Publicly held is a description that refers to a company whose stock is owned by the public (as opposed to a privately held company, whose stock is not available for purchase by the public).
Archive for the ‘Daily Definition’ Category
Publicly Held is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Preferred Stock is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009A Partnership is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009A partnership is a group of at least two people who agree to share the profits and risks involved in running a business.
The Federal Reserve is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009The Federal Reserve (or “the Fed”) is the government agency that sets monetary policy, which means they try to control inflation and affect people’s spending habits by changing interest rates. The Fed also controls the discount rate, which is an interest rate that makes it cheaper or more expensive for banks to borrow and lend money.
An Exchange is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009An exchange is any marketplace with established rules and regulations where you can buy and sell one or more types of commodities (stocks, bonds, options and futures, etc.).
Duration is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Duration is a measurement of how sensitive the price of a bond is to changes in interest rate. A bond with a higher duration would change in price more than a bond with lower duration given the same change in interest rate. The higher the duration, the more you can either gain or lose on the market price of the bond – depending on whether the interest rate increases or decreases.
A Dealer is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009A dealer is a person or entity that buys and sells goods and keeps an inventory. In an investment capacity, a dealer buys and sells securities on his own behalf, rather than as a representative for someone else.
Accrual Basis is…
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Accrual basis is an accounting method in which you factor in profits and expenses as they are incurred, rather than after the money has actually changed hands. For example, say you sell your friend a laptop, and he agrees to pay you $1,000 next week. If you’re keeping your accounts on an accrual basis, you write down the $1,000 as income now, even though you won’t actually get the money until next week.