- How the Future Value of an Investment Is Calculated
There is always risk associated with investing. Sure, you can diversify your portfolio or hedge against risk by purchasing low-risk securities such as bonds, money market funds, or certificates of deposit. You can also predict your portfolio’s growth based on… read more…
- Put Options: What They Are and How to Buy Them
A put option allows investors to bet against the future of a company or index. More specifically, it gives the owner of an option contract the ability to sell at a specified price any time before a certain date. Put… read more…
- What Are Call Options and How Do They Work?
When looking for a smart investment strategy, some investors buy call options. Call options often enable investors to maximize profits while minimizing risk. Purchasing a call option may yield profit that is significantly higher than if you bought a security… read more…
- 7 Short-Term Investment Options to Consider
Short-term investments are generally defined as investments that pay off in less than five years (sometimes even less time, perhaps within a year). Whereas long-term investments are generally made with the goal of building overall wealth and preparing for retirement,… read more…
- Dow Futures: Betting on Whether the Stock Market Index Will Go Up or Down
Trading Dow Futures is a bit like making a color bet in roulette, where you are picking red or black instead of an individual number. Similarly, with a Dow Future contract, you are betting that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) will… read more…
- What Are Non-Qualified Stock Options?
Stock options are an increasingly popular form of employee compensation. They come in two flavors, which are treated differently for tax purposes: non-qualified stock options and incentive stock options. Non-qualified stock options are the more common of the two. Here’s what… read more…
- Stock Options vs. RSUs: What’s the Difference?
When you take a new job, your salary may not be your only form of compensation. You’ll likely also get benefits, vacation days, and possibly some form of stock in the company. This will likely come in one of two… read more…
- What Is a Short Position and Should You Take One?
You may have heard about short-selling, shorting or short position when listening to investment discussions, but maybe you weren’t quite sure of the meaning. Taking a short position is essentially the opposite of investing in a company. When you invest in a… read more…
- What Are Binary Options?
Trading binary options is a little different than regular trading. With binary options you are answering a yes or no proposition about whether an asset will hit a certain price at a certain time. From the comfort of your living room, you can pay to place bets on the price movements of stocks, commodities and… read more…
- All About Oil Futures
You may have heard that oil is a non-renewable resource and you already know how much the global economy depends on it. So you may think that the price of oil will always be on the rise. In this article,… read more…
- All About Incentive Stock Options
When most people think of employee benefits, they think of health insurance, 401(k)s, and maybe some free food. But for folks at the top of their fields, benefits may include stock options. If you’ve got a job that comes with… read more…
- What Are Options?
An “option” in the finance world entitles the holder of the option to buy or sell an asset at a pre-determined price, on or before a certain date. The buyer pays a premium for the option, and may lose that… read more…
- What Are Derivatives?
Derivatives are financial instruments used by experienced investors, consisting of contracts whose value depends on an underlying asset. Common types include options, futures, forward contracts, and warrants. Although the basic concept is straightforward, derivatives can become complex in practice. If you’re interested in exploring derivative investing but don’t want to lose your way, consider seeking… read more…
- What Are Futures?
What if there were a way to make money from the up-and-down movement in the prices of financial assets without actually owning the asset? Well, there is a way- with futures. If you’re an Average Joe or Jane just looking to put aside money for retirement and watch it grow, getting in to futures might be overkill.… read more…