A trading desk is a place in a bank, brokerage, or other entity that trades financial instruments. An equity desk trades stocks and a fixed income desk trades fixed income.
Archive for the ‘Level 1’ Category
A Trading Desk is…
Monday, August 10th, 2009A Trader is…
Monday, August 10th, 2009A trader is an employee of a broker-dealer, investment company, or other financial institution who specializes in handling the purchase and sale of securities for the firm or its clients. Anyone can be an independent trader by trading their account themselves.
A Hedge is…
Monday, August 10th, 2009A hedge is a financial strategy used to neutralize the risk of a certain bet. For example, an investor might buy a security in the health-care sector while hedging his or her bet by purchasing another security in the finance sector. The reason for the difference in investments is that if the value of one security goes down, the other might still go up. In plain terms it means covering your investments.
Why do some nonprofits have a for-profit arm?
Monday, August 10th, 2009Frequently (especially in tough economies), nonprofits struggle to meet their costs on grants and donations alone. When these organizations consider their options for a financially sustainable future, they sometimes choose to create a for-profit arm – though the goal of the for-profit business is generally just to finance the nonprofit’s mission and activities when its members can’t do so by other means.
Like any other organization, nonprofits need money to accomplish their goals, or even just to pay employees and keep the lights on, and there isn’t any way around that. So if they can run a business that doesn’t conflict with their mission or ideals, how is that so much different from throwing fundraising parties or soliciting donations? But having a for-profit arm doesn’t turn a nonprofit into a full-scale business. Why? The difference is that, in a regular company, the goal is to make money for the owners of the business. The more money the company makes, the richer its owners (and stockholders) get and, by extension, the more they’re willing to pay their employees. But even if a nonprofit has a for-profit arm, the extra money generated goes toward the nonprofit’s mission, not in its CEO’s wallet.
A Site Visit is…
Monday, August 10th, 2009A site visit is a trip for funders to see the offices and meet the staff and sometimes beneficiaries of a nonprofit organization they are supporting. It’s a way of getting to know the orgainization better and can be an important part of due diligence before making the decision whether to donate or not.
Market Analysis is…
Monday, August 10th, 2009Market analysis is the study of technical, corporate, and market data for the purpose of accurately predicting movements in the market. Basically, it’s keeping smart on financial happenings.
Aren’t health and a clean environment human rights?
Monday, August 10th, 2009Deciding which causes you want to support – with time or money – can be confusing. If you give to just one cause, you might feel like you’re neglecting something else you care about, and it seems like some of the categories overlap anyway. Aren’t health and a clean environment human rights? It depends on who you ask. Even defining exactly what it means to be or have a human right isn’t simple.
The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human rights and other major documents have listed health and a clean environment as “human rights,” but what might be more relevant for you as a budding philanthropist to realize is that giving to an organization with a specific mission can have a broad impact. Many microfinance and poverty causes aim to help their constituents develop sustainable livelihoods – which has environmental and health implications as well financial ones. Helping to preserve and restore local environments can have major health and economic benefits as well. All of these things make people better able to live happy, meaningful lives, which is the true spirit of human rights.
The point is to find a cause that excites you and in which you will enjoy becoming involved, whether by giving money or time. The impact you make might be far wider-reaching than you think.
An Export is…
Monday, August 10th, 2009An export is something made locally that’s sold and shipped to a foreign country. Tech companies in the Silicon Valley in California make computer chips that are exported to be used in computers all over the world.
An Education Cause is…
Friday, August 7th, 2009An Education Cause is an organization that works to improve people’s lives by providing access to educational resources that aren’t available to them for many reasons. An Education Cause might support teachers in high-need areas, provide books and computers or other supplies, or do anything to help people realize their dreams of earning an education and the possibility for a better life.