http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner en-us Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:34:46 -0700 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:00:27 -0700 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d12-What-is-a-forwardfutures-contract-and-how-are-they-different?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Photoxpress.comA forward or future is a contractual agreement between two parities where one agrees to buy, and the other sell, an asset at an agreed upon later date. They are a type of derivative security.Here is how they work:If Se... Investments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:00:27 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d12-What-is-a-forwardfutures-contract-and-how-are-they-different?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d12-What-is-a-financial-option?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner (AP Photo/Richard Drew) An option gives investors just that, an option – either an option to buy an underlying asset at a future date (a call option) or an option to sell an underlying asset at a future date (a put option). The investor can bu... Investments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:43:07 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d12-What-is-a-financial-option?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d12-What-is-a-commodity-and-how-is-it-used-in-the-financial-world?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Photoxpress.comA commodity is simply a bulk good or raw material like metals, oil, cotton, or grain, but the term can also refer to financial products such as currency or stock and bond indexes.The tangible commodities are bought an... Investments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:10:02 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d12-What-is-a-commodity-and-how-is-it-used-in-the-financial-world?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-financial-derivative?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Photoxpress.com Having nothing in common with their mathematical counterpart, financial derivatives are financial contracts that derive their value from something else like commodities, stocks, mortgages etc (this is called the unde... Investments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:04:28 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-financial-derivative?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-stock-exchange?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner (AP Photo/Richard Drew)A stock exchange is a place where people interested in buying and selling stock in publicly traded companies come together to buy and sell stocks (shares) of companies and their derivatives.The two most popular stock exchanges... Investments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:20:25 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-stock-exchange?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-ticker-symbol-ticker?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Earning their name from the ticker tape machines once widely used in stock exchanges, a ticker symbol is a mnemonic used to represent companies traded on a stock market. Mutual funds can also be represented by ticker symbols.Sy... Investments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:10:27 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-ticker-symbol-ticker?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-stock?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara) A stock is a way for companies to raise money instead of borrowing it. By selling “stock” in their company, companies exchange small, fractional ownerships in their company for cash from investors. Once the in... Investments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:56:05 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d11-What-is-a-stock?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-bond?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Unlike stocks which are equity securities, bonds are debt securities. What this means is that unlike buying stocks, where you become a partial owner of that company, when you buy a bond, you own nonthing but a piece of that comapany's/government's d... Investments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:47:36 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-bond?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-short-selling-shorting?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: courtesy of Wikimedia Commons First of all, to understand short selling, two terms must be cleared up. When an investor goes long on an investment, it means that they believe the stock, for example, will rise in price over a period of time (p... Investments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:42:52 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-short-selling-shorting?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-bull-market?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Eva Kröcher/Wikipedia. A bull market is described as a market where there is increasing confidence among investors, which causes the market to steadily increase over an extended period of time. Investors keep on investing in th... Investments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:05:29 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-bull-market?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-bear-market?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Eva Kröcher/Wikipedia. A bear market is described as a market where there is a steady drop over an extended period of time. It is defined by investors becoming increasingly pessimistic about the market as it falls, then selling... Investments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:54:34 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-bear-market?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-leverage?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Photoxpress.com Leverage involves borrowing money and investing it. If the investment appreciates in value, you earn returns on your money and returns on all the money you borrowed, but if the investment depreciates in value, you lo... Investments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:21:52 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-leverage?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-an-accredited-investor?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner An accredited investor is an investor who has been recognized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as one who can engage in large-scale investments. Certain offerings such as hedge funds, limited partnerships, and angel investor networks ... Investments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:06:52 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-an-accredited-investor?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-hedge-fund-and-how-is-it-different-from-a-mutual-fund?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Photoxpress.com Having migrated away from their namesake, hedge funds no longer  focus primarily on “hedging” (attempting to reduce risk) because hedge funds are now focused almost blindly on one thing: returns. Hav... Investments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:48:21 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d10-What-is-a-hedge-fund-and-how-is-it-different-from-a-mutual-fund?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgages-101?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Photoexpress.com     Reverse mortgages 101 articles Reverse mortgages 101: single-purpose reverse mortgages Reverse mortgages 101: federally-insured reverse mortgages Reverse mortgages 101: propietary rev... Retirement Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:10:18 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgages-101?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgages-101-proprietary-reverse-mortgages?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright Photoxpress.comProprietary reverse mortgages are the most expensive type of reverse mortgage, so they appeal to people with high valued homes appraised at values greater than the limits of a HECM (more than $400 to $500,000 accordin... Retirement Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:01:59 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgages-101-proprietary-reverse-mortgages?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgages-101-federallyinsured-reverse-mortgages?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner According to the Federal Trade Commission, Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) are more expensive than traditional home loans, but they do offer distinct advantages. First of all, they are backed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Devel... Retirement Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:45:42 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgages-101-federallyinsured-reverse-mortgages?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgage-101-singlepurpose-reverse-mortgages?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copyright PhotoXpress.comAccording to the Federal Trade Commission, single-purpose reverse mortgages are the least expensive type of reverse mortgage, but they do come with strings attached. Because they are offered by state and local governme... Retirement Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:29:54 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Reverse-mortgage-101-singlepurpose-reverse-mortgages?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-What-is-a-Ponzi-Scheme?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Bernie Madoff (AP Photo/David Karp) Recently made popular by Bernie Madoff’s 50 billion dollar fraud, the term Ponzi scheme derives its name from the Bernie Madoff of the early 1900’s, Mr. Charles Ponzi. A Ponzi scheme is a type of pyram... Investments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:32:24 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d9-What-is-a-Ponzi-Scheme?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d8-What-is-a-mutual-fund?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner Photo: copywrite Photoxpress A mutual fund is an investment where many smaller investors pool their money together and invest collectively. The funds are managed by a professional who invests the money in stocks, bonds, and/or other securities based... Investments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:43:32 -0700 http://www.examiner.com/x-13322-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner~y2009m6d8-What-is-a-mutual-fund?cid=exrss-Business-and-Finance-101-Examiner