Economic growth that is powered and consumed by the wealthiest upper class of society. Plutonomy refers to a society where the majority of the wealth is controlled by an ever-shrinking minority; as such, the economic growth of that society becomes dependent on the fortunes of that same wealthy minority. This buzz word was initially coined by analysts at Citigroup in 2005 to describe the incredible growth of the U.S. economy during that period despite increasing interest rates, commodity prices and an inflated national debt. Citigroup analysts argued that as such an economy continues to grow in the face of contradictory elements, the more important the society's ultra rich become to maintaining such growth. The analysts also believed that in addition to the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and China are also becoming plutonomies.
Any expenses incurred in the ordinary course of business. Business expenses are deductible and are always netted against business income. Although it is not necessary to include receipts for business expenses when you file your tax return, many tax preparers will ask for detailed, itemized copies of your expenses before they will submit the return. Business owners should keep these kinds of records for a minimum of seven to 10 years from the date of filing.
A certificate of deposit whose interest rate fluctuates in direct correlation to the value of an underlying market index. In other words, the interest rate paid on the CD increases as the value of the market index increases during the life of the CD. Taobiz explains Bull CD This type of CD is most often used by investors looking for a very safe investment that also gives them exposure to the stock market. The CD interest rate does not lose value if the market falls in value because there is a minimum rate that has to be paid.
Any activity that is engaged in for the primary purpose of making a profit. Business activities can include things like operations, marketing, production and administration. Also known as "business operations". This is a general term that encompasses all the economic activities carried out by a firm during the course of business. Business activities are ongoing and are focused on creating value for shareholders.
When a security or a class of assets sees its market-driven price move in the opposite direction of the broad market or its competition. The move could be in either direction, but generally occurs as a result of good performance in the face of negative broad market performance. The meaning is often extrapolated out from just asset prices to business and market fluctuations. If a company is recording increased sales while its competitors lose business, that company would be "bucking the trend". Taobiz explains Buck The Trend It may be a bullish signal when a stock is able to resist a prevailing downtrend in its own industry or against the broad market. This suggests that investors are attracted to the stock despite negativity surrounding its competitors and peers.
A colloquial reference to a group of economic leaders within the United States whose purpose is to ensure the nation's financial markets are efficient, competitive, and provide confidence for investors. Created by Ronald Reagan in 1988 to deal with the crash of 1987, the group was formed due to Executive Order 12631.
A facility created by the Federal Reserve board on November 24, 2008, in an effort to stimulate institutional investors to assume investments that have longer terms. The Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF) is designed to support a private sector initiative to provide liquidity to money market investors. Financial crisis fears caused an influx of institutional investors to assume overnight positions toward the end of 2008, placing a strain on short-term debt markets. Funding is provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through special purpose vehicles (SPVs). |||Eligible investors can sell assets worth no less than $250,000 (such as commercial paper and certificates of deposit (CDs)) with maturities between seven and 90 days to the SPV. The SPV then borrows from the MMIFF and sells asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) in order to fund the purchase of these assets. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is repaid by the SPVs as the assets mature.As of February 3, 2009, the MMIFF is authorized to lend a maximum of $600 billion in assets to five SPVs, $540 billion of which is to be funded by the Federal Reserve.
A series of temporary income tax relief measures enacted by President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003. The tax cuts lowered federal income tax rates for everyone, decreased the marriage penalty, lowered capital gains taxes, lowered the tax rate on dividend income, increased the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000 per child, eliminated the phaseout on personal exemptions for higher-income taxpayers and eliminated the phaseout on itemized deductions and eliminated the estate tax. Because the tax cuts were in place for so many years, they began to feel permanent rather than temporary, and taxpayers and politicians raised a major outcry as their expiration date approached. Those who wanted to let the tax cuts expire as scheduled argued that the government needed the extra tax revenue in the face of massive its budget deficits. Those who wanted to extend the tax cuts or make them permanent argued that because taxes reduce economic growth and stifle entrepreneurship and incentives to work, effectively increasing taxes during a recession was a bad idea.