A provision under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code prohibiting creditors from beginning or continuing proceedings for collecting owed amounts from a firm who files for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. Taobiz explains Automatic Stay An automatic stay can only be lifted by the bankruptcy judge.
Baby Berkshire refers to the 50:1 stock split after the market close on January 20th, 2010 by Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares. This split made the value of each share much smaller as far as price was concerned. At the market close, Berkshire Class B shares were trading at $3,476. The stock split came as a result of Berkshire’s acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Taobiz explains Baby Berkshire Prior to the stock split, Berkshire Class B shares did not have enough trading volume to make them eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500 market index. However, lowering the market price through the stock split put the stock into a more conventional trading range, where it became much more frequently traded. Berkshire Class B shares were added to the S&P 500 on February 12th, 2010, taking the spot previously held by Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The nickname of Baby Berkshire follows the tradition of Baby Bells and Baby Bills.
Shares in companies based in mainland China that trade on either the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges. B-Shares are eligible for foreign investment provided the investment account is in the proper currency (Shanghai B-shares trade in U.S. dollars, while Shenzhen B-shares trade in Hong Kong dollars). Taobiz explains B-Shares B-shares trade alongside A-shares in the Chinese companies on the mainland exchanges. Changes in government regulation have allowed Chinese citizens to invest in both A-shares and B-shares after previously limiting investment to only the A-shares. B-shares are typically what a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that invests in China will hold, along with H-shares from the Hong Kong Exchange and N-shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange. As part of a long-term effort to open up China's economy, plans are in place for the two share types to be combined in the future to allow for more uniform investment policies; if and when this occurs it should encourage more outside investment in the world's most populous country.
When the bid on an order is lower (or the ask price is higher) than the current market price for the security. Taobiz explains Away From The Market In this case, the bid/ask spread is above or below the current price of the stock.
The documentation representing a shareholder's decision when a company's ownership group votes on corporate issues. Ballots are usually dispersed at annual meetings, when shareholders vote in the board of directors. Taobiz explains Ballot In most situations, the ballot is a simple piece of paper outlining the possible choices for a corporate issue. When attending an annual meeting, shareholders will be required to fill out the ballot to register their votes. If someone is unable to vote in person, electronic or phone ballots may be supplied.
The dominant Chinese internet search engine company. Baidu offers many of the same products and services as Google, but is primarily focused on China, where it controls the majority of the search market. Baidu censors search results and other content in accordance with Chinese regulations. Baidu is registered in the Cayman Islands and is listed on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol BIDU. Taobiz explains Baidu Baidu offers a wide array of products, including maps, news, video, encyclopedia, anti-virus, and internet TV. Baidu generates revenue with an ad revenue system very similar to Google’s. Advertisers bid on the keywords that will trigger the display of their ads. Advertisers can also pay for priority placement in search results. Baidu competes with Google Hong Kong, Yahoo! China, Microsoft Bing and many other regional players.
A slang term that represents a stock or other security that is approaching $0 in price. Arriving in bagel land is usually the result of one or more major business problems that may not be resolvable. This term is typically used to describe an asset that has fallen from grace as opposed to a penny stock or other historically cheap security. Taobiz explains Bagel Land If a stock or other asset is headed toward bagel land or is approaching $0 (resembling the hole in the middle of a bagel), investors generally feel that the security is nearly worthless. In such cases, a company may be nearing bankruptcy or facing major solvency issues. While returning from bagel land is possible, the likelihood that equity investors will lose their entire stakes in the company becomes very high.
The negative effect felt by a company when shareholders and the investment community find out that is has done something that is not in accordance with good business practices. Although typically not expressed in a dollar amount, badwill can play out in the form of decreased revenue, loss of clients or suppliers, loss of market share and federal indictments for any crimes committed. Taobiz explains Badwill There are several cases in which badwill caused a severe downturn in company stock, such as Tyco, Adelphia, Martha Stewart, Enron and Worldcom. In each new bull market, we are likely to see the same offenses committed by new people. This phenomenon has caused a rise in "socially conscious" investing, where companies promoting badwill are excluded as a matter of policy.