- What Is Premarket Trading, and How Does It Work?
Although the stock market and exchanges technically have hours that they operate within, you can still trade before things open up. This is called premarket trading, and it allows investors to buy and sell stocks before official market hours. A major… read more…
- Put Options: What They Are and How to Buy Them
A put option allows investors to bet against the future of a company or index. More specifically, it gives the owner of an option contract the ability to sell at a specified price any time before a certain date. Put… read more…
- How Private Placement of Securities Works
A company can be more selective about who buys its shares if it sells them in a private placement. Shares sold in an initial public offering (IPO) are offered to the general public and tend to attract more attention. However, private… read more…
- What Is a Money Manager and What Do They Do?
When developing your investment strategy, you may find yourself in need of some help. Yet between financial planners, financial advisors and a money manager, it can be tough to pick the right resource for you. Each specialization varies ever so… read more…
- The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB)
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) exists because cities can’t always be trusted with their municipal bonds. Investing in bonds already involves a degree of risk. The MSRB exists to prevent municipal bonds, notes, and other securities from becoming overly… read more…
- What Is Working Capital and Why Does It Matter?
Working capital measures a business’s operating liquidity, but it does so much more. It also can be a good indicator of a company’s efficiency and financial health, as well as how well it manages debt, payroll, and inventory. These are… read more…
- How Do Zero Coupon Bonds Work?
A zero coupon bond doesn’t pay interest, but it could pay off for your portfolio. Choosing between the many different types of bonds may require a plan for your broader investments. A zero coupon bond often requires less money up… read more…
- What Is a Margin Account and How Does It Work?
Spotted a hot stock and can’t afford to invest as much as you’d like? A margin account allows you to borrow money from your brokerage firm to make the buy. But if trading money you don’t have sounds risky, that’s… read more…
- How Pump and Dump Investing Schemes Work
You don’t have to watch movies like “The Wolf of Wall Street” or “Boiler Room” to know what pump and dump scheme is about. Brokers pitch penny stocks to customers in high volume despite its questionable returns. Once the buyers dry… read more…
- What Is Regulation T (Reg T) and Why Does It Exist?
Buying on margin lets investors increase potential return with borrowed money, but it’s a big risk. The Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation T, or Reg T, limits that risk. This collection of rules limits how customers can trade using cash accounts.… read more…
- Market Correction: Definition, Duration and Everything Else You Need to Know
When people talk about a market correction, it sounds like a euphemism for falling stock prices. But it’s actually a technical term for a 10% or bigger drop in the price of an index (or individual security) from the last… read more…
- An Introduction to Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
An initial coin offering, or ICO, is a cryptocurrency-based method of funding for companies. While ICOs are often compared to IPOs (initial public offerings), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says ICOs pose significantly greater risk of fraud and manipulation. Compared… read more…
- Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)
One downside of many low-risk investment products is that the rate of the return often does not keep pace with inflation. That downside is eliminated with Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS). With TIPS, your investment principal increases alongside the Consumer Price… read more…
- Best Day Trading Apps for 2026
Day trading apps make buying and selling stocks, mutual funds or other securities easier than ever. These apps offer convenience and portability since you can manage your investment portfolio from your mobile device or laptop on the go. But which… read more…
- A Guide to SEC Rule 15c3-3
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 15c3-3 requires brokerage firms to maintain secure accounts. Also known as the Customer Protection Rule, SEC Rule 15c3-3 is part of the Code of Federal Regulations. It ensures that brokerage clients can withdraw assets… read more…
- What Is a Call Provision and What Does It Mean?
A call provision allows an issuer to pay a bond early. Most bonds have a fixed maturation and value. If you buy a 10-year bond, you get back your capital plus a fixed interest rate in a decade. Call provisions are… read more…
- How a Viatical Settlement Works
A viatical settlement allows the holder of a life insurance policy to sell it for more than its purchase price, but less than its face value. If you are in the market to sell one, then you’ve likely fallen on… read more…
- What Assets Are Considered Liquid Assets?
Liquid assets are things that can be quickly converted into cash without losing value. These come in many different forms, such as cash, stocks, other marketable securities, money market funds and more. Liquid assets are different from their illiquid or fixed… read more…
- What Are Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs)?
When is debt not ordinary debt? When it’s packaged as exchange-traded notes. An exchange-traded note (ETN) is pegged to a market index but functions like a bond. At maturity, ETNs pay out the return of the index it tracks. However,… read more…
- What Are Investment Securities?
When you’re starting to invest, you’ll begin to take cash and buy different types of investments, or securities. There are many versions of securities you can invest in, and the ones you choose depend on what type of investor you… read more…
- How to Buy Foxconn Stock in the U.S.
As the largest multinational electronic manufacturers in the world, Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai Industry Co.) offers a variety of consumer electronics, component and computer electronic products. Led by founder, chairman and CEO Terry Gou, the Taiwanese manufacturer also operates in both domestic and overseas markets. With its global footprint, many investors are looking… read more…
- How to Invest in Marijuana Stocks
Marijuana stocks are becoming more popular as more states legalize the medical and recreational use of the drug. In fact, you can now even invest in marijuana stocks through a normal brokerage account. However, just like any other type of stock, marijuana stocks can be risky, even if market growth is encouraging. That’s because stocks… read more…
- A Guide to Investing in Floating Rate Notes
Bonds are often the investment of choice for people seeking stability. They don’t yield much, unless you have sought out the junk market, but they come with highly stable returns. Bonds can be seen as the dad jokes of investing:… read more…
- What Is Monetary Policy, and How Does It Work?
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve determines monetary policy, while Congress controls fiscal policy. Generally, monetary policy seeks either to stimulate the economy or cool it down through managing money supply and demand. Steering monetary policy is the Fed’s main responsibility.… read more…
- A Beginner’s Guide to Investing in Foreign Currency
Investing in foreign currency can be a great way to diversify your portfolio. Foreign currency trading, or forex for short, is a little more complex than trading stocks or mutual funds, or shoring up your investment strategy with bonds. Learning… read more…