The first four to six digits of a credit card. The bank identification number identifies the institution issuing the card. It is critical to the correct matching of transactions to the issuer of the charge card. This prefix system also applies to debit cards, charge cards and electronic benefit cards. |||Although it is called a bank identification number, BINs are also used by other institutions, such as American Express. As increasing numbers of issuers are opting into the BIN network, the term issuer identification number (IIN) is increasingly used interchangeably with BIN. The prefix system is also used to help identify potential security breaches or identity theft, by comparing such things as the location of the issuing institution and the address of the cardholder.
A shipping and trade index created by the London-based Baltic Exchange that measures changes in the cost to transport raw materials such as metals, grains and fossil fuels by sea. The Baltic Exchange directly contacts shipping brokers to assess price levels for a given route, product to transport and time to delivery (speed). The Baltic Dry Index is a composite of three sub-indexes that measure different sizes of dry bulk carriers (merchant ships) - Capesize, Supramax and Panamax. Multiple geographic routes are evaluated for each index to give depth to the index's composite measurement.It is also known as the "Dry Bulk Index". |||Changes in the Baltic Dry Index can give investors insight into global supply and demand trends. This change is often considered a leading indicator of future economic growth (if the index is rising) or contraction (index is falling) because the goods shipped are raw, pre-production material, which is typically an area with very low levels of speculation. Because the supply of large carriers tends to remain very tight, with long lead times and high production costs, the index can experience high levels of volatility if global demand increases or drops off suddenly. The Baltic Exchange also operates as a maker of markets in freight derivatives, a type of forward contract known as FFAs (forward freight agreements) that are traded over-the-counter.
The difference between a country's imports and its exports. Balance of trade is the largest component of a country's balance of payments. Debit items include imports, foreign aid, domestic spending abroad and domestic investments abroad. Credit items include exports, foreign spending in the domestic economy and foreign investments in the domestic economy. A country has a trade deficit if it imports more than it exports; the opposite scenario is a trade surplus.Also referred to as "trade balance" or "international trade balance" |||The balance of trade is one of the most misunderstood indicators of the U.S. economy. For example, many people believe that a trade deficit is a bad thing. However, whether a trade deficit is bad thing is relative to the business cycle and economy. In a recession, countries like to export more, creating jobs and demand. In a strong expansion, countries like to import more, providing price competition, which limits inflation and, without increasing prices, provides goods beyond the economy's ability to meet supply. Thus, a trade deficit is not a good thing during a recession but may help during an expansion.
The stock exchange headquartered in Manama, Bahrain. |||On the BSE, price fluctuation is fixed to a maximum of 10% either way from the previous days' closing.
A measure of volatility introduced by Welles Wilder in his book: New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems. The true range indicator is the greatest of the following: -current high less the current low. -the absolute value of the current high less the previous close. -the absolute value of the current low less the previous close. The average true range is a moving average (generally 14-days) of the true ranges. |||Wilder originally developed the ATR for commodities but the indicator can also be used for stocks and indexes. Simply put, a stock experiencing a high level of volatility will have a higher ATR, and a low volatility stock will have a lower ATR.
A widely used metric for gauging the success of businesses in the telecommunications industry. Average margin per user (AMPU) measures the margin made by the firm from each customer, typically measured as the revenue minus the costs and divided by the number of users. |||Although most telecommunications-industry analysts and firms use average revenue per user (ARPU) as a profitability indicator, AMPU is arguably a more reliable metric of a firm's profitability. By breaking down customer sales by margin rather than by revenue, companies that have lower sales volumes but create larger margins can be considered more efficient and arguably more profitable than their high-volume competitors.
A form of life insurance purchased by banks where the bank is the beneficiary, and/or owner. This form of insurance is a tax shelter for the administering bank, as it is a tax-free funding scheme for employee benefits. Watch: Life Insurance |||Banks use BOLI contracts to fund ever-increasing employee benefits at a much cheaper rate. The process works like this: the bank sets up the contract, and then makes payments into a specialized fund set aside as the insurance trust. All employee benefits that need to be paid to particular employees covered under the plan are paid out from this fund.All premiums paid into the fund, as well as all capital appreciation, are tax free for the bank. Therefore, banks can use the BOLI system to fund employee benefits on a tax-free basis.
Government legislation that was created in 1970 to prevent financial institutions from being used as tools by criminals to hide or launder their ill-gotten gains. This is achieved by requiring banks and other financial institution to provide documentation (such as currency transaction reports) whenever clients deal with transactions that involve substantial sums of money ($10,000 or more) that appear to be suspicious. This way, authorities have the ability to easily reconstruct the entire situation.Also known as "Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act". |||This is not to say that every transaction exceeding $10,000 is documented. The BSA has a list of exceptions that do not require documentation. Government departments/agencies and companies listed on the major North American exchanges are two examples of exempt parties.While this act is useful in fighting criminal activity, as with all matters of privacy, the act is somewhat controversial as there are very few guidelines defining what is considered suspicious and law enforcement agencies do not need to get a court order to gain access to the information.