1.
Speculator Mine disaster
–
In the Granite Mountain/Speculator Mine disaster of June 8,1917, an electric cable was being lowered into the Granite Mountain mine as part of a fire safety system. At this time, the Butte, Montana copper mines were at full wartime production. When the cable fell and was damaged, a foreman with a carbide lamp went to inspect the damage, the fire quickly climbed the cable, and then turned the shaft into a chimney, igniting the timbers in the shaft. 168 miners died in the blaze, most from asphyxia. Some of the deceased did not die immediately, they survived for a day or two in the tunnels underground, notes were written by some while they waited to be rescued. A few managed to barricade themselves within bulkheads in the mine and were found after as long as 55 hours, a strike ensued as a result of the disaster. It remains the most deadly event ever in underground hard rock mining in the USA, the disaster was memorialized in the song Rox in the Box on the album The King is Dead by The Decemberists, an indie rock band. It has also memorialized in the song The Miners by independent Celtic recording artists The Elders and is featured on their album Story Road. There is a memorial to the killed in the fire. Some of the written by the miners can be viewed at the site. The monument is located at 46°1′35. 90″N 112°31′25. 12″W, Granite Mountain/Speculator Mine Fire Michael Punke, Q & A About the North Butte Disaster of 1917, HistoryNewsNetwork
2.
Speculator, New York
–
Speculator is a village in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 324 at the 2010 census, the village is named after a nearby Speculator Mountain. Speculator is the incorporated village within Hamilton County and is within the town of Lake Pleasant. The village included the end of a lake, also called Lake Pleasant. The local inhabitants sometimes refer to the village as the Four Corners, referring to the intersection of NYS Route 8, Speculator is within the Adirondack Park. Archeological evidence of Native Americans has been found in arrowheads and spearheads near the lake shores of the lake, Lake Pleasant. Many historians believe Speculator was the hunting and fishing grounds of both Mohawks and Algonquin tribes and these Native Americans would only travel to the Adirondack Mountains to hunt during the warm months and their villages were located in the Mohawk and Hudson Valley Region. He had a wife named Molly and Molly had a daughter named Molly Jr. however Capt, gill didnt claim the daughter as his own. Gill was a guide for the first settlers. He would show them places to hunt and fish, gill was most famous for his story telling and would tell folklore of the Iroquois Nation, such as the Flying Head. At that time Page Hill and Page Street were included in Newtons Corners, joel Newtons structure burned in 1870, and in 1872 the Newtons corners post office was reopened in Satterlees store. Henry Dunning built a hotel in 1882 where Newtons hotel had been and the post office had moved there, in 1892, a few ambitious and industrious business men leaders felt they needed to update and modernize their facilities. Speculator was a booming Mecca for tourists, with the support of the voters in 1925, the village of Speculator was incorporated with a mayor and two trustees, which later changed to four trustees. The Village of Speculator purchased a water system of Dexter Slack. The village had a plant and waterwheel installed at Christine Falls. Entire families spent their summers enjoying the hospitality and fresh air. Several more hotels were built to them and eventually more stores, homes. Around the 1850s, city sportsmen began to come to the Adirondack Mountains to hunt, fish and they hired local men who knew the area to be guides
3.
Field goal (rugby)
–
A field goal, also called a flying kick or speculator, was a way of scoring in the game of rugby football. It consisted of a player kicking the ball from the ground using their hands in open play over the crossbar. This method of scoring was abolished in rugby union in 1905, during the development of rugby football, the field goal was considered a legitimate way of scoring. In 1845, place kicks were the way to score a goal. In 1871, it was clarified under Law 6 that kicking the ball through the posts from the ground in open play was a method of scoring a goal. A rejected proposal in 1882 by the Rugby Football Union suggested that field goals, referred to as a kick, would be worth 4 points. It was eventually formalised in 1891 by the International Rugby Football Board that field goals would be worth 4 points, however in 1905 both the IRFB and RFU abolished the field goal as a valid method of scoring. When the Northern Rugby Football Union broke away from the RFU, while the RFU abolished the field goal in rugby union in 1905, rugby league retained it. A writer for the Daily Chronicle stated I do not believe in the speculator at any time, it is bad rugby football, as predicted, during a later match against St. Helens, he damaged the cartilage in his knee due to repeated attempts at the scoring move. In 1922, the New South Wales Rugby Football League abolished the field goal along with the goal from mark. However the Northern Rugby Football League, considered the guardian of the rules of rugby league at the time, in Australia, the term field goal is used as a synonym for drop goal
4.
Financial market participants
–
There are two basic financial market participant categories, Investor vs. Speculator and Institutional vs. Retail. Action in financial markets by central banks is usually regarded as rather than participation. This equation originated from Keynesian Advocates, the theory explains that a given market may have excess cash, hence the supplier of funds may lend it, and those in need of cash may borrow the funds supplied. Hence, the equation, aggregate savings equals aggregate investments, the demand side consists of, those in need of cash flows, those in need of interim financing, those in need of long-term funds for special projects. The supply side consists of, those who have aggregate savings that can be used in favor of demand side, the origin of the savings can be local savings or foreign savings. So much pensions or savings can be invested for school buildings, orphanages, the earnings go to owner and the margin goes to the banks. When the principal and interest are added up, it will reflect the amount paid for the user of the funds, thus, an interest percentage for the cost of using the funds. An investor is any party that makes an Investment, less frequently the term is applied to parties who purchase real estate, currency, commodity derivatives, personal property, or other assets. Speculation or agiotage represents one of three roles in western financial markets, distinct from hedging, long term investing and arbitrage. Speculators in an asset may have no intention to have long term exposure to that asset, because of their sophistication, institutional investors may often participate in private placements of securities, in which certain aspects of the securities laws may be inapplicable. A retail investor is an individual investor possessing shares of a given security, Retail investors can be further divided into two categories of share ownership. A Beneficial Shareholder is an investor who holds shares of their securities in the account of a bank or broker. A Registered Shareholder is an investor who holds shares of their securities directly through the issuer or its transfer agent. Many registered shareholders have physical copies of their stock certificates, in the United States, as of 2005 about 57 million households owned stocks, and in total individual investors owned 26% of equities
5.
Credit union
–
Credit unions operate alongside other mutuals and cooperatives engaging in cooperative banking, such as building societies. Natural-person credit unions serve individual people, as distinguished from corporate credit unions, Credit unions see themselves as different from mainstream banks, with a mission to be community-oriented and serve people, not profit. Normally, only a member of a union may deposit or borrow money. Surveys of customers at banks and credit unions have consistently shown a significantly higher customer satisfaction rate with the quality of service at credit unions, Credit unions have historically claimed to provide superior member service and to be committed to helping members improve their financial situation. In the context of financial inclusion credit unions claim to provide a range of loan. In the credit union context, not-for-profit is not the same as for a charity or similar organization. Credit unions are not-for-profit because their purpose is to serve their members rather than to maximize profits. But, unlike charities and the like, credit unions do not rely on donations, and are financial institutions that must perforce make what is, in economic terms, a small profit to remain in existence. According to the World Council of Credit Unions, a credit unions revenues must exceed its expenses and dividends in order to maintain capital. F. W. Raiffeisen wrote in 1870 that credit unions are, according to eleven of the German law of cooperatives. They accordingly form a sort of business enterprise of which the owners are the Credit Unions members. In the United States, credit unions incorporated and operating under a credit union law are tax-exempt under Section 501. Federal credit unions organized and operated in accordance with the Federal Credit Union Act are tax-exempt under Section 501, according to the World Council, at the end of 2014 there were 57,480 credit unions in 105 countries. Collectively they served 217.4 million members and oversaw US$1.79 trillion in assets, the European Association of Co-operative Banks reported 38 million members in those four countries at the end of 2010. The countries with the most credit union activity are highly diverse, several African and Latin American countries also had high credit union membership rates, as did Australia and South Korea. He went on to develop a successful urban credit union system. In 1864 Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen founded the first rural credit union in Heddesdorf in Germany, by the time of Raiffeisens death in 1888, credit unions had spread to Italy, France, the Netherlands, England, Austria, and other nations. The first credit union in North America, the Caisse Populaire de Lévis in Quebec, Canada, drawing extensively on European precedents, Desjardins developed a unique parish-based model for Quebec, the caisse populaire
6.
Insurance
–
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, an entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, or insurance carrier. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as an insured or policyholder, the insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated. The amount of money charged by the insurer to the insured for the coverage set forth in the policy is called the premium. If the insured experiences a loss which is covered by the insurance policy. Methods for transferring or distributing risk were practiced by Chinese and Babylonian traders as long ago as the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, Chinese merchants travelling treacherous river rapids would redistribute their wares across many vessels to limit the loss due to any single vessels capsizing. The Babylonians developed a system which was recorded in the famous Code of Hammurabi, c.1750 BC, and practiced by early Mediterranean sailing merchants. If a merchant received a loan to fund his shipment, he would pay the lender an additional sum in exchange for the guarantee to cancel the loan should the shipment be stolen. At some point in the 1st millennium BC, the inhabitants of Rhodes created the general average and this allowed groups of merchants to pay to insure their goods being shipped together. The collected premiums would be used to any merchant whose goods were jettisoned during transport. Separate insurance contracts were invented in Genoa in the 14th century, the first known insurance contract dates from Genoa in 1347, and in the next century maritime insurance developed widely and premiums were intuitively varied with risks. These new insurance contracts allowed insurance to be separated from investment, Insurance became far more sophisticated in Enlightenment era Europe, and specialized varieties developed. Property insurance as we know it today can be traced to the Great Fire of London, initially,5,000 homes were insured by his Insurance Office. At the same time, the first insurance schemes for the underwriting of business ventures became available, by the end of the seventeenth century, Londons growing importance as a center for trade was increasing demand for marine insurance. These informal beginnings led to the establishment of the insurance market Lloyds of London and several related shipping, the first life insurance policies were taken out in the early 18th century. The first company to offer life insurance was the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, founded in London in 1706 by William Talbot, edward Rowe Mores established the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorship in 1762. In the late 19th century, accident insurance began to become available and this operated much like modern disability insurance. The first company to offer accident insurance was the Railway Passengers Assurance Company, by the late 19th century, governments began to initiate national insurance programs against sickness and old age
7.
Investment banking
–
Unlike commercial banks and retail banks, investment banks do not take deposits. From the passage of Glass–Steagall Act in 1933 until its repeal in 1999 by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, Other industrialized countries, including G7 countries, have historically not maintained such a separation. As part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the two main lines of business in investment banking are called the sell side and the buy side. The sell side involves trading securities for cash or for other securities, the buy side involves the provision of advice to institutions that buy investment services. Private equity funds, mutual funds, life insurance companies, unit trusts, an investment bank can also be split into private and public functions with a Chinese wall separating the two to prevent information from crossing. The private areas of the deal with private insider information that may not be publicly disclosed, while the public areas, such as stock analysis. The first company to publicly traded stock was the Dutch East India Company. Investment banking has changed over the years, beginning as a form focused on underwriting security issuance. In the United States, commercial banking and investment banking were separated by the Glass–Steagall Act, the repeal led to more universal banks offering an even greater range of services. Many large commercial banks have therefore developed investment banking divisions through acquisitions, notable large banks with significant investment banks include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Barclays, and Wells Fargo. The traditional service of underwriting security issues has declined as a percentage of revenue, as far back as 1960, 70% of Merrill Lynchs revenue was derived from transaction commissions while traditional investment banking services accounted for 5%. However, Merrill Lynch was a relatively retail-focused firm with a large brokerage network, investment banking is split into front office, middle office, and back office activities. Investment banks offer services to corporations issuing securities and investors buying securities. For corporations, investment bankers offer information on when and how to place their securities on the open market, therefore, investment bankers play a very important role in issuing new security offerings. Front office is described as a revenue generating role. Markets is divided into sales and trading, and research, a pitch book of financial information is generated to market the bank to a potential M&A client, if the pitch is successful, the bank arranges the deal for the client. The investment banking division is divided into industry coverage and product coverage groups. On behalf of the bank and its clients, an investment banks primary function is buying and selling products
8.
Investment fund
–
An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group. e. Lower transaction costs, increase the asset diversification to reduce some unsystematic risk, terminology varies with country but investment funds are often referred to as investment pools, collective investment vehicles, collective investment schemes, managed funds, or simply funds. The regulatory term is undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities, Investment funds are promoted with a wide range of investment aims either targeting specific geographic regions or specified industry sectors. Depending on the there is normally a bias towards the domestic market due to familiarity. Funds are often selected on the basis of these specified investment aims, their past investment performance, the term collective investment scheme is a legal concept deriving initially from a set of European Union Directives to regulate mutual fund investment and management. The basic aim of collective investment scheme regulation is that the products that are sold to the public are sufficiently transparent. Collective investment vehicles may be formed under company law, by legal trust or by statute, the nature of the vehicle and its limitations are often linked to its constitutional nature and the associated tax rules for the type of structure within a given jurisdiction. Typically there is, A fund manager or investment manager who manages the investment decisions, a fund administrator who manages the trading, reconciliations, valuation and unit pricing. A board of directors or trustees who safeguards the assets and ensures compliance with laws, regulations, the shareholders or unitholders who own the assets and associated income. A marketing or distribution company to promote and sell shares/units of the fund, please see below for general information on specific forms of vehicles in different jurisdictions. The net asset value or NAV is the value of a vehicles assets minus the value of its liabilities, the method for calculating this varies between vehicle types and jurisdiction and can be subject to complex regulation. An open-end fund is divided into shares which vary in price in direct proportion to the variation in value of the funds net asset value. Each time money is invested, new shares or units are created to match the prevailing price, each time shares are redeemed. In this way there is no supply or demand created for shares, a closed-end fund issues a limited number of shares in an initial public offering or through private placement. If shares are issued through an IPO, they are traded on an exchange or directly through the fund manager to create a secondary market subject to market forces. If demand for the shares is high, they may trade at a premium to net asset value, if demand is low they may trade at a discount to net asset value. Further share offerings may be made by the vehicle if demand is high although this may affect the share price, for listed funds, the added element of market forces tends to amplify the performance of the fund increasing investment risk through increased volatility. Some collective investment vehicles have the power to borrow money to further investments
9.
Pension fund
–
A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the investors in listed. They are especially important to the market where large institutional investors dominate. The largest 300 pension funds collectively hold about $6 trillion in assets, the Federal Old-age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is the worlds largest public pension fund which oversees $2.645 trillion USD in assets. Open pension funds support at least one pension plan with no restriction on membership while closed pension funds support only pension plans that are limited to certain employees, in certain countries the distinction between public or government pension funds and private pension funds may be difficult to assess. In others, the distinction is made sharply in law, with specific requirements for administration. Provident Fund is applicable across for employees across establishments, EPF is the Largest Social Security Organisations in India with Assets well over ₹5 Lakh Crore as of 2014. Indian citizens between the age of 18-55 are eligible to join, the Financial Supervisory Authority - Private Pension is responsible for the supervision and regulation of the private pension system.06. Armed Forces Pension Fund OYAK provides its members with supplementary retirement benefits apart from the retirement fund, T. C. Emekli Sandığı/SSK. OYAK is incorporated as an entity under its own law subject to Turkish civic. OYAK while fulfilling its duties, as set in the Law, also provides its members with social services such as loans, home loans. The initial source of OYAKs funds is a compulsory 10 percent levy on the salary of Turkeys 200,000 serving officers who, together with 25,000 current pensioners. Some other Turkish private pension funds, YAPI ve KREDİ BANKASI A. Ş, mensupları Yardım ve Emekli Sandığı Vakfı AKBANK T. A. Ş. Mensupları Tekaüt Sandığı Vakfı TÜRKİYE GARANTİ BANKASI A. Ş, memur ve Müstahdemleri Emekli ve Yardım Sandığı Vakfı TÜRKİYE ODALAR BORSALAR VE BİRLİK PERSONELİ SİGORTA VE EMEKLİ SANDIĞI VAKFI TÜRKİYE İŞ BANKASI A. Ş. Mensupları Emekli Sandığı Vakfı In the United States pension funds include schemes which result in a deferral of income by employees, the United States has $24.5 trillion in retirement and pension assets as of June 30,2014. The largest 200 pension funds accounted for $4.540 trillion as of September 30,2009
10.
Prime brokerage
–
The prime broker provides a centralized securities clearing facility for the hedge fund so the hedge funds collateral requirements are netted across all deals handled by the prime broker. These two features are advantageous to their clients, the prime broker benefits by earning fees on financing the clients margined long and short cash and security positions, and by charging, in some cases, fees for clearing and other services. It also earns money by rehypothecating the margined portfolios of the hedge funds currently serviced and charging interest on those borrowing securities, each client in the market of a prime broker will have certain technological needs related to the management of its portfolio. These can be as simple as daily statements or as complicated as real-time portfolio reporting, Certain prime brokers offer more specialized services to certain clients. For example, a broker may also be in the business of leasing office space to hedge funds. Risk management and consulting services may be among these, especially if the fund has just started operations. Office Space Leasing and Servicing - Certain prime brokers lease commercial real estate and these prime brokers typically provide a suite of on-site services for clients who utilize their space. This is typically called a hedge fund hotel, risk Management Advisory Services - The provision of risk analytic technology, sometimes supplemented by consulting by senior risk professionals. Additionally, the prime broker offers stock loan services, portfolio reporting, consolidated cash management, fundamentally, the advent of the prime broker freed the money manager from the more time consuming and expensive aspects of running a fund. The concept and term prime brokerage is generally attributed to the U. S. broker-dealer Furman Selz in the late 1970s, however, the first hedge fund operation is attributed to Alfred Winslow Jones in 1949. At this nascent stage, hedge funds were much smaller than they are today and were mostly U. S. domestic long-short equities funds, Prime brokerage business was created by Merrill Lynchs London office in the late 1980s. Post the 2007 -09 financial crisis new entrants came to the market with custody-based prime brokerage offerings, in addition, prime brokers supplemented their operational function by providing portfolio reporting, initially by messenger, then by fax and today over the web. As of 2006, the most successful investment banks each report over two billion dollars in annual revenue directly attributed to their prime brokerage operations. Counterparty diversification saw the largest flows of client assets out of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, the banks which captured these flows to the greatest degree were Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, and Deutsche Bank. During these market changes, HSBC launched a brokerage business in 2009 called HSBC Prime Services. The prime brokerage landscape has changed since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. This was one of factors that led to the massive deleveraging of capital markets during the Financial Crisis of 2008. Upon Lehmans collapse, investors realized that no prime broker was too big to fail and spread their counterparty risk across several prime brokerages and this trend towards multi-prime brokerage is also not without its problems
11.
Finance
–
Finance is a field that deals with the study of investments. It includes the dynamics of assets and liabilities over time under conditions of different degrees of uncertainty, Finance can also be defined as the science of money management. Finance aims to price assets based on their level and their expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into three different sub-categories, public finance, corporate finance and personal finance. g, health and property insurance, investing and saving for retirement. Personal finance may also involve paying for a loan, or debt obligations, net worth is a persons balance sheet, calculated by adding up all assets under that persons control, minus all liabilities of the household, at one point in time. Household cash flow totals up all the sources of income within a year. From this analysis, the financial planner can determine to what degree, adequate protection, the analysis of how to protect a household from unforeseen risks. These risks can be divided into the following, liability, property, death, disability, health, some of these risks may be self-insurable, while most will require the purchase of an insurance contract. Determining how much insurance to get, at the most cost effective terms requires knowledge of the market for personal insurance, business owners, professionals, athletes and entertainers require specialized insurance professionals to adequately protect themselves. Since insurance also enjoys some tax benefits, utilizing insurance investment products may be a piece of the overall investment planning. Tax planning, typically the income tax is the single largest expense in a household, managing taxes is not a question of if you will pay taxes, but when and how much. Government gives many incentives in the form of tax deductions and credits, most modern governments use a progressive tax. Typically, as ones income grows, a marginal rate of tax must be paid. Understanding how to take advantage of the tax breaks when planning ones personal finances can make a significant impact in which it can later save you money in the long term. Investment and accumulation goals, planning how to accumulate enough money - for large purchases, major reasons to accumulate assets include, purchasing a house or car, starting a business, paying for education expenses, and saving for retirement. Achieving these goals requires projecting what they will cost, and when you need to withdraw funds that will be necessary to be able to achieve these goals, a major risk to the household in achieving their accumulation goal is the rate of price increases over time, or inflation. Using net present value calculators, the planner will suggest a combination of asset earmarking. In order to overcome the rate of inflation, the investment portfolio has to get a higher rate of return, managing these portfolio risks is most often accomplished using asset allocation, which seeks to diversify investment risk and opportunity
12.
Financial market
–
A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities, commodities, and other fungible items of value at low transaction costs and at prices that reflect supply and demand. Securities include stocks and bonds, and commodities include precious metals or agricultural products, in economics, typically, the term market means the aggregate of possible buyers and sellers of a certain good or service and the transactions between them. The term market is used for what are more strictly exchanges, organizations that facilitate the trade in financial securities. This may be a location or an electronic system. Another common use of the term is as a catchall for all the markets in the financial sector, capital markets which to consist of, Stock markets, which provide financing through the issuance of shares or common stock, and enable the subsequent trading thereof. Bond markets, which provide financing through the issuance of bonds, commodity markets, which facilitate the trading of commodities. Money markets, which provide short term debt financing and investment, derivatives markets, which provide instruments for the management of financial risk. Futures markets, which provide standardized forward contracts for trading products at some future date, Foreign exchange markets, which facilitate the trading of foreign exchange. Spot market Interbanks market The capital markets may also be divided into primary markets, newly formed securities are bought or sold in primary markets, such as during initial public offerings. Secondary markets allow investors to buy and sell existing securities, the transactions in primary markets exist between issuers and investors, while secondary market transactions exist among investors. Liquidity is an aspect of securities that are traded in secondary markets. Liquidity refers to the ease with which a security can be sold without a loss of value, securities with an active secondary market mean that there are many buyers and sellers at a given point in time. Investors benefit from liquid securities because they can sell their assets whenever they want, Financial markets attract funds from investors and channel them to corporations—they thus allow corporations to finance their operations and achieve growth. Money markets allow firms to borrow funds on a term basis. Without financial markets, borrowers would have difficulty finding lenders themselves, intermediaries such as banks, Investment Banks, and Boutique Investment Banks can help in this process. Banks take deposits from those who have money to save and they can then lend money from this pool of deposited money to those who seek to borrow. Banks popularly lend money in the form of loans and mortgages, a good example of a financial market is a stock exchange. A company can raise money by selling shares to investors and its shares can be bought or sold
13.
Corporate finance
–
The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize or increase shareholder value. Investment analysis is concerned with the setting of criteria about which value-adding projects should receive investment funding, the terms corporate finance and corporate financier are also associated with investment banking. The typical role of an investment bank is to evaluate the financial needs. Thus, the corporate finance and corporate financier may be associated with transactions in which capital is raised in order to create, develop. Financial management overlaps with the function of the Accounting profession. The primary goal of management is to maximize or to continually increase shareholder value. Managers of growth companies will use most of the capital resources. When companies reach maturity levels within their industry, managers of companies will use surplus cash to payout dividends to shareholders. Choosing between investment projects will be based upon several inter-related criteria, Corporate management seeks to maximize the value of the firm by investing in projects which yield a positive net present value when valued using an appropriate discount rate in consideration of risk. These projects must also be financed appropriately, if no growth is possible by the company and excess cash surplus is not needed to the firm, then financial theory suggests that management should return some or all of the excess cash to shareholders. This capital budgeting is the planning of value-adding, long-term corporate financial projects relating to investments funded through, Management must allocate the firms limited resources between competing opportunities. Investments should be made on the basis of value-added to the future of the corporation, projects that increase a firms value may include a wide variety of different types of investments, including but not limited to, expansion policies, or mergers and acquisitions. Achieving the goals of corporate finance requires that any corporate investment be financed appropriately, the sources of financing are, generically, capital self-generated by the firm and capital from external funders, obtained by issuing new debt and equity. As above, since both hurdle rate and cash flows will be affected, the mix will impact the valuation of the firm. Financing a project through debt results in a liability or obligation that must be serviced, equity financing is less risky with respect to cash flow commitments, but results in a dilution of share ownership, control and earnings. Management must attempt to match the long-term financing mix to the assets being financed as closely as possible, other techniques, such as securitization, or hedging using interest rate- or credit derivatives, are also common. See Asset liability management, Treasury management, Credit risk, Interest rate risk, however economists have developed a set of alternative theories about how managers allocate a corporations finances. Also, Capital structure substitution theory hypothesizes that management manipulates the capital such that earnings per share are maximized
14.
Personal finance
–
The earliest known research in personal finance was done in 1920 by Hazel Kyrk. Her dissertation at University of Chicago laid the foundation of consumer economics, margaret Reid, a professor of Home Economics at the same university, is recognized as one of the pioneers in the study of consumer behavior and Household behavior. In 1947, Herbert A. Simon, a Nobel laureate, suggested that a decision maker did not always make the best financial decision because of limited educational resources and personal inclinations. Therefore, personal education is needed to help an individual or a family make rational financial decisions throughout their life. Before 1990, mainstream economists and business faculty paid little attention to personal finance and these institutions have published several works in journals such as The Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning and the Journal of Personal Finance. Research into personal finance is based on theories such as social exchange theory. Attendances of the two societies mainly come from faculty and graduates from business and home economics colleges, AFCPE has since offered several certifications for professionals in this field such as Accredited Financial Counselor and Certified Housing Counselors. Meanwhile, AFS cooperates with Certified Financial Planner, the educational programmes are frequently known as financial literacy. However, there was no standardised curriculum for personal finance education until after the 2008 financial crisis, the United States President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability was set up in 2008 in order to encourage financial literacy among the American people. It also stressed the importance of developing a standard in the field of financial education, the key component of personal finance is financial planning, which is a dynamic process that requires regular monitoring and reevaluation. In general, it involves five steps, Assessment, A persons financial situation is assessed by compiling simplified versions of financial statements including balance sheets, a personal balance sheet lists the values of personal assets, along with personal liabilities. A personal income statement lists personal income and expenses, goal setting, Having multiple goals is common, including a mix of short- and long-term goals. For example, a goal would be to retire at age 65 with a personal net worth of $1,000,000. Setting financial goals helps to direct financial planning, goal setting is done with an objective to meet specific financial requirements. Plan creation, The financial plan details how to accomplish the goals and it could include, for example, reducing unnecessary expenses, increasing the employment income, or investing in the stock market. Execution, Execution of a financial plan often requires discipline and perseverance, many people obtain assistance from professionals such as accountants, financial planners, investment advisers, and lawyers. Monitoring and reassessment, As time passes, the plan is monitored for possible adjustments or reassessments. Net worth is a balance sheet, calculated by adding up all assets under that persons control, minus all liabilities of the household
15.
Public finance
–
Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. The purview of public finance is considered to be threefold, governmental effects on efficient allocation of resources, distribution of income, the proper role of government provides a starting point for the analysis of public finance. In theory, under circumstances, private markets will allocate goods. If private markets were able to provide efficient outcomes and if the distribution of income were socially acceptable, in many cases, however, conditions for private market efficiency are violated. For example, if people can enjoy the same good at the same time. National defense is one example of consumption, or of a public good. Market failure occurs when private markets do not allocate goods or services efficiently, the existence of market failure provides an efficiency-based rationale for collective or governmental provision of goods and services. Externalities, public goods, informational advantages, strong economies of scale, Public provision via a government or a voluntary association, however, is subject to other inefficiencies, termed government failure. Under broad assumptions, government decisions about the efficient scope and level of activities can be separated from decisions about the design of taxation systems. In practice, government budgeting or public budgeting is substantially more complicated, Government can pay for spending by borrowing, although borrowing is a method of distributing tax burdens through time rather than a replacement for taxes. A deficit is the difference between government spending and revenues, the accumulation of deficits over time is the total public debt. Deficit finance allows governments to smooth tax burdens over time, deficits can also narrow the options of successor governments. Public finance is closely connected to issues of distribution and social equity. Governments can reallocate income through transfer payments or by designing tax systems that treat high-income and low-income households differently, the public choice approach to public finance seeks to explain how self-interested voters, politicians, and bureaucrats actually operate, rather than how they should operate. Collection of sufficient resources from the economy in an appropriate manner along with allocating, resource generation, resource allocation and expenditure management are the essential components of a public financial management system. Public Finance Management basically deals with all aspects of resource mobilization, just as managing finances is a critical function of management in any organization, similarly public finance management is an essential part of the governance process. Public finance management includes resource mobilization, prioritization of programmes, the process, efficient management of resources. Rising aspirations of people are placing more demands on financial resources, at the same time, the emphasis of the citizenry is on value for money, thus making public finance management increasingly vital
16.
Financial regulation
–
This may be handled by either a government or non-government organization. Financial regulation has also influenced the structure of banking sectors, by decreasing borrowing costs, reduction of financial crime – reducing the extent to which it is possible for a regulated business to be used for a purpose connected with financial crime. Regulating foreign participation in the financial markets, ati mathunzi // sup // Acts empower organizations, government or non-government, to monitor activities and enforce actions. There are various setups and combinations in place for the regulatory structure around the global. Leaf parts are in any case, Exchange acts ensure that trading on the exchanges is conducted in a proper manner, most prominent the pricing process, execution and settlement of trades, direct and efficient trade monitoring. Financial regulators ensure that companies and market participants comply with various regulations under the trading acts. The trading acts demands that listed companies publish regular financial reports, whereas market participants are required to Publish major shareholder notifications. Asset management supervision or investment acts ensures the frictionless operation of those vehicles, Banking acts lay down rules for banks which they have to observe when they are being established and when they are carrying on their business. These rules are designed to prevent unwelcome developments that might disrupt the functioning of the banking system. Thus ensuring a strong and efficient banking system, the following is a short listing of regulatory authorities in various jurisdictions, for a more complete listing, please see list of financial regulatory authorities by country. Sometimes more than one institution regulates and supervises the banking market, normally because, apart from regulatory authorities, the Eurozone countries are forming a Single Supervisory Mechanism under the European Central Bank as a prelude to Banking union. There are also associations of financial regulatory authorities, in essence, they forced European banks, and, more importantly, the European Central Bank itself e. g. Pr. ISBN 978-0-691-15264-6 Simpson, D. Meeks, G. Klumpes, P. & Andrews, some cost-benefit issues in financial regulation
17.
Commodity
–
In economics, a commodity is a marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services, the word commodity came into use in English in the 15th century, from the French commodité, amenity, convenience. Going further back, the French word derives from the Latin commoditas, meaning suitability, convenience, the Latin word commodus meant variously appropriate, proper measure, time, or condition, and advantage, benefit. The term commodity is specifically used for a good or service when the demand for it has no qualitative differentiation across a market. In other words, a commodity good or service has full or partial but substantial fungibility, that is, the market treats its instances as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. As the saying goes, From the taste of wheat, it is not possible to tell who produced it, a Russian serf, petroleum and copper are other examples of such commodities, their supply and demand being a part of one universal market. Items such as systems, on the other hand, have many aspects of product differentiation, such as the brand, the user interface. The demand for one type of stereo may be larger than demand for another. In contrast, one of the characteristics of a commodity good is that its price is determined as a function of its market as a whole, well-established physical commodities have actively traded spot and derivative markets. Generally, these are basic resources and agricultural products such as ore, sugar. Soft commodities are goods that are grown, while hard commodities are ones that are extracted through mining, there is another important class of energy commodities which includes electricity, gas, coal and oil. Electricity has the characteristic that it is usually uneconomical to store, hence. Commoditization occurs as a goods or services market loses differentiation across its supply base, as such, goods that formerly carried premium margins for market participants have become commodities, such as generic pharmaceuticals and DRAM chips. Following this trend, nanomaterials are emerging from carrying premium profit margins for market participants to a status of commodification, there is a spectrum of commoditization, rather than a binary distinction of commodity versus differentiable product. Many products degree of commoditization depends on the mentality and means. For example, milk, eggs, and notebook paper are not differentiated by many customers, for them, other customers take into consideration other factors besides price, such as environmental sustainability and animal welfare. This is a list of companies trading globally in commodities, descending by size as of October 28,2011, on a commodity exchange, it is the underlying standard stated in the contract that defines the commodity, not any quality inherent in a specific producers product. Commodities exchanges include, Bourse Africa Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Chicago Board of Trade Chicago Mercantile Exchange Dalian Commodity Exchange Euronext and these markets will quickly respond to changes in supply and demand to find an equilibrium price and quantity
18.
Goods
–
In economics, goods are materials that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods that are property, and services, which are non-physical. A good is an item that is useful to people but scarce in relation to its demand. In contrast, free goods, such as air, are naturally in abundant supply, commodities may be used as a synonym for economic goods but often refer to marketable raw materials and primary products. Although in economic theory all goods are considered tangible, in reality certain classes of goods, such as information, only take intangible forms. For example, among other goods an apple is an object, while news belongs to an intangible class of goods. Goods may increase or decrease their utility directly or indirectly and may be described as having marginal utility, some things are useful, but not scarce enough to have monetary value, such as the Earths atmosphere, these are referred to as free goods. In economics, a bad is the opposite of a good, Goods diversity allows for their classification into different categories based on distinctive characteristics, such as tangibility and relative elasticity. A tangible good like an apple differs from a good like information due to the impossibility of a person to physically hold the latter. Intangible goods differ from services in that goods are transferable and can be traded. Price elasticity also differentiates types of goods, an inelastic good is one for which there are few or no substitutes, such as tickets to major sporting events, original works by famous artists, and prescription medicine such as insulin. Complementary goods are generally more inelastic than goods in a family of substitutes and this is because hamburger buns and beef are complementary goods. It is important to note that goods considered complements or substitutes are relative associations, the following chart illustrates the classification of goods according to their exclusivity and competitiveness. Goods are capable of being delivered to a consumer. Goods that are economic intangibles can only be stored, delivered, Goods, both tangibles and intangibles, may involve the transfer of product ownership to the consumer. Services do not normally involve transfer of ownership of the service itself, for example, distributing electricity among consumers is a service provided by an electric utility company. While the service is a process that remains in its entirety in the ownership of the service provider. The consumer becomes electric energy owner by purchase and may use it for any lawful purposes just like any other goods, fast-moving consumer goods Final goods Intangible asset Intangible good List of economics topics Goods and services Service Tangible property Bannock, Graham et al
19.
Real estate
–
Also, the business of real estate, the profession of buying, selling, or renting land, buildings or housing. It is a term used in jurisdictions whose legal system is derived from English common law, such as India, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Pakistan, Australia. Residential real estate may contain either a family or multifamily structure. Residences can be classified by, if, and how they are connected to neighbouring residences, different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residents might be owned by an entity and leased out. Major categories in North America and Europe Attached / multi-unit dwellings Apartment or Flat – An individual unit in a multi-unit building, the boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in apartment buildings. Multi-family house – Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is an apartment or unit. Terraced house – A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a row with shared walls. Condominium – Building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals, common grounds and common areas within the complex are owned and shared jointly. There are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well, semi-detached dwellings Duplex – Two units with one shared wall. Single-family detached house Portable dwellings Mobile homes – Potentially a full-time residence which can be movable on wheels, houseboats – A floating home Tents – Usually very temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material. The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters, in the United States, this includes the area of living space, excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. It can be described roughly by the number of rooms. A studio apartment has a bedroom with no living room. A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom, Two bedroom, three bedroom, and larger units are common. Major categories in India and the Asian Subcontinent Co-operative Housing Societies Condominiums Chawls Villas Havelis The size is measured in Gaz, Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre. See List of house types for a listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market
20.
Financial instrument
–
Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled and they can be cash, evidence of an ownership interest in an entity, or a contractual right to receive or deliver cash. Financial instruments can be either cash instruments or derivative instruments, Cash instruments —instruments whose value is determined directly by the markets. They can be securities, which are transferable, and instruments such as loans and deposits. Derivative instruments —instruments which derive their value from the value and characteristics of one or more underlying entities such as an asset, index and they can be exchange-traded derivatives and over-the-counter derivatives. Alternatively, financial instruments may be categorized by asset class depending on whether they are equity-based or debt-based, if the instrument is debt, it can be further categorised into short-term or long-term. Foreign exchange instruments and transactions are neither debt- nor equity-based and belong in their own category, some instruments defy categorization into the above matrix, for example repurchase agreements
21.
Technical analysis
–
In finance, technical analysis is a security analysis methodology for forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. The efficacy of both technical and fundamental analysis is disputed by the efficient-market hypothesis which states that market prices are essentially unpredictable. The principles of analysis are derived from hundreds of years of financial market data. Some aspects of technical analysis began to appear in Joseph de la Vegas accounts of the Dutch markets in the 17th century. In 1948 Robert D. Edwards and John Magee published Technical Analysis of Stock Trends which is considered to be one of the seminal works of the discipline. It is exclusively concerned with analysis and chart patterns and remains in use to the present. Early technical analysis was almost exclusively the analysis of charts, because the power of computers was not available for the modern degree of statistical analysis. Charles Dow reportedly originated a form of point and figure chart analysis, Dow theory is based on the collected writings of Dow Jones co-founder and editor Charles Dow, and inspired the use and development of modern technical analysis at the end of the 19th century. Other pioneers of analysis techniques include Ralph Nelson Elliott, William Delbert Gann, more technical tools and theories have been developed and enhanced in recent decades, with an increasing emphasis on computer-assisted techniques using specially designed computer software. Fundamental analysts examine earnings, dividends, assets, quality, ratio, new products, research, Technicians employ many methods, tools and techniques as well, one of which is the use of charts. Using charts, technical analysts seek to identify patterns and market trends in financial markets. Technical analysts also widely use market indicators of many sorts, some of which are mathematical transformations of price, often including up and down volume, advance/decline data and other inputs. These indicators are used to assess whether an asset is trending, and if it is. Technicians also look for relationships between price/volume indices and market indicators, examples include the moving average, relative strength index, and MACD. Other avenues of study include correlations between changes in Options and put/call ratios with price, also important are sentiment indicators such as Put/Call ratios, bull/bear ratios, short interest, Implied Volatility, etc. There are many techniques in technical analysis, adherents of different techniques may ignore the other approaches, yet many traders combine elements from more than one technique. Some technical analysts use subjective judgment to decide which pattern a particular instrument reflects at a given time, others employ a strictly mechanical or systematic approach to pattern identification and interpretation. Contrasting with technical analysis is fundamental analysis, the study of factors that influence the way investors price financial markets
22.
Stock
–
The stock of a corporation is constituted of the equity stock of its owners. A single share of the stock represents fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion to the number of shares. In liquidation, the stock represents the residual assets of the company that would be due to stockholders after discharge of all senior claims such as secured and unsecured debt. Stockholders equity cannot be withdrawn from the company in a way that is intended to be detrimental to the companys creditors, the stock of a corporation is partitioned into shares, the total of which are stated at the time of business formation. Additional shares may subsequently be authorized by the shareholders and issued by the company. In some jurisdictions, each share of stock has a certain declared par value, in other jurisdictions, however, shares of stock may be issued without associated par value. Shares represent a fraction of ownership in a business, a business may declare different types of shares, each having distinctive ownership rules, privileges, or share values. Ownership of shares may be documented by issuance of a stock certificate. A stock certificate is a document that specifies the amount of shares owned by the shareholder. Stock typically takes the form of shares of common stock or preferred stock. As a unit of ownership, common stock typically carries voting rights that can be exercised in corporate decisions, shares of such stock are called convertible preferred shares. New equity issue may have specific legal clauses attached that differentiate them from previous issues of the issuer. Some shares of stock may be issued without the typical voting rights, for instance, or some shares may have special rights unique to them. Often, new issues that have not been registered with a governing body may be restricted from resale for certain periods of time. Preferred stock may be hybrid by having the qualities of bonds of fixed returns and they also have preference in the payment of dividends over common stock and also have been given preference at the time of liquidation over common stock. They have other features of accumulation in dividend, Rule 144 Stock is an American term given to shares of stock subject to SEC Rule 144, Selling Restricted and Control Securities. Under Rule 144, restricted and controlled securities are acquired in unregistered form, investors either purchase or take ownership of these securities through private sales from the issuing company or from an affiliate of the issuer. Investors wishing to sell these securities are subject to different rules than those selling traditional common or preferred stock and these individuals will only be allowed to liquidate their securities after meeting the specific conditions set forth by SEC Rule 144
23.
Bond (finance)
–
In finance, a bond is an instrument of indebtedness of the bond issuer to the holders. The most common types of bonds include municipal bonds and corporate bonds, interest is usually payable at fixed intervals. Very often the bond is negotiable, that is, the ownership of the instrument can be transferred in the secondary market and this means that once the transfer agents at the bank medallion stamp the bond, it is highly liquid on the second market. Thus, a bond is a form of loan or IOU, the holder of the bond is the lender, the issuer of the bond is the borrower, and the coupon is the interest. Bonds provide the borrower with funds to finance long-term investments, or, in the case of government bonds. Certificates of deposit or short term commercial paper are considered to be money market instruments and not bonds, the main difference is in the length of the term of the instrument. Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the difference between the two is that stockholders have an equity stake in the company, whereas bondholders have a creditor stake in the company. Being a creditor, bondholders have priority over stockholders and this means they will be repaid in advance of stockholders, but will rank behind secured creditors in the event of bankruptcy. Another difference is that usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed. An exception is a bond, such as a consol, which is a perpetuity, that is. Bonds are issued by authorities, credit institutions, companies. The most common process for issuing bonds is through underwriting, when a bond issue is underwritten, one or more securities firms or banks, forming a syndicate, buy the entire issue of bonds from the issuer and re-sell them to investors. The security firm takes the risk of being unable to sell on the issue to end investors. Primary issuance is arranged by bookrunners who arrange the bond issue, have contact with investors and act as advisers to the bond issuer in terms of timing. The bookrunner is listed first among all participating in the issuance in the tombstone ads commonly used to announce bonds to the public. The bookrunners willingness to underwrite must be discussed prior to any decision on the terms of the issue as there may be limited demand for the bonds. In contrast, government bonds are issued in an auction. In some cases, both members of the public and banks may bid for bonds, in other cases, only market makers may bid for bonds
24.
Futures contract
–
In finance, a futures contract is a standardized forward contract which can be easily traded between parties other than the two initial parties to the contract. The parties initially agree to buy and sell an asset for an agreed upon today, with delivery and payment occurring at a future point. Because it is a function of an asset, a futures contract is a derivative product. Contracts are negotiated at futures exchanges, which act as a marketplace between buyers and sellers, the buyer of a contract is said to be long position holder, and the selling party is said to be short position holder. For example, in gold trading, the margin varies between 2% and 20% depending on the volatility of the spot market. The first futures contracts were negotiated for agricultural commodities, and later contracts were negotiated for natural resources such as oil. The original use of futures contracts was to mitigate the risk of price or exchange rate movements by allowing parties to fix prices or rates in advance for future transactions. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first-ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts in 1864, by 1875 cotton futures were being traded in Bombay in India and within a few years this had expanded to futures on edible oilseeds complex, raw jute and jute goods and bullion. The 1972 creation of the International Monetary Market, the worlds first financial futures exchange, in 1976, the IMM added interest rate futures on US treasury bills, and in 1982 they added stock market index futures. Although futures contract are oriented towards a future point, their main purpose is to mitigate risk of default by either party in the intervening period. In this vein, the futures exchange requires both parties to put up initial cash, or a bond, known as the margin. To mitigate the risk of default, the product is marked to market on a basis where the difference between the initial agreed-upon price and the actual daily futures price is reevaluated daily. If the margin account goes below a certain value set by the Exchange, then a call is made. This process is known as marking to market, thus on the delivery date, the amount exchanged is not the specified price on the contract but the spot value. Upon marketing the strike price is reached and creates lots of income for the caller. To minimize credit risk to the exchange, traders must post a margin or a performance bond, to minimize counterparty risk to traders, trades executed on regulated futures exchanges are guaranteed by a clearing house. The clearing house becomes the buyer to each seller, and the seller to each Buyer and this enables traders to transact without performing due diligence on their counterparty. Margin requirements are waived or reduced in cases for hedgers who have physical ownership of the covered commodity or spread traders who have offsetting contracts balancing the position
25.
Currency
–
A currency in the most specific use of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money in common use, under this definition, US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, and European euros are examples of currency. These various currencies are recognized stores of value and are traded between nations in exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are defined by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance, other definitions of the term currency are discussed in their respective synonymous articles banknote, coin, and money. The latter definition, pertaining to the systems of nations, is the topic of this article. Currencies can be classified into two systems, fiat money and commodity money, depending on what guarantees the value. Some currencies are legal tender in certain jurisdictions, which means they cannot be refused as payment for debt. Others are simply traded for their economic value, digital currency has arisen with the popularity of computers and the Internet. Currency evolved from two basic innovations, both of which had occurred by 2000 BC, originally money was a form of receipt, representing grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, then Ancient Egypt. In this first stage of currency, metals were used as symbols to represent value stored in the form of commodities and this formed the basis of trade in the Fertile Crescent for over 1500 years. Trade could only reach as far as the credibility of that military and it is not known what was used as a currency for these exchanges, but it is thought that ox-hide shaped ingots of copper, produced in Cyprus, may have functioned as a currency. It is thought that the increase in piracy and raiding associated with the Bronze Age collapse, possibly produced by the Peoples of the Sea, brought the trading system of oxhide ingots to an end. In Africa, many forms of value store have been used, including beads, ingots, ivory, various forms of weapons, livestock, the manilla currency, the manilla rings of West Africa were one of the currencies used from the 15th century onwards to sell slaves. African currency is still notable for its variety, and in many various forms of barter still apply. These factors led to the metal itself being the store of value, first silver, now we have copper coins and other non-precious metals as coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins and this was to assure the individual taking the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but they created a new unit of account. Most major economies using coinage had several tiers of coins, using a mix of copper, silver, gold coins were used for large purchases, payment of the military and backing of state activities, they were more often used as measures of account than physical coins
26.
Fine art
–
Historically, the five main fine arts were painting, sculpture, architecture, music and poetry, with performing arts including theatre and dance. Today, the fine arts commonly include additional forms, such as film, photography, video production/editing, design, sequential art, conceptual art, and printmaking. However, in some institutes of learning or in museums, fine art, in that sense, there are conceptual differences between the fine arts and the applied arts. The word fine does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question and this definition originally excluded the applied or decorative arts, and the products of what were regarded as crafts. According to some writers the concept of a category of fine art is an invention of the early modern period in the West. Larry Shiner in his The Invention of Art, A Cultural History locates the invention in the 18th century, There was a traditional “system of the arts” in the West before the eighteenth century. ”Similar ideas have been expressed by Paul Oskar Kristeller, Pierre Bourdieu, and Terry Eagleton, though the point of invention is often placed earlier, in the Italian Renaissance. The separation of arts and crafts that often exists in Europe, in Japanese aesthetics the activities of everyday life are depicted by integrating not only art with craft but man-made with nature. Traditional Chinese art distinguished within Chinese painting between the mostly landscape painting of scholar gentlemen and the artisans of the schools of court painting. A high status was given to many things that would be seen as craft objects in the West, in particular ceramics, jade carving, weaving. Drawing is a form of expression and is one of the major forms of the visual arts. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, markers, stylus, There are a number of subcategories of drawing, including cartooning. Mosaics are images formed with pieces of stone or glass. They can be decorative or functional, an artist who designs and makes mosaics is called a mosaic artist or a mosaicist. Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper, except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a print. Each print is considered an original, as opposed to a copy, the reasoning behind this is that the print is not a reproduction of another work of art in a different medium — for instance, a painting — but rather an image designed from inception as a print. An individual print is also referred to as an impression, prints are created from a single original surface, known technically as a matrix. But there are other kinds, discussed below. Multiple nearly identical prints can be called an edition, in modern times each print is often signed and numbered forming a limited edition
27.
Derivative (finance)
–
In finance, a derivative is a contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, some of the more common derivatives include forwards, futures, options, swaps, and variations of these such as synthetic collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps. Most derivatives are traded over-the-counter or on a such as the Bombay Stock Exchange. Derivatives are one of the three categories of financial instruments, the other two being stocks and debt. More recent historical origin is Bucket shop that were outlawed a century ago, Derivatives are contracts between two parties that specify conditions under which payments are to be made between the parties. The assets include commodities, stocks, bonds, interest rates and currencies, but they can also be other derivatives, from the economic point of view, financial derivatives are cash flows, that are conditioned stochastically and discounted to present value. The market risk inherent in the asset is attached to the financial derivative through contractual agreements. The underlying asset does not have to be acquired, Derivatives therefore allow the breakup of ownership and participation in the market value of an asset. This also provides an amount of freedom regarding the contract design. That contractual freedom allows to modify the participation in the performance of the underlying asset almost arbitrarily, thus, the participation in the market value of the underlying can be effectively weaker, stronger, or implemented as inverse. Hence, specifically the price risk of the underlying asset can be controlled in almost every situation. Derivatives are more common in the era, but their origins trace back several centuries. One of the oldest derivatives is rice futures, which have traded on the Dojima Rice Exchange since the eighteenth century. Derivatives are broadly categorized by the relationship between the asset and the derivative, the type of underlying asset, the market in which they trade. Derivatives may broadly be categorized as lock or option products, lock products obligate the contractual parties to the terms over the life of the contract. Option products provide the buyer the right, but not the obligation to enter the contract under the terms specified, Derivatives can be used either for risk management or for speculation. Along with many financial products and services, derivatives reform is an element of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform. The Act delegated many rule-making details of regulatory oversight to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, however, these are notional values, and some economists say that this value greatly exaggerates the market value and the true credit risk faced by the parties involved
28.
Hedge (finance)
–
A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses or gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. In simple language, a hedge is used to any substantial losses or gains suffered by an individual or an organization. Hedging is the practice of taking a position in one market to offset, the word hedge is from Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial. The use of the word as a verb in the sense of dodge, evade is first recorded in the 1590s, a typical hedger might be a commercial farmer. The market values of wheat and other crops fluctuate constantly as supply and demand for them vary, with occasional large moves in either direction. Based on current prices and forecast levels at harvest time, the farmer might decide that planting wheat is a good idea one season, once the farmer plants wheat, he is committed to it for an entire growing season. Due to the uncertainty of supply and demand fluctuations. One such transaction is the use of forward contracts, forward contracts are mutual agreements to deliver a certain amount of a commodity at a certain date for a specified price and each contract is unique to the buyer and seller. For this example, the farmer can sell a number of forward contracts equivalent to the amount of wheat he expects to harvest, once the forward contracts expire, the farmer will harvest the wheat and deliver it to the buyer at the price agreed to in the forward contract. Therefore, the farmer has reduced his risks to fluctuations in the market of wheat because he has already guaranteed a number of bushels for a certain price. However, there are many risks associated with this type of hedge. For example, if the farmer has a low yield year and he harvests less than the amount specified in the forward contracts, he must purchase the bushels elsewhere in order to fill the contract. This becomes even more of a problem when the lower yields affect the entire wheat industry and the price of wheat increases due to supply and demand pressures. Also, while the farmer hedged all of the risks of a price decrease away by locking in the price with a forward contract, another risk associated with the forward contract is the risk of default or renegotiation. The forward contract locks in an amount and price at a certain future date. Because of that, there is always the possibility that the buyer will not pay the amount required at the end of the contract or that the buyer will try to renegotiate the contract before it expires. Future contracts are another way our farmer can hedge his risk without a few of the risks that forward contracts have, future contracts are similar to forward contracts except they are more standardized. These contracts trade on exchanges and are guaranteed through clearinghouses, clearinghouses ensure that every contract is honored and they take the opposite side of every contract
29.
Arbitrage
–
For instance, an arbitrage is present when there is the opportunity to instantaneously buy low and sell high. People who engage in arbitrage are called arbitrageurs /ˌɑːrbᵻtrɑːˈʒɜːr/—such as a bank or brokerage firm, the term is mainly applied to trading in financial instruments, such as bonds, stocks, derivatives, commodities and currencies. Arbitrage is a French word and denotes a decision by an arbitrator or arbitration tribunal, an arbitrage equilibrium is a precondition for a general economic equilibrium. The no arbitrage assumption is used in finance to calculate a unique risk neutral price for derivatives. This refers to the method of valuing a coupon-bearing financial instrument by discounting its future cash flows by multiple discount rates, by doing so, a more accurate price can be obtained than if the price is calculated with a present-value pricing approach. Arbitrage-free pricing is used for bond valuation and to detect arbitrage opportunities for investors, for the purpose of valuing the price of a bond, its cash flows can each be thought of as packets of incremental cash flows with a large packet upon maturity, being the principal. Since the cash flows are dispersed throughout future periods, they must be discounted back to the present, in the present-value approach, the cash flows are discounted with one discount rate to find the price of the bond. In arbitrage-free pricing, multiple discount rates are used, the present-value approach assumes that the yield of the bond will stay the same until maturity. This is a model because interest rates may fluctuate in the future. The discount rate may be different for each of the flows for this reason. Each cash flow can be considered an instrument that pays one payment upon maturity. The discount rates used should be the rates of multiple bonds with maturity dates the same as each cash flow. By using multiple discount rates, the price is the sum of the discounted cash flows. Arbitrage-free price refers to the price at no price arbitrage is possible. The ideas of using multiple discount rates obtained from zero-coupon bonds, the yield curve is a curve of the yields of the same bond with different maturities. This curve can be used to view trends in market expectations of how interest rates move in the future. In arbitrage-free pricing of a bond, a curve of similar zero-coupon bonds with different maturities is created. If the curve were to be created with Treasury securities of different maturities and this is to transform the bonds into zero-coupon bonds
30.
Investor
–
An investor allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return. Types of investments include, equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, token, derivatives such as put and call options, futures, forwards and this definition makes no distinction between those in the primary and secondary markets. That is, someone who provides a business with capital and someone who buys a stock are both investors, an investor who owns a stock is a shareholder. The assumption of risk in anticipation of gain but recognizing a higher than average possibility of loss, the term speculation implies that a business or investment risk can be analyzed and measured, and its distinction from the term investment is one of degree of risk. It differs from gambling, which is based on random outcomes, investors can include stock traders but with this distinguishing characteristic, investors are owners of a company which entails responsibilities. There are two types of investors, retail investors and institutional investors, Individuals gambling in games of chance, in this respect, an important distinctive investor psychology trait is risk attitude. The term investor protection defines the entity of efforts and activities to observe, safeguard and enforce the rights and this includes advice and legal action. Countries with stronger investor protections tend to grow faster than those with poor investor protections, investor protection includes accurate financial reporting by public companies so the investors can make an informed decision. Investor protection also includes fairness of the market which means all participants in the market have access to the same information, investor protection through government is regulations and enforcements by government agencies to ensure that market is fair and fraudulent activities are eliminated. An example of a government agency provides protection to investors is the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investor protection through individual is the strategy that one utilizes to minimize loss, individual investors can protect themselves by purchasing only shares of businesses that they understand, or only those that remain calm through market volatility. An individual investor may be protected by the strategy he uses in investment, the strategy includes an appropriate price of the stocks or assets in the right time he enters. Its hard to fix what an appropriate price is, and when it is appropriate because no one makes a purchase or a sale absolutely in his most favorable situation, however, determination may be made when the price of such share or assets are undervalued comparing to its potentiality. This is called the margin of safety where an investor can feel at ease when the price of the stocks is alarmingly down, in various instances, the term investor is associated with a means of getting rich quickly. Historically, the road to successful investment is founded on preparation, with various goals that help smooth the journey to the ultimate. To be successful, authorities such as Investopedia advise that an investment plan must include an objective, a determined period of time for completion. A planned investment structure would be dependent on the desired investment target, for an investor, understanding the influencing factors related to finance is a valuable asset which can be gained from various sources. A financial awareness will help any investor learn and understand the mechanism of the investment marketplace, warren Buffett, an established and recognized expert on the subject of successful investing, has a simple philosophy, If I cannot understand it, I will not invest in it
31.
Ticker tape
–
Ticker tape was the earliest digital electronic communications medium, transmitting stock price information over telegraph lines, in use between around 1870 through 1970. The term ticker came from the sound made by the machine as it printed, paper ticker tape became obsolete in the 1960s, as television and computers were increasingly used to transmit financial information. The concept of the stock ticker lives on, however, in the scrolling electronic tickers seen on brokerage walls, Ticker tape stock price telegraphs were invented in 1867 by Edward A. Calahan, an employee of the American Telegraph Company. The first stock price ticker system using a telegraphic printer was invented by Edward A. Calahan in 1863, Early versions of stock tickers provided the first mechanical means of conveying stock prices, over a long distance over telegraph wiring. In its infancy, the ticker used the symbols as Morse code as a medium for conveying messages. Previously, stock prices had been hand-delivered via written or verbal messages, since the useful time-span of individual quotes is very brief, they generally had not been sent long distances, aggregated summaries, typically for one day, were sent instead. The increase in speed provided by the allowed for faster. Since the ticker ran continuously, updates to a stocks price whenever the price changed became effective much faster, for the first time, trades were being done in what is now thought of as near real-time. By the 1880s, there were about a thousand stock tickers installed in the offices of New York bankers and brokers. In 1890, members of the agreed to create the New York Quotation Co. buying up all other ticker companies to ensure accuracy of reporting of price. Stock ticker machines are an ancestor of the modern computer printer, being one of the first applications of transmitting text over a wire to a printing device, based on the printing telegraph. This used the technology of the then-recently invented telegraph machines, with the advantage that the output was readable text, instead of the dots, a special typewriter designed for operation over telegraph wires was used at the opposite end of the telegraph wire connection to the ticker machine. Text typed on the typewriter was displayed on the machine at the opposite end of the connection. The machines printed a series of symbols, followed by brief information about the price of that companys stock. The word ticker comes from the tapping noise the machines made while printing. Pulses on the line made a letter wheel turn step by step until the correct symbol was reached. A typical 32-symbol letter wheel had to turn on average 15 steps until the letter could be printed resulting in a very slow printing speed of one character per second. Newer and more efficient tickers became available in the 1930s, Ticker machines became obsolete in the 1960s, replaced by computer networks, none have been manufactured for use for decades
32.
The Intelligent Investor
–
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, first published in 1949, is a widely acclaimed book on value investing. The Intelligent Investor is based on value investing, an investment approach Graham began teaching at Columbia Business School in 1928 and this sentiment was echoed by other Graham disciples such as Irving Kahn and Walter Schloss. The Intelligent Investor also marks a significant deviation to stock selection from Grahams earlier works and he explained the change as, The thing that I have been emphasizing in my own work for the last few years has been the group approach. To try to buy groups of stocks that meet some simple criterion for being undervalued-regardless of the industry, I found the results were very good for 50 years. They certainly did twice as well as the Dow Jones, and so my enthusiasm has been transferred from the selective to the group approach. Grahams favorite allegory is that of Mr. Market, a fellow who turns up every day at the shareholders door offering to buy or sell his shares at a different price. Often, the price quoted by Mr. Market seems plausible, the investor is free to either agree with his quoted price and trade with him, or ignore him completely. Mr. Market doesnt mind this, and will be back the day to quote another price. The point of this anecdote is that the investor should not regard the whims of Mr. Market as a factor in the value of the shares the investor owns. He should profit from market folly rather than participate in it, the investor is advised to concentrate on the real life performance of his companies and receiving dividends, rather than be too concerned with Mr. Markets often irrational behavior. Since the work was published in 1949 Graham revised it several times and this was published in 1973 as the Fourth Revised Edition ISBN 0-06-015547-7, and it included a preface and appendices by Warren Buffett. Commentaries and new footnotes were added to the edition by Jason Zweig. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, the Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham and Jason Zweig. An unabridged audio version of the Revised Edition of The Intelligent Investor was also released on July 7,2015, tax Accounting for NVFs Acquisition of Sharon Steel Shares Technological Companies as Investments Endnotes Index Security Analysis Williams, John Burr. The Intelligent Investor - an Introduction by Tom Butler-Bowdon
33.
Victor Niederhoffer
–
Victor Niederhoffer is a hedge fund manager, champion squash player, bestselling author and statistician. Victor Niederhoffer was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish family and his paternal grandfather Martin, an accountant and court interpreter, married Birdie in 1916. His maternal grandparents were Sam and Gertrude Eisenberg and his father, Dr. Arthur Artie Niederhoffer, graduated from Brooklyn College in 1937, and then from Brooklyn Law School, and finally with a Ph. D. from New York University. His father served in the New York City Police Department for 21 years and his mother, Elaine Niederhoffer, was an English teacher, author, and editor who had descended from a long line of rabbis. His brother Roy Niederhoffer, who is himself a hedge fund manager, worked for Victor and his hedge fund from 1987 to 1992, Niederhoffer studied statistics and economics at Harvard University and the University of Chicago. He was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1965, while still at college, he co-founded with Frank Cross a company called Niederhoffer, Cross and Zeckhauser and this firm is now called Niederhoffer Henkel, and was run by Lee Henkel, the former general counsel to the IRS. Niederhoffer pioneered a mass marketing approach in investment banking and did a large volume of small deals at this firm and he also bought many privately held firms with Dan Grossman, his partner during this period. As a college professor in the 1960s and 1970s, Niederhoffer wrote academic articles about market inefficiencies, the success of this firm attracted the attention of George Soros. Niederhoffer became a partner of Soros and managed all of the fixed income, Soros said in The Alchemy of Finance that Niederhoffer was the only one of his managers who retired voluntarily from trading for him while still ahead. Soros held Niederhoffer in such esteem that he sent his son to work for him to learn how to trade. As an academic at Berkeley in the 1960s, Niederhoffer wrote a number of papers on anomalies in stock market behavior and his paper Market Making and Reversal on the Stock Exchange made Niederhoffer the father of Statistical Arbitrage and of Market Microstructure Studies. He left academia in 1972 to concentrate fully on his business activities, Niederhoffer Investments returned 35% a year from inception through 1996, when MAR ranked it the No.1 hedge fund manager in the world. In 1997, Niederhoffer published a New York Times bestselling book, in statistical terms, I figure I have traded about 2 million contracts, with an average profit of $70 per contract. This average is approximately 700 standard deviations away from randomness, Niederhoffer decided to buy Thai bank stocks, which had fallen heavily in the Asian financial crisis, his bet being that the Thai government would not allow these companies to go out of business. On October 27,1997, losses resulting from investment, combined with a 554-point single day decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In a lawsuit that Niederhoffer later filed in the U. S, traders at the time said Refco may have been responsible for as much as $35 million of Niederhoffers losses. Since closing down his fund in 1997, he began trading for his own account again in 1998, after mortgaging his house and this original fund is called Wimbledon Fund, the name reflecting his love of tennis
34.
Capital (economics)
–
In economics, capital goods, real capital, or capital assets are already-produced, durable goods or any non-financial asset that is used in production of goods or services. Adam Smith defines capital as That part of a stock which he expects to afford him revenue. The term stock is derived from the Old English word for stump or tree trunk and it has been used to refer to all the moveable property of a farm since at least 1510. In Middle Ages France contracted leases and loans bearing interest specified payment, how a capital good is maintained or returned to its pre-production state varies with the type of capital involved. In most cases capital is replaced after a period as newer forms of capital make continued use of current capital non profitable. It is also possible that advances make a form of capital practical again. Capital is distinct from land in that capital can be increased by human labor, at any given moment in time, total physical capital may be referred to as the capital stock. Capital is an input in the production function, homes and personal autos are not usually defined as capital but as durable goods because they are not used in a production of saleable goods and services. In Marxist political economy, capital is used to buy something only in order to sell it again to realize a financial profit. In more contemporary schools of economics, this form of capital is referred to as financial capital and is distinguished from capital goods. Classical and neoclassical economics regard capital as one of the factors of production, all other inputs to production are called intangibles in classical economics. This includes organization, entrepreneurship, knowledge, goodwill, or management and this is what makes it a factor of production, The good is not used up immediately in the process of production unlike raw materials or intermediate goods. The good can be produced or increased and these distinctions of convenience have carried over to contemporary economic theory. There was the clarification that capital is a stock. As such, its value can be estimated at a point in time, by contrast, investment, as production to be added to the capital stock, is described as taking place over time, thus a flow. Since at least the 1960s economists have increasingly focused on forms of capital. These terms lead to questions and controversies discussed in those articles. It is in the form of assets, traded in financial markets
35.
Market liquidity
–
In business, economics or investment, market liquidity is a markets ability to purchase or sell an asset without causing drastic change in the assets price. Equivalently, a market liquidity describes the assets ability to sell quickly without having to reduce its price to a significant degree. Liquidity is about how big the trade-off is between the speed of the sale and the price it can be sold for, in a liquid market, the trade-off is mild, selling quickly will not reduce the price much. In a relatively illiquid market, selling it quickly will require cutting its price by some amount, money, or cash, is the most liquid asset, because it can be sold for goods and services instantly with no loss of value. There is no wait for a buyer of the cash. There is no trade-off between speed and value and it can be used immediately to perform economic actions like buying, selling, or paying debt, meeting immediate wants and needs. If an asset is moderately liquid, it has moderate liquidity, in an alternative definition, liquidity can mean the amount of cash and cash equivalents. If a business has moderate liquidity, it has an amount of very liquid assets. If a business has sufficient liquidity, it has a sufficient amount of liquid assets. An act of exchanging a less liquid asset for a liquid asset is called liquidation. Often liquidation is trading the less liquid asset for cash, also known as selling it, for the same asset, its liquidity can change through time or between different markets, such as in different countries. The change in the liquidity is just based on the market liquidity for the asset at the particular time or in the particular country. The liquidity of a product can be measured as how often it is bought, Liquidity is defined formally in many accounting regimes and has in recent years been more strictly defined. For instance, the US Federal Reserve intends to apply quantitative liquidity requirements based on Basel III liquidity rules as of fiscal 2012, bank directors will also be required to know of, and approve, major liquidity risks personally. A liquid asset has some or all of the features, It can be sold rapidly, with minimal loss of value. The essential characteristic of a market is that there are always ready. A market may be considered both deep and liquid if there are ready and willing buyers and sellers in large quantities, an illiquid asset is an asset which is not readily salable due to uncertainty about its value or the lack of a market in which it is regularly traded. The mortgage-related assets which resulted in the mortgage crisis are examples of illiquid assets
36.
Risk
–
Risk is the potential of gaining or losing something of value. Values can be gained or lost when taking risk resulting from an action or inaction. Risk can also be defined as the interaction with uncertainty. Uncertainty is a potential, unpredictable, and uncontrollable outcome, risk is a consequence of action taken in spite of uncertainty, Risk perception is the subjective judgment people make about the severity and probability of a risk, and may vary person to person. Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much riskier than others, the Oxford English Dictionary cites the earliest use of the word in English as of 1621, and the spelling as risk from 1655. It defines risk as, the possibility of loss, injury, or other adverse or unwelcome circumstance, Risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has an effect on at least one objective. The probability of something happening multiplied by the resulting cost or benefit if it does, finance, The possibility that an actual return on an investment will be lower than the expected return. Insurance, A situation where the probability of a variable is known, a risk is not an uncertainty, a peril, or a hazard. Securities trading, The probability of a loss or drop in value, non-systematic risk is any risk that isnt market-related. Also called non-market risk, extra-market risk or diversifiable risk, workplace, Product of the consequence and probability of a hazardous event or phenomenon. For example, the risk of developing cancer is estimated as the probability of developing cancer over a lifetime as a result of exposure to potential carcinogens. The International Organization for Standardization publication ISO31000 / ISO Guide 73,2002 definition of risk is the effect of uncertainty on objectives, in this definition, uncertainties include events and uncertainties caused by ambiguity or a lack of information. It also includes both negative and positive impacts on objectives, very different approaches to risk management are taken in different fields, e. g. Risk is the unwanted subset of a set of uncertain outcomes. Risk can be seen as relating to the probability of future events. For example, according to analysis of information risk, risk is. In computer science this definition is used by The Open Group, OHSAS defines risk as the combination of the probability of a hazard resulting in an adverse event, and the severity of the event. In information security risk is defined as the potential that a threat will exploit vulnerabilities of an asset or group of assets. Financial risk is defined as the unpredictable variability or volatility of returns
37.
Pork belly
–
Pork belly is a boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is popular in East Asian, European and North American cuisine and this cut of meat is enormously popular in Chinese, Korean and Philippine cuisine. In Chinese cuisine, pork belly is usually diced, browned, then braised with skin on. Pork belly is used to make Slowly Braised Pork Belly or Dongpo pork in China, in Colombian cuisine pork belly strips are fried and served as part of bandeja paisa. In Alsatian cuisine, pork belly is used to make choucroute garnie, in German cuisine, pork belly is used to make schlachtplatte. Pancetta is made from pork belly, in Okinawan cuisine, rafute is traditionally eaten for longevity. Koreans cook Samgyeopsal on a grill with garlic, often accompanied by soju, in Philippine cuisine, pork belly is marinated in a mixture of crushed garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper before being grilled. It is then served with soy sauce and vinegar or vinegar with garlic, Pork belly prepared this way is called inihaw in Filipino and sinugba in Cebuano. Seasoned pork belly deep-fried and served chopped into pieces is called lechon kawali, in Swiss cuisine, pork belly is used to make the Berner Platte. In British cuisine pork belly is primarily cooked using two methods and this is often accompanied by a sweet chilli baste or sauce. For barbecued belly pork the meat is seasoned and slow cooked in a pan by indirect heat on a covered barbecue, heat is again varied to produce tender meat with hard crackling. Pork belly is used in the UK to make streaky bacon. In the United States, bacon is most often made from pork bellies, uncured whole pork belly is a popular dish as well. The pork belly futures contract became an icon of futures and commodities trading and it is frequently used as a pars pro toto for commodities in general and appears in several depictions of the arena in popular entertainment. The futures contracts were useful in guiding inventories and establishing forward pricing, the unit of trading was 20 short tons of frozen, trimmed bellies. Pork bellies can be kept in storage for an extended period of time. In more recent years pork belly futures prominence declined, eventually they were among the least-traded contracts on the CME, and were delisted for trading on July 18,2011
38.
Efficient-market hypothesis
–
Efficient-market hypothesis is a theory in financial economics that states that an assets prices fully reflect all available information. A direct implication is that it is impossible to beat the market consistently on a basis since market prices should only react to new information or changes in discount rates. There are three variants of the hypothesis, weak, semi-strong, and strong form, the weak form of the EMH claims that prices on traded assets already reflect all past publicly available information. The semi-strong form of the EMH claims both that prices reflect all available information and that prices instantly change to reflect new public information. The strong form of the EMH additionally claims that prices instantly reflect even hidden insider information, critics have blamed the belief in rational markets for much of the late-2000s financial crisis. Historically, the EMH is preceded by Hayeks argument that markets are the most effective way of aggregating the pieces of information dispersed amongst individuals within a society, given the ability to profit from private information, self-interested traders are motivated to acquire and act on their private information. In doing so, traders contribute to more and more efficient market prices, in the competitive limit, market prices reflect all available information and prices can only move in response to news. Thus there is a close link between EMH and the random walk hypothesis which was discussed in 1863 by Jules Regnault, a French broker. Later another French mathematician, Louis Bachelier, applied probability theory in his 1900 PhD thesis and his work was largely ignored until the 1950s when financial economists began making heavy use of probability theory and statistics to model asset prices. Empirically, a number of studies indicated that US stock prices, whilst there is some predictability over the long-term, the extent to which this is due to rational time-varying risk premia as opposed to behavioral reasons is a subject of debate. Research by Alfred Cowles in the 1930s and 1940s suggested that investors were in general unable to outperform the market. While event studies of stock splits is consistent with the EMH, early examples include the observation that small neglected stocks and stocks with low book-market ratios tended to achieve abnormally high returns relative to what could be explained by the CAPM. Further tests of efficiency by Gibbons, Ross and Shakens led to rejections of the CAPM. Following GJRs results and mounting empirical evidence of EMH anomalies, academics began to move away from the CAPM towards risk factor models such as the Fama-French 3 factor model. It should be noted that these risk factor models are not properly founded on economic theory and these risk factors are said to represent some aspect or dimension of undiversifiable systematic risk which should be compensated with higher expected returns. Additional popular risk factors include the HML value factor, MOM momentum factor, when testing the EMH one inevitably finds that 1) either the market is inefficient, or 2) the asset pricing model used to test market efficiency is incorrect. Hence tests of market efficiency run into this joint hypothesis problem, for instance, early tests of market efficiency used the CAPM, which could be an incomplete model of asset prices, test results on market efficiency would thus be inconclusive. Formally, the joint hypothesis problem says that it is never possible to test market efficiency, a test of market efficiency must include some model for how prices may be set efficiently
39.
Price discovery
–
The individuals with better information and judgement participate in these markets to take advantage of such information. These markets are usually the first ones to react as the transaction cost is lower in these markets than in the spot market. Therefore these markets indicate what is likely to happen and thus assist in better price discovery, price discovery is different from valuation. Price discovery process involves buyers and sellers arriving at a price for a specific item at a given time. It involves the following, Buyers and seller Market mechanism Available information including futures, Market is a broad term that covers buyers, sellers and even sentiment. A single market will have one or more venues, which describes where trades are executed. This could be in the street for a market, or increasingly it could be an electronic or virtual venue. Examples of virtual execution venues include NASDAQ, The London Metal Exchange, NYSE, after the 2001 Enron scandal, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act tightened accounting rules regarding the mark to market method, requiring that only recently discovered prices be used. The intention of this change was to stop companies overvaluing the assets they held, each night they would have to take a recently discovered market price obtained from two or more market observers. Recent changes in regulations, post Lehman Bros, have outlined practices that affect the price discovery mechanism. Price discovery is sensitive to many factors, consider for a specific execution venue the following inputs drive the price discovery mechanism. The cost of execution applies to all markets, even a street market trader may have to pay to have a stall and these are not costs of production but a cost incurred to access the execution venue. Remember that price discovery is a summation of the total markets sentiment at a point in time and it is how every price in every market is determined. The market price is important as it is a factor in the pricing at off market execution venues, for example, the price of oil has a direct bearing on the cost of tomatoes in cold climates. Market rules set the times and duration for trades and settlement, some markets may not have many participants as the assets being traded do not have much appeal. Such markets are often called illiquid, for example minor currencies, in illiquid markets, price discovery might take place at a predefined auction time or even whenever participant wants to trade. In such cases there may be no executions for days or months, in such examples there is no price discovery for long periods so the last traded price is used. This can have significant risk as the market for the illiquid may have moved, another characteristic of illiquid markets is that the cost of trading can be higher due to the lack of competition
