You Need to Know
In options trading, “delta” represents volatility. It is one of a set of variables, collectively known as “the Greeks, that traders use to assess the risk of a derivative. Here’s what you need to know about delta-neutral investing and how… read more…
- What Is the Time-Weighted Return (TWR)?
If you’re an investor, chances are you’re looking for a reliable way to keep tabs on how your money is doing. And while various methods exist to measure the performance of an investment portfolio, calculating the time-weighted return (TWR) is the… read more…
- What Is a Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM)?
Whether you’re a financial novice or a seasoned investor, getting some help from an expert might be good for you. If you need some help with financial planning, investing, or managing wealth a Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM) may be a… read more…
- A Guide to the CAN SLIM Stock-Picking System
CAN SLIM is an investing strategy that represents seven characteristics typically present in well-performing stocks. As a result, those traits typically manifest right before a stock sees its price increase. The term CAN SLIM or “C-A-N-S-L-I-M” is an acronym, with… read more…
- Using Alpha to Measure an Investment’s Performance
Risk is one of the most essential concepts to successful investing. Investors and capital-seekers looking for the right balance on any given security drive most market activity. Alpha measures an investment’s performance compared to a relevant market, like the Dow… read more…
- What Is Proprietary Trading?
A financial firm is said to practice proprietary trading if it invests its own money to make profits for itself, instead of earning commissions by trading on a client’s behalf. While the firm’s clients don’t benefit from proprietary trading, it… read more…
- Efficient Frontier: Definition, Benefits and Uses
As an investor, wouldn’t it be nice to know that your portfolio both limits your risk and maximizes return? Ideally, it will do just that. The efficient frontier is a set of investment portfolios that maximizes returns while minimizing risk. Learn… read more…
- 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…