Showing results by narrator "Emily Knapp" in All Categories

Learn about Gold Trading with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Gold trading is the investment in and trading of gold as a commodity. It is similar to trading in other commodities such as oil or wood, though there are factors that differentiate it. Gold has represented money and wealth for millennia in different forms. In the present day, we are able to freely own and trade gold in various forms, from gold bars to shares in gold mining companies.

Learn about the Chinese market with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. China’s market offers unprecedented opportunities. It contains a population of over 1.3 billion in the world’s second largest and strongest growing economy. Through trade liberalisation and the deregulation of its economy China has utilised its low cost labour advantage to dominate world trade in simple manufactured goods.

Learn about Price Cartels with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. A price cartel is a group of companies that have a formal agreement to fix prices. Companies that form cartels operate within the same industry and, in theory, should be in competition with each other. By forming a cartel, the companies create monopoly power that can be used to increase profits.

Learn about short selling with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Short selling is the practice of selling borrowed stock at a high price and then buying back the stock at a lower price. A short seller expects to profit from the fall in a stock's price. The more common investment practice is to “go long”, that is, to buy stock with the expectation of the price rising in the future. Simply, a short transaction sells high and buys low, while a long transaction buys low and sells high.

Learn about Leveraged Buyouts with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Leveraged buyouts originated in the early 1960’s. It is also known as a hostile takeover, a highly-leveraged transaction, or a bootstrap transaction. In effect, it is a tactic through which control of a corporation is acquired by buying up a majority of their stock using borrowed money.

Learn about Mutual Funds with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. A mutual fund is an investment vehicle that allows a group of investors to pool their money, allowing a professional to collectively trade securities on their behalf in exchange for a small fee. The pooled funds are used to purchase a diverse range of assets and provide a return to the investor.

Learn about inflation with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Inflation is the increase in the general price of goods and services brought about through either an increase in the amount of money in circulation or by an increase in costs. Historically, inflation often occurred due to the acquisition of new gold deposits. For example, inflation occurred in Europe when Europeans brought back gold from their new American colonies in the Early Modern period.

Learn about EBITDA with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Traditionally, those looking to investigate the financial health and value of a company have focused on things such as net income, cash flow and revenue. In recent times, another form of financial analysis has become increasingly used by investors, debt holder and others interested in the worth of businesses. It is known as EBITDA.

Learn about Junk Bonds with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Junk bonds are bonds with a potential for high returns but which also come with many risks. A junk bond is like an IOU from an organisation that states the amount it will pay you back, the date it will pay you back and the interest it will pay you back. But what truly sets junk bonds apart from similar investments is the credit quality of their issuers.

Learn about Peak Oil with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Oil is put to use every day in vehicles, plains, agriculture and many other ways. Developed nations have been built on oil and are still very much reliant on this finite commodity. The vast changes to life brought about by the Industrial Revolution depended on oil as a power source. It is not unexpected then that many people find it difficult to admit the world is changing.

Trade embargoes are a form of economic sanction that can be used against another nation. A trade embargo restricts trade with a nation. This may involve banning the import and export of only a few goods, such as armaments, or may encompass a wider range of goods. Embargoes are usually employed to apply pressure to a nation that has or will engage in actions undesirable to the body applying the sanction.

Learn about Property Securities with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Property securities are interests in property trusts that are listed on the stock exchange. These listed property trusts are known globally as Real Estate Investment Funds, or REITs. They hold portfolios of property assets that consist of large properties that, due to their size and value, could not be bought by average private investors.

Learn about Land Trusts with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. A land trust is an agreement whereby one party, the trustee, agrees to hold ownership of a piece of real property for the benefit of another party, the beneficiary. Corporations set up land trusts as intermediaries that hold and manage property on behalf of investors in return for management fees.

Learn about Underwriting with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Underwriting is the process of issuing insurance policies. A company underwrites your policy when it agrees to insure you or your property in exchange for the premiums you pay. Underwriting is carried out by either an insurance company or a professional underwriter. Underwriters assess risks and decide whether to accept applications for insurance cover and, if so, under what terms they are valid.

Learn about Market Capitalisation with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Market capitalisation, or simply market cap, is the total tradable value of a public company, equal to the number of shares outstanding times share price. It is therefore an indicator of public opinion on the total future value or net worth of a business. This also means market capitalisation will fluctuate over time and even within the space of a day.

Sovereign debt is the debt of a country or government. This debt is usually comprised of bonds issued by the government. Sovereign debt can be contrasted with government debt. Government debt is when bonds are issued in a nation’s own currency. Therefore, this debt is mostly created within a country’s own economic boundaries. Sovereign debt, however, is created from bonds issued in foreign currencies or through loans.

Learn about IPOs with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. IPOs or Initial Public Offerings are the sale of a company's equity to the public for the first time. By “going public”, a private company can be invested in by anyone on a stock exchange. Companies commonly “go public to” either to raise capital or to increase the company's liquidity. Previously, IPOs were limited to long established, large private firms.

Learn about Monetary Policy with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Monetary Policy refers to the branch of economic policy handled by a country’s central bank. It is concerned with the management of the money supply, interest rates and financial conditions. It attempts to achieve the central bank’s and the government’s broad economic objectives of achieving high employment, stable economic growth and low inflation.

Learn about derivatives with iMinds Money's insightful fast-knowledge series. In economics, a derivative is defined as a financial instrument or an “agreement” between two parties that is based on an “underlying” and generally tangible asset, such as a stock or a commodity.

Learn about securitization with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Securitization as a financial term has evolved over the decades, as different methods and products have developed from the process. At a basic level, securitization is the process of taking an illiquid asset, or a group of relatively homogenous assets, and through financial engineering, transforming them into a security. The assets are pooled together and repackaged into a single security, which is then sold to investors.