Corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare. The term generally applies to company efforts that go beyond what may be required by regulators or environmental protection groups. Corporate social responsibility may also be referred to as "corporate citizenship" and can involve incurring short-term costs that do not provide an immediate financial benefit to the company, but instead promote positive social and environmental change. Taobiz explains Corporate Social Responsibility Companies have a lot of power in the community and in the national economy. They control a lot of assets, and may have billions in cash at their disposal for socially conscious investments and programs. Some companies may engage in "greenwashing", or feigning interest in corporate responsibility, but many large corporations are devoting real time and money to environmental sustainability programs, alternative energy/cleantech, and various social welfare initiatives to benefit employees, customers, and the community at large.
The process through which a company reorganizes its debt obligations by replacing or restructuring existing debts. Refinancing may also involve issuing equity to pay off a percentage of debt. Debt is replaced or refunded by a company with money that is raised by issuing or creating other borrowing. In restructuring, a company works with its creditor to change the terms of a loan; these terms can include the reduction of interest rates, the improvement of covenants or the extension of the loan's terms. Taobiz explains Corporate Refinancing Corporate refinancing will often come about if a company is unable to meet its current obligations and needs to restructure the terms of its existing debt arrangement. This usually involves lowering the interest rate and extending the time to maturity. This happens most often when a company is near bankruptcy or is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Refinancing will also occur when interest rates have fallen in the market, as the lower current market rates allows a company to cut down on the overall costs of debt a company faces. One way a company can achieve this is by calling its redeemable or callable bonds, then reissuing them at a lower rate of interest.
An investor who buys a large number of shares in a corporation whose assets appear to be undervalued. The large share purchase would give the corporate raider significant voting rights, which could then be used to push changes in the company’s leadership and management. This would increase share value and thus generate a massive return for the raider. Taobiz explains Corporate Raider Companies have used a variety of strategies to thwart the efforts of corporate raiders. These include shareholders’ rights plans (poison pills), super-majority voting, staggered boards of directors, buybacks of shares from the raider at a premium price (greenmail), dramatic increases of the amount of debt on the company’s balance sheet and strategic mergers with a "white knight." Famous corporate raider Carl Icahn used tactics such as taking a company private, compelling a spin-off, calling for an entirely new board of directors or calling for a divestiture of assets to make a fortune with his hostile takeovers.
An options strategy whereby an investor holds a long position in an asset and writes (sells) call options on that same asset in an attempt to generate increased income from the asset. This is often employed when an investor has a short-term neutral view on the asset and for this reason hold the asset long and simultaneously have a short position via the option to generate income from the option premium. This is also known as a "buy-write". Taobiz explains Covered Call For example, let's say that you own shares of the TSJ Sports Conglomerate and like its long-term prospects as well as its share price but feel in the shorter term the stock will likely trade relatively flat, perhaps within a few dollars of its current price of, say, $25. If you sell a call option on TSJ for $26, you earn the premium from the option sale but cap your upside. One of three scenarios is going to play out: a) TSJ shares trade flat (below the $26 strike price) - the option will expire worthless and you keep the premium from the option. In this case, by using the buy-write strategy you have successfully outperformed the stock. b) TSJ shares fall - the option expires worthless, you keep the premium, and again you outperform the stock. c) TSJ shares rise above $26 - the option is exercised, and your upside is capped at $26, plus the option premium. In this case, if the stock price goes higher than $26, plus the premium, your buy-write strategy has underperformed the TSJ shares.
When a brokerage or analyst issues his or her first rating on a particular stock. Taobiz explains Coverage Initiated The media usually provides notice to investors that coverage has been initiated. Upon commencement of coverage, the analyst will usually publish an "initiating coverage" report on the stock, and subsequently issue periodic updates.
The additional risk associated with investing in an international company rather than the domestic market. Macroeconomic factors such as political instability, volatile exchange rates and economic turmoil causes investors to be wary of overseas investment opportunities and thus require a premium for investing. The country risk premium (CRP) is higher for developing markets than for developed nations. Taobiz explains Country Risk Premium - CRP The CAPM can be adjusted to reflect the additional risks of international investing by adjusting the model for the CRP. Re = Rf + β(Rm – Rf + CRP) As expected by general financial theory, investors seeking to invest into a region such as Zimbabwe must be compensated with greater expected returns.
A type of swing-trading strategy that assumes a current trading trend will reverse and attempts to profit from that reversal. Countertrend trading is a medium-term strategy in which positions are held between several days and several weeks. Countertrend traders rely on graphs (such as the Bollinger band), indicators (such as the Aroon indicator) and oscillators (such as the relative strength index or Chande momentum oscillator) to make their decisions. Taobiz explains Countertrend Trading Countertrend trading can be used as part of a diversification and risk-reduction strategy. To limit losses in the event that a trend does not reverse, traders should consider using strategies such as stops and time-based exits. Countertrend trading is one of the most common tools used by contrarian investors.
A type of stock in which the underlying company belongs to an industry or niche with financial performance that is negatively correlated to the overall state of the economy. As a result, the stock's price will also tend to move in a direction that is opposite to the general economic trend, meaning appreciation occurs during times of recession and depreciations in value occur in times of economic expansion. Taobiz explains Counter-Cyclical Stock Generally, it is harder for companies to become counter-cyclical, because it is fairly difficult to find a business model that thrives in a period where most people do not have money. Outplacement agency stocks, for example, would be considered counter-cyclical, because these companies help laid-off workers find jobs in exchange for a fee. This type of company would be more successful during times of recession, because there would be more unemployed workers at that point in time compared to times of expansion. Purchasing counter-cyclical stocks can serve as a good hedge to the standard recessionary pressures that can cause most stocks to decline.