See this at: investopedia.com| Added on 11/18/06

The technique of buying a fixed dollar amount of a particular investment on a regular schedule, regardless of the share price. More shares are purchased when prices are low, and fewer shares are bought when prices are high. Also referred to as... See more

The technique of buying a fixed dollar amount of a particular investment on a regular schedule, regardless of the share price. More shares are purchased when prices are low, and fewer shares are bought when prices are high. Also referred to as "constant dollar plan". | Eventually, the average cost per share of the security will become smaller and smaller. Dollar-cost averaging lessens the risk of investing a large amount in a single investment at the wrong time. In the U.K., it is known as "pound-cost averaging". See less

See this at: investopedia.com| Added on 12/14/06

Another way of saying "within the day". Intraday price movements are particularly important to short-term traders looking to make many trades over the course of a single trading session. The term intraday is occasionally used to describe securities... See more

Another way of saying "within the day". Intraday price movements are particularly important to short-term traders looking to make many trades over the course of a single trading session. The term intraday is occasionally used to describe securities that trade on the markets during regular business hours, such as stocks and ETFs, as opposed to mutual funds, which must be bought from a dealer. | This term is often used to refer to the new highs and lows of a security. For example, "a new intraday high" means a security reached a new high relative to all other prices during a trading session. In some cases, an intraday high can be equal to the closing price. Traders pay close attention to intraday price movement by using real-time charts in an attempt to benefit from the short-term price fluctuations. See less

See this at: investopedia.com| Added on 10/04/06

Also, the potential rate of return is higher than it might appear at first blush. This is because the cost basis is much lower due to the collection of $1,480 in option premium with the sale of the May 25 in-the-money call option. Potential Return on... See more

Also, the potential rate of return is higher than it might appear at first blush. This is because the cost basis is much lower due to the collection of $1,480 in option premium with the sale of the May 25 in-the-money call option. Potential Return on In-the-Money Call Writes As you can see in Figure 2, with the May 25 in-the-money call write, the potential return on this strategy is +5% (maximum). This is calculated based on taking the premium received ($120) and dividing it by the cost basis ($2,380), which yields +5%. That may not sound like much, but recall that this is for a period of just 27 days. If used with margin to open a position of this type, returns have the potential to be much higher, but of course with additional risk. If we were to annualize this strategy and do in-the-money call writes regularly on stocks screened from the total population of potential covered call writes, the potential return comes in at +69%. If you can live with less downside risk and you sold the... See less

See this at: en.wikipedia.org| Added on 10/04/06

A graphical interpretation of the payoffs and profits generated by a call' option as seen by the writer of the option. Profit is maximized when the option expires worthless (when the strike price exceeds the price of the underlying), and the writer... See more

A graphical interpretation of the payoffs and profits generated by a call' option as seen by the writer of the option. Profit is maximized when the option expires worthless (when the strike price exceeds the price of the underlying), and the writer keeps the premium. See less

See this at: riskglossary.com| Added on 10/04/06

An option is a contract, or a provision of a contract, that gives one party (the option holder) the right, but not the obligation, to perform a specified transaction with another party (the option issuer or option writer) according to specified... See more

An option is a contract, or a provision of a contract, that gives one party (the option holder) the right, but not the obligation, to perform a specified transaction with another party (the option issuer or option writer) according to specified terms. The owner of a property might sell another party an option to purchase the property any time during the next three months at a specified price. A lease might contain a provision granting the renter the option to extend the lease for an additional year. A corporate bond might have an option provision allowing the issuer to purchase the bond back from the purchaser five years prior to maturity for a specified price. A speculator might purchase an option to sell at any time during the next three months 100 shares of a particular stock for a specified price. Option contracts are a form of derivative instrument. Stand-alone options trade on exchanges or OTC. They are linked to a variety of underliers. Most exchange-traded options have stocks... See less

See this at: answers.com| Added on 12/14/06

A day on which contracts for stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures (SSF) all expire. Investopedia Says: This is similar to the triple witching hour, except that the quadruple witching hour sees also the... See more

A day on which contracts for stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures (SSF) all expire. Investopedia Says: This is similar to the triple witching hour, except that the quadruple witching hour sees also the expiry of SSFs. Quadruple witching days occur on the third Friday of March, June, September and December. Related Links: An introduction to the world of options, covering everything from primary concepts to how options work and why you might use them. Options Basics Tutorial For those who are new to futures but want a solid understanding of them, this tutorial explains what futures contracts are, how they work and why investors use them. Futures Fundamentals See less

See this at: en.wikipedia.org| Added on 08/14/06

This is a list of stock exchanges. Those futures exchanges that also offer trading in securities besides trading in futures contracts are listed both here and the List of futures exchanges.

This is a list of stock exchanges. Those futures exchanges that also offer trading in securities besides trading in futures contracts are listed both here and the List of futures exchanges. See less

Highlights: Rankings of Exchanges by Market Capitalization (in trillions of US dollars)

See this at: en.wikipedia.org| Added on 08/25/06

The Baltic Dry Index is an index covering dry bulk shipping rates and managed by the Baltic Exchange in London. According to Baltic Exchange, the index provides:

The Baltic Dry Index is an index covering dry bulk shipping rates and managed by the Baltic Exchange in London. According to Baltic Exchange, the index provides: See less

See this at: en.wikipedia.org| Added on 10/04/06

If the underlying assets are mortgages or loans, there are usually two separate waterfalls because the principal and interest receipts can be easily allocated and matched. But if the assets are income-based transactions such as rental deals it is not... See more

If the underlying assets are mortgages or loans, there are usually two separate waterfalls because the principal and interest receipts can be easily allocated and matched. But if the assets are income-based transactions such as rental deals it is not possible to differentiate so easily between how much of the revenue is income and how much principal repayment. In this case all the income is used to pay the cash flows due on the bonds as those cash flows become due. So the distribution could be shown as: 1. Fees 2. Class A interest 3. Class B interest 4. Class A principal 5. Class B principal 6. Release cash to the originator But in the event of default the priority could change and there could be a structure such as: 1. Fees 2. Class A interest 3. Class A principal 4. Class B interest 5. Class B principal 6. Release cash to originator (equity tranche receives any residual cash) See less

Highlights: The Bank for International Settlements reported in December 2004 that notional amount on outstanding credit derivatives was $4.477 trillion with a gross market value of $131 billion (Regular OTC Derivatives Market Statistics).

See this at: en.wikipedia.org| Added on 12/14/06

See less

See this at: econlib.org| Added on 12/14/06

The fact that trade protection hurts the economy of the country that imposes it is one of the oldest but still most startling insights economics has to offer. The idea dates back to the origin of economic science itself. Adam Smith's The Wealth of... See more

The fact that trade protection hurts the economy of the country that imposes it is one of the oldest but still most startling insights economics has to offer. The idea dates back to the origin of economic science itself. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which gave birth to economics, already contained the argument for free trade: by specializing in production instead of producing everything, each nation would profit from free trade. In international economics it is the direct counterpart to the proposition that people within a national economy will all be better off if all people specialize at what they do best instead of trying to be self-sufficient. It is important to distinguish between the case for free trade for oneself and the case for free trade for all. The former is an argument for free trade to improve one nation's own welfare (the so-called "national-efficiency" argument). The latter is an argument for free trade to improve every trading country's welfare (the so-called... See less

See this at: en.wikipedia.org| Added on 12/14/06

Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping... See more

Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic industries in a particular nation from foreign take-over or competition. This contrasts with free trade, where no artificial barriers to entry are instituted. The term is mostly used in the context of economics, where protectionism refers to policies or doctrines which "protect" businesses and living wages by restricting or regulating trade between foreign nations: See less

Highlights: It is the stated policy of most First World countries to eliminate protectionism through free trade policies enforced by international treaties and organizations such as the World Trade Organization. Despite this, many of these countries still place protective and/or revenue tariffs on...