Bond Trading Introduction
As debt securities, bonds can provide excellent diversity to your investment portfolio. They represent money borrowed by a corporation (or government or municipality) to fund expansion, construction, and other growth-related projects. You are the bond investor, who holds an IOU from the borrower indicating you are entitled to recover your money with a specific rate […]
Investing in Options: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 3)
In the options world, there are two types of volatility: historical and implied. Historical volatility refers to how much the stock price fluctuated (high price to low price each day) over a one-year period. Since it's historical, this figure refers to past price data. If the number of data points is not stated (for example, […]
Investing in Options: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 4)
Speaking Greeks For option traders, the Greeks are a series of handy variables that help explain the various factors driving movement in option prices. Although the Greeks collectively indicate how the marketplace expects an option’s price to change, the Greek values are theoretical in nature. There is no guarantee that these forecasts will be correct. […]
Buying a Put Option vs. Short Selling
If you’re bearish on a stock, you can try to capitalize on your position in a few ways: Sell the stock, if you own it. Sell the stock, even if you don’t own it, by borrowing shares via your brokerage firm. At a later date, you can buy the shares (hopefully at a lower price) […]
Investing in Stocks: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 1)
Buying and selling stocks for investment is no longer the domain of the professional trader. Master the basics of trading first, then you'll be ready to research and manage your own investment portfolio. What are stocks? A stock is a type of security that reflects ownership in a publicly traded company. When companies need to […]
Mutual Fund Investment Objectives
What are investment objectives? There are many ways to try to make money from investments. You might take on additional risk to try to profit from potential growth in the value of stock shares. Or, you might be a retiree, who prefers an investment whose chief benefit is the periodic income payments it offers. If […]
Buying Corporate Bonds
As the name implies, corporate bonds are issued by a corporation. Unlike municipal bonds, they are taxable. If you buy them in a retirement account, they may offer a relatively high rate of return on a tax-deferred basis. Bonds are debt securities rated by independent agencies and, as you’d imagine, higher-rated bonds tend to yield […]
Investing in Stocks: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 2)
Risks and Rewards All trading involves risk, commissions and other fees, and potential tax implications. Before you begin trading, educate yourself about how stocks are traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ markets and how earnings reports, market forces, and company changes can impact stock prices. This knowledge will help you become a more responsible self-directed […]
