A share is a unit of ownership in a company. You can own shares of stock or shares in a mutual fund. The more shares you own, the larger your stake in the company or investment vehicle.
Archive for the ‘Needs Link’ Category
A Share is…
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009Plunging Prices Follow The Crash
Monday, October 5th, 2009Times are good for bargain-hunters, but a price-slashing culture could be disastrous for retailers and their employees.
- Prices around the country are dropping in a retail campaign to win back buyers who put their wallets away when the stock market crashed and thriftiness became the norm.
- Shoppers are staying away primarily because they’re broke, but also because the consumer culture has changed since 2007: conspicuous consumption just isn’t as okay as it used to be.
- Because consumers are now holding out for the discounts they know desperate retailers will offer, companies are forced to cut prices even as their profit margins shrink. Lower prices mean lower profits, which often translates to hiring freezes and layoffs. This is the same cycle that affects the Japanese economy, which has been battling deflation for decades.
Facts & Figures
- 70% of the U.S. economy is made up of consumer spending, but following the stock market crash in 2008, total household wealth decreased by 11% in less than six months.
- On average, prices have decreased by about 20% in the hotel industry and more than 30% in the real estate market.
- The Consumer Price Index dropped 1.5% between September 2008 and September 2009 – the largest decrease since 1950.
Best Quote
“This is the new normal. We aren’t going back.” – Donald Keprta, President of Dominick’s (a supermarket chain in the Midwest)
An IPO is…
Monday, October 5th, 2009An IPO or “initial public offering” is when private companies become public by making shares of their stock available to the public for the first time. Companies do this for lots of reasons including raising money, changing owners, to have a public currency to buy other companies, and/or to create an incentive for employees. After the IPO the public can buy shares of the company as they are now publicly traded.
How much can you legally deduct on your taxes for charitable contributions?
Monday, October 5th, 2009While tax laws are pretty complicated, there are still some general limits on charitable tax deductions. These limits only apply if you are donating a significant amount – more than 20% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). If you are not donating more than this amount in a year, then deduct away!
Once you reach the 20% threshold though, you should know the different limits on tax deductions that come into play. You can’t deduct more than 50% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) for cash donations, 30% for property, and 20% for assets. If you go over your limit for one year, you can roll the deductions out overthe next five years – and hopefully you’ll be able to deduct it all.
What’s with all the yelling and hand signals?
Monday, October 5th, 2009You’ve seen it in movies: the guys in suits yelling and screaming, making hand signals reminiscent of those on a baseball field. So what’s all the yelling about? It’s called “open outcry” and it’s a method brokers use on trading floors to verbally make bids and offers. Palms up and out means sell. Palms in and up means buy. One set of fingers is used for numbers 1-5. Turn the other hand on its side and those fingers become 6-10. For 1-9, touch your chin. For blocks of 10, touch your forehead. For blocks of 100, make a fist and touch your forehead. And so on, whew!
As trading moves from physical floors to the electronic exchanges, open outcry is becoming obsolete. Many support this shift, citing electronic trading as faster, cheaper, and more efficient. On the other hand, many brokers insist face-to-face trades allow them to be more strategic in their executions, especially due to the cues they take from open outcries, whatever they are – hands up, palms out, high five! Fist to the sky!
What’s the difference between a regular bond and a junk bond?
Friday, October 2nd, 2009“Junk” bonds are considered higher risk and lower quality than other bonds. Because of this, they promise a higher interest rate than normal. So, the higher rate gives you the possibility of higher returns but it also comes with a greater risk of default.
Junk bonds get the name “junk” from their low bond credit ratings. Companies like Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service rate bonds to measure their riskiness – the lower the risk, the higher the quality, and vice versa. S&P’s “AAA” or Moody’s “Aaa” are the highest ratings a bond can get. Highly rated bonds are called investment grade. Anything below BB or Bb is deemed junk.
The Recession Might Be Over For US, But Not For Those Who Didn’t Cause It
Thursday, September 24th, 2009The recession hit hard here in the U.S., but people in poor countries are really out of luck.
- More and more people are being pushed into extreme poverty by the global recession, and the World Bank is asking the 20 largest countries to lend a hand.
- Poor countries that didn’t have a hand in creating the global recession are being hit really hard. They are often forced to cut funding for vital programs in education, health care, and basic infrastructure.
- To build a more sustainable future, the World Bank is pressing for global economic growth to be less dependent on U.S. consumer spending and for less-developed nations to play a more significant role. But to do so, they need aid and access to financing.
Facts and Figures
- The Group of 20 meeting is scheduled for this week with the goal of evaluating the state of the world economy.
- By 2010, the recession will have pushed 89 million people into extreme poverty.
- Last year the top eight economies pledged to give $20 billion in agricultural aid to poor countries, but these pledges haven’t been entirely fulfilled.
Best Quote
“The April summit was for the financial sector, this summit needs to be for responsible globalization.” – Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group
Hidden taxes?
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009You wouldn’t think you could pay taxes without knowing it, but it actually happens all the time. So-called hidden taxes are taxes on goods and services that you, the consumer, end up paying for. They’re taxes that are charged before the product or service can be purchased, and the seller just adjusts for the tax by hiking up his or her prices. So the government gets the tax money, the seller fixes things so he or she can turn the same profit, and the consumer faces a bigger price tag in the end.
You aren’t aware of hidden taxes because they’re indirect – they can take the form of import or export taxes, sales tax, excise duties, value added tax, and more. What’s more, indirect taxes can be a sneaky way for government officials to raise revenue: if they raise, say, income taxes, everyone notices and complains, but if they raise indirect taxes, people still end up paying more, but it tends to slip under their radar.
However, some people don’t like this practice because they argue indirect taxes aren’t progressive – that is, they don’t take ability-to-pay into account the way income taxes do. If prices for consumer goods go up, that price hike is usually small change for the very rich, but for less wealthy individuals, a price increase on goods they need can make a sizable dent in their budget. For example, an added standard import tax on coffee impacts everyone who drinks coffee, rich or poor. So even though indirect taxes aren’t illegal or even truly hidden (the sellers who have to pay them can certainly see them), some people still consider them a way to increase their tax burden behind their backs.
A Beneficiary is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009A beneficiary is a person or institution who receives benefits from a trust, will, or life insurance policy. For example, when parents set up trust funds for their children, the children are the beneficiaries.