A buzz word coined by Jim Cramer based on the idea that "buy and hold" is a losing strategy. Cramer's buy-and-homework strategy is to spend at least one hour a week researching each stock in your portfolio. The research the buy-and-homework strategy calls for can include listening to conference calls, knowing what analysts are looking for, reading the news stories and reading financial statements. Cramer often points out that everything is available easily and for free on the web. Taobiz explains Buy And Homework There are two main arguments that investors use against this strategy: people don't have the time, and if you hold on long enough, the stock will come back. Cramer's argument for the first excuse is that if an investor does not have the time to spend researching each stock in their portfolio for at least one hour per week, they can hand off their portfolio to a professional manager (e.g., through a mutual fund). The latter is even easier for Cramer to refute – just to look at a stock like Enron.
A term coined by the forest-products industry to describe an abusive subsidy scheme within the industry. Black liquor is a byproduct of creating wood pulp and is used as fuel. As part of the 2005 transportation and ethanol bill, the U.S. government created a tax credit designed to encourage companies to use biofuels by mixing them with fossil fuels (presumed to be their existing energy source). An extension of the bill in 2007 created a loophole whereby paper companies, who were already using a biofuel (black liquor) did the reverse of what the bill intended, adding diesel to their black liquor, to qualify for tax credits. The paper companies' use of a biofuel/fossil fuel mixture then qualified them for the tax credit, violating the spirit of the bill but not violating the law and allowing them to claim several billion dollars in tax credits. The tax credit distorted global markets by reducing the price of some U.S. paper products and caused Canada to create a similar subsidy to remain competitive with U.S. forest-products companies. The tax credit was scheduled to expire at the end of 2009.
A type of pay-through unsecured general obligation bond that has several classes. Mortgage cash flow obligations (MCFOs) use cash flow from a pool of mortgages that generate revenue to repay investors their principal plus interest. Payments are received from mortgages in the pool and passed on to holders of the MCFO security. |||Mortgage cash flow obligations resemble collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) in some respects, but they are not the same. MCFOs do not hold a lien on the mortgages held by the security. They are merely obligated by contract to use the income from the mortgages to pay their investors.
The resistance of a price (or set of prices) to change, despite changes in the broad economy that suggest a different price is optimal. "Sticky" is a general economics term that can apply to any financial variable that is resistant to change. When applied to prices, it means that the prices charged for certain goods are reluctant to change despite changes in input cost or demand patterns.Price stickiness can also occur in just one direction, as in "sticky-up" or "sticky-down". A price that is sticky-up, for instance, can move up rather easily but will only will move down with pronounced effort. The fact that price stickiness exists can be attributed to several different forces, such as the costs to update pricing, including changes to marketing materials that must be made when prices do change. Part of price stickiness is also attributed to imperfect information in the markets, or non-rational decision-making by company executives. Some firms will try to keep prices constant as a business strategy, even though it is not sustainable based on material costs, labor, etc.
A passive investment strategy in which an investor buys stocks and holds them for a long period of time, regardless of fluctuations in the market. An investor who employs a buy-and-hold strategy actively selects stocks, but once in a position, is not concerned with short-term price movements and technical indicators. Taobiz explains Buy And Hold Conventional investing wisdom tells us that with a long time horizon, equities render a higher return than other asset classes such as bonds. There is, however, a debate over whether a buy-and-hold strategy is actually superior to an active investing strategy; both sides have valid arguments. A buy-and-hold strategy has tax benefits, however, because long-term investments tend to be taxed at a lower rate than short-term investments.
The national association that represents the real estate finance industry. The Mortgage Bankers Association, headquartered in Washington is frequently referred to as the MBA. The MBA works to help their members conduct business of single and multifamily mortgage finance by promoting fair and ethical lending practices, fostering professional excellence through educational programs and publications, providing news and information, and holding conferences. |||A mortgage banker is an institution or individual who closes and funds mortgage loans in their own name. This is opposed to a mortgage broker who facilitates a mortgage transaction between a mortgage banker and a borrower for a fee. The MBA represents mortgage bankers. The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) represents mortgage brokers.
A form of insurance coverage that replaces business income lost as a result of an event that interrupts the operations of the business, such as fire or a natural disaster. Business interruption insurance is not sold as a separate policy, but is either added to a property/casualty policy or included in a comprehensive package policy. Business interruption insurance premiums (or at least the additional cost of the rider) are deductible as ordinary business expenses. This type of policy pays out only if the cause of the business income loss is covered in the underlying property/casualty policy. The amount payable is usually based on the past financial records of the business.
An illegal action performed by a group of conspiring businesses that occurs when the firms agree to artificially inflate prices in an attempt to recognize higher profits at the expense of the consumer. Price rigging can be found in any industry and is regulated by the antitrust division of the United States Department of Justice.Also known as "price fixing" or "collusion". For example, let's assume that the local gas stations agree to artificially inflate the price of gasoline by setting it several cents above where the price would be found under normal competition. This would be deemed price rigging, which is unlawful and can lead to severe criminal charges.