A category that defines the type of tax return form an individual will use. Filing status is closely tied to marital status. The five filing statuses are: 1. Single individual2. Married person filing jointly or surviving spouse3. Married person filing separately4. Head of household5. Qualifying window(er) with dependent child The filing status is important because a person's tax bracket (and therefore the amount he or she must pay) is determined by marital status, number of children, occupation and several other factors. You must file your status honestly, or it will be considered fraudulent and penalties will be assessed.
1. The end of a trading session. The closing price is quoted in the newspaper. 2. The final procedure in a home sale in which documents are signed and recorded. This is the time when the ownership of the property is transferred. Taobiz explains Close The close of the New York Stock Exchange is marked by ringing a bell.
An offsetting change in a margin account, made over the trading day, that results in no overall change in the value of the account. When a same-day substitution is made, a margin call is not generated. A same-day substitution happens when a rise in the market value of one margin security is offset by an equal decline in another.
An exemption made to both individual taxpayers and businesses that are unable to file a tax return by the due date. Individual taxpayers can complete IRS Form 4868 for an automatic six-month extension. However, the extension of time to file does not provide a corresponding extension for payment of taxes owed. The filing extension for individuals was increased from four to six months under recent legislation. Taxpayers who cannot pay their taxes will not only gain nothing by filing an extension, they will also pay a much greater penalty than those who file and cannot pay. The failure-to-file penalty is usually 5% of the total amount owed per month, while the failure-to-pay penalty is only 0.5% of the amount owed per month.
A numerical code used in many electronic financial transactions. Personal identification numbers (PINs) are usually used in conjunction with usernames or other passwords. They are also usually required when using bank debit or credit cards, and most banks or financial institutions issue PINs separately from the cards through the mail. |||PINs usually contain four digits. Not all electronic transactions use this number, but cash withdrawals from ATMs invariably require this code. PINs should be known only to the users and never disclosed to anyone else.
A portfolio strategy used by some portfolio managers to achieve returns similar to those of their benchmark index, without exactly replicating the index. Taobiz explains Closet Indexing A portfolio manager practicing closet indexing might stick to an index in terms of weighting, industry sector or geography. A manager's performance is usually compared to that of his or her benchmark index, so there is an incentive for managers to gain returns that are at least similar to the index. Closet indexing is often viewed negatively by investors because they could simply choose an index fund and pay lower fees. Not surprisingly, "closet" indexing is so named because these practices are often not publicly announced, but a close examination of a fund's prospectus can sometimes uncover which funds are practicing closet indexing. Watch for funds with high MERs and holdings that look quite similar to the fund's benchmark index.
One of the worst corporate scandals of its time. It occurred when Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Company discovered that banks would make loans secured by its salad oil inventory. When the ships full of salad oil would arrive in the docks, inspectors would test it and confirm that the ship was full of salad oil. However, the company didn't remind anyone that oil floats on water. They had filled salad oil tanks with water and put a few feet of oil on top, fooling everyone. The company would even transfer oil to different tanks while taking inspectors out to lunch. In 1963, the scam was busted and over $175 million worth of salad oil was missing. Commodities trader and company founder Anthony De Angelis was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the scandal and served seven years in prison. American Express took one of the biggest hits from the scandal, losing nearly $58 million and experiencing a 50% drop in AMEX stock as a result.
A measure of price changes in consumer goods and services. Personal consumption expenditures consist of the actual and imputed expenditures of households; the measure includes data pertaining to durables, non-durables and services. It is essentially a measure of goods and services targeted toward individuals and consumed by individuals.Also referred to as "consumption." |||Similar to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), PCE is a report (actually a part of the personal income report) put out by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce. There are two broad indexes of consumer prices in the United States: the CPI and the Chain Price Index for Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCEPI). They are similar in many respects, but there are some important differences that can lead to large gaps between CPI and PCEPI inflation rates. The PCEPI uses a chain index, which takes consumers' changing consumption due to prices into account; the CPI uses a fixed basket of goods with weightings that do not change over time.The PCE is a fairly predictable report that has little impact on the markets.