A dollar-weighted average measuring the age of the individual loans in a mortgage pass-through or pooled security, such as Ginnie Mae or a Freddie Mac security. The WALA is measured as the time in months since the origination of the loans, with the weighting based on each loan's size in proportion to the aggregate total of the pool. |||The weighted average age will change over time as some mortgages get paid off faster than others. based on the issuer of the mortgage-backed securities (MBS), the WALA may be weighted on the remaining principal balance dollar figure, or the beginning notional value of the loan. The flip side of the WALA is the weighted average maturity (WAM), which is a dollar-weighted measure of the months remaining until the principal amounts are completely repaid on each loan in the pool.
Originally called the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX), this was a result of the merger of the Vancouver and Alberta stock exchanges. The goal of TSX Venture Exchange is to provide venture companies with effective access to capital while protecting investors. Taobiz explains TSX Venture Exchange This exchange basically contains small-cap Canadian stocks and is home to a lot of high risk penny stocks. It is owned and operated by the TMX Group.
The average number of years for which each dollar of unpaid principal on a loan or mortgage remains outstanding. once calculated, WAL tells how many years it will take to pay half of the outstanding principal. |||The time weightings are based on the principal paydowns - the higher the dollar amount, the more weight that corresponding time period will have. For example, if the majority of the repayment amount is in 10 years the WAL will be closer to 10 years. Let's say there's an outstanding bond with five years of $1,000 annual payments. The weighted average life would be three years, assuming payment is made at the end of each year. This indicates that after three years over half of the payments will be made.
A class of exchange-traded funds (ETF) that employs leverage in an effort to achieve double the return of a set benchmark. The first ultra ETFs were launched in 2006 and the class has grown to include different ETFs with underlying benchmarks ranging from broad market indexes, such as the S&P 500 and Russell 2000, to specific sectors, such as technology, healthcare and basic materials. Taobiz explains Ultra ETF According to the prospectuses for these funds, they may not achieve double the return of the benchmark during flat markets. Long-run returns may also diverge from the desired return; the ultra ETFs' only aim is to achieve twice the daily return, which they have done fairly accurately in the short time they can be analyzed. Ultra ETFs can be beneficial to investors who are short on capital or allocation space within a diversified portfolio. For example, they can invest 5% of their portfolios into an ultra ETF and gain closer to 10% exposure due to the leveraged returns. Increased daily volatility is both the biggest benefit and greatest danger of ultra ETFs. They are best suited to short-term investing strategies or quick trading to maximize a given bet in the market. The expense ratios also run much higher than for standard ETFs, as most charge 0.95% of the total assets.
The weighted average of all the bond credit ratings in a bond fund. The measure gives investors an idea of how risky a fund's bonds are overall. The lower the weighted average credit, rating the riskier the bond fund. The weighted average credit rating is expressed as a regular letter rating (AAA,BBB, CCC). |||To arrive at the weighted average credit rating, the calculation starts with dividing the value of each bond in the fund by the total value of the fund. This gives the individual bond weights. The weight of a bond in the fund determines how much that bond influences the weighted average credit rating. For example if a bond fund has 95% AAA government bonds and 5% junk bonds, the bond fund would still have a weighted average credit rating of AAA.
A type of quote that gives both the bid and the ask price of a security, informing would-be traders of the current price at which they could buy or sell the security. The two-way quote also shows the spread between the bid and the ask, giving traders an idea of the current liquidity in the security (a smaller spread indicates more liquidity). Taobiz explains Two-Way Quote This type of quote provides more information to users than a last-trade quote, which quotes only the price at which the security last traded. An example of a two-way quote would be: Citigroup quote of $52.50/$53.30. This tells traders they can currently purchase Citigroup shares for $53.30 or sell them for $52.50. The spread between the bid and the ask is $0.80 ($53.30-$52.50).
The weighted-average gross interest rates of the pool of mortgages that underlie a mortgage-backed security (MBS) at the time the securities were issued. A mortgage-backed security's current WAC can differ from its original WAC as the underlying mortgages pay down at different speeds. In the weighted-average calculation, the principal balance of each underlying mortgage is used as the weighting factor. |||For example, suppose a MBS is composed of two different pools of mortgages: $6 million worth of mortgages that yield 7.5% and a pool of $4 million mortgages that yield 5%. The WAC would be 6.5%.The WAC on a mortgage-backed security is an important piece of information used by analysts to estimate the pre-pay characteristics of that security. It is an important relative value tool in MBS portfolio management and analysis.
When a corporation possesses authorized common and preferred shares, but never actually exchanges them for money or services. Taobiz explains Unissued Stock Just as the term implies, the shares are yet to be issued.