You can find your Open Positions page in two places: your [link name=”dash” dest=”/account/dashboard”]Dashboard[/link], or your [link name=”open” dest=”/portfolio/openpositions”]Open Positions[/link] page. The only difference between the two pages is that the “Dashboard” version will have all the security types as tabs you can switch between, while the “Open Positions” page will show each type separately. Read More…
Stock-Trak Project Requires weekly trades, explanations, and a final report (22% of total grade). Two portfolios are tracked for each student. One portfolio is passively managed after the first week, and the second portfolio is actively managed given weekly requirements. The portfolio has a total return objective. Week 1 (trades from Feb 8 through Feb Read More…
This user guide is intended for professors and site administrators as a primer on managing your classes and contests. Recorded Webinar This webinar is designed to get new professors introduced to the site and all of its components. It is just under 15 minutes long, and covers all of the aspects of creating your class, Read More…
Definition Spot and Futures contracts are a standardized, transferable legal agreement to make or take delivery of a specified amount of a certain commodity, currency, or an asset at the current date. The price is determined when the agreement is made. The only difference between spots and futures is the delivery date. The current date Read More…
Welcome to the Virtual-Stock-Exchange! This guide will show you everything you need to know for getting started, registering your class, setting up assignments, and monitoring your students’ progress, all in less than 10 minutes! Registration Step one is getting signed up for your free account. Just fill out the quick Registration Form, and you’ll be Read More…
Definition Futures Contracts are a standardized, transferable legal agreement to make or take delivery of a specified amount of a certain commodity, currency, or an asset at the end of specified time frame. The price is determined when the agreement is made. Here are some useful terms for futures: Contract Size: This specifies the number Read More…
Welcome to our investment simulator. This will be an overview on the different pages, navigation, and what features are available to all users. Video Tutorials If you prefer to watch short video tutorials on different parts of the site and trading, you’re in luck! [link name=”navvid” dest=”/content/navigationvideo”]Click Here For Tutorials Covering The Different Pages Of Read More…
We have a huge amount of research tools available on our [link name=”quote” dest=”/quotes”]Quotes Page[/link]. On this page, you’ll find a second level of navigation to move between different research tools right at the top. Basic Quotes And Beginner’s Research If you’re just getting started, most of the information you’ll need will be in the Read More…
What are options? An option gives the owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the underlying instrument(we assume stocks here) at a specified price(strike price) on or before a specified date(exercise date) in the future. (this is different for European options as they can only be exercised at the end date). Read More…
Definition: Option holders have the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the underlying instrument at a specified price(strike price) on or before a specified date(exercise date) in the future. (this is different for European options as they can only be exercised at the end date). Exercising the option is using that right Read More…
Calculating your buying power can be tricky, and it gets trickier with more complex contest rules. This will be a quick primer on how to see exactly how your buying power is calculated, what affects it, and how to recover it when you want to make more purchases. What is Buying Power? Your buying power Read More…
This resource will help teachers new to our stock game get familiarized with the registration process, student interactions, teacher reports, and how to use the game as part of their classes. Registration Registration is simple! If you are using the simulation for the first time, go to the registration link provided by your challenge administrator. Read More…
How Do I Build a Diversified Portfolio? Understanding what it means to build a diversified portfolio is one of the first concepts a new investor needs to understand. When talking about stocks, diversification means to make sure you don’t “put all of your eggs in one basket.” What Does It Mean To Diversify? Simply put, Read More…
Why Invest in Stocks? Once you have built your budget and built up your emergency fund, you will start to build up extra savings that go towards your future – and that future should include investing. Simply put, when you have money to invest for an extended period of time (like 20 years or more), Read More…
Definition: “Wall Street” is a street in New York City, near the southern end of Manhattan Island. It is the home of the New York Stock Exchange, and the biggest center of stock trading and finance in the world. History Before New York was New York, it was a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam, which Read More…
Definition: The New York Stock Exchange (or NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world. Think of it as an organized, fast-paced flea market where buyers and sellers from all over the world come to trade U.S. stocks (and now some foreign shares as well). It is where over 2,800 of the biggest U.S. Read More…
ETFs have been one of the most popular investment vehicles in the world over the last decade or so, with investors of all types attracted to the low fees, but diverse holdings, falling somewhere between mutual funds and stocks in terms of how easy they are to manage in a portfolio. However, one of the Read More…
Fibonacci Arc is a technical analysis indicator and is utilized to give hidden support and resistance levels for security. It is built by drawing a trend line between two swing points on a chart.
Live Forex trading includes negotiating of national bills which is performed on a live basis at 24 hour, around-the-clock period. Forex is derived from the words Foreign Exchange which is known as the global market that does business in money trading.
Definition A Stop (or stop loss) order and limit order are orders that try to execute (meaning become a market order) when a certain price threshold is reached. Limit and stop orders are mirrors of each other; they have the same mechanics, but have opposite triggers. When creating a limit or stop order, you will select Read More…
Definition An order type that allows to set a moving stop or limit target price. The target price moves based on the daily high. Trailing stops can be set either in percentage or in dollars and cents terms. When in dollar terms it will activate when the price has moved by the target you have Read More…
Promissory notes issued by a corporation or government to its lenders, usually with a specified amount of interest for a specified length of time. This is seen as a loan from the bond holder to the corporation. The value of Bonds traded are greater than the value of stocks traded.
Definition Your “Risk Level” is how much risk you are willing to accept to get a certain level of reward; riskier stocks are both the ones that can lose the most or gain the most over time. Risk Understanding the level of risk you need and want is a very important part of selecting a Read More…
Definition: An asset is anything that has monetary value and can be sold. Assets can be anything from a pencil (though it is not worth much) to a skyscraper to things like Stocks and ETFs. There can also be intangible assets such as the value of a brand name or logo. Details: Assets generally refer Read More…
Definition “Asset Allocation” is how you have divided up your investments across different assets. You can have all your assets in one place, or you can use diversification to spread them around to reduce risk. Details Whenever you pick stocks, open a bank account, get paid, buy something, or do anything with any resources, you Read More…
An investment strategy is the set of rules and behaviors that you can adopt to reach your financial and investing goals. Choosing an investing strategy can be a daunting task when you are starting to learn about investments and finance. Here we will look at the larger overall strategies rather than very specific strategies. Given Read More…
In finance, Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) is a ratio of the profit traded to complete volume traded over a distinct time horizon – normally one day. It’s a portion of the average price a stock traded at over the trading horizon.
Definition Open Interest is the total number of options or futures contracts that are “open”, meaning currently owned by an investor and not yet expired. Details Think first in terms of options contracts: by owning an option, it signifies that there is interest in actually trading that stock, although at a different price. Since this Read More…
A pullback is a technical analysis term used frequently when a stock “pulls” back to a resistance and/or support line, usually after a breakout has occurred. Pullbacks can be in an uptrend or downtrend and can pull back upwards or downwards. In the example below we can see a pullback as it retraces back to Read More…
Double Bottoms are reversal patterns and often seem to be one of the most common (together with double top patterns) patterns for currency trading. Double Bottoms patterns are identified by two consecutive low prices of the same depth with a moderate pull back up in between (neckline peak).
Definition When you are looking at a sequence of related numbers (for example, the price of a single stock over time, the height of all students in a classroom, or how many breakfasts you will get out of a box of a particular cereal), the “variance” is how far away the numbers get from the Read More…
ETFs are collections of assets into bundles you can invest in all at once, the most popular ones follow indecies (such as SPY following the S&P 500), which is one way for an investor to build a diverse portfolio without holding dozens of individual positions. However, using financial derivatives and debt, there are also “Leveraged Read More…
The S&P 500, or the Standard & Poor’s 500, is a stock market index based on the common stock prices of 500 top publicly traded American companies, as determined by S&P. It differs from other stock market indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite because it tracks a different number of stocks and weights the stocks differently. It is one of the most commonly followed indices and many consider it the best representation of the market and a bellwether for the U.S. economy.
Good Till Date Order Terms If you have ever placed a limit or stop order, you have see the “Good Till Day” order term on the trading menu: A “Good-Till-Day” order is simply one that will cancel at the end of the trading day if it does not fill. So, for example, if you have Read More…
How Do I Build a Diversified Portfolio? Understanding what it means to build a diversified portfolio is one of the first concepts a new investor needs to understand. When talking about stocks, diversification means to make sure you don’t “put all of your eggs in one basket.” What Does It Mean To Diversify? Simply put, Read More…
Sharpe Ratio for Beginners Introduction The Sharpe Ratio is an important tool for evaluating a stock, or a portfolio, based on how risky it is to get a higher return. You can use the Sharpe Ratio to determine how consistent the returns of a stock or portfolio are, so you can determine if the returns Read More…
The head-and-shoulders pattern is one of the most popular chart patterns in technical analysis. The pattern looks like a head (the middle peak) with two shoulders (two equal heiight peaks).
The Moving Average Convergence-Divergence (MACD) indicator is one of the easiest and most efficient momentum indicators you can get. It was developed by Gerald Appel in the late seventies. The MACD moves two trend following indicators and moving averages into a momentum oscillator by subtracting the longer moving average from the shorter moving average. The Read More…
Fixed income analysis is the process of evaluating and analyzing fixed income securities for investment purposes. Fixed Income represents a distinct asset class. Investors and analysts perform fixed-income analysis to Evaluate the risk characteristics underlying debt securities and to assess the capacity of the borrowing entity to meet its financial obligations (credit analysis) Identify which Read More…
Introduction The Black-Scholes formula is the most popular ways to calculate the true price of an option. It is easy to calculate the intrinsic value, but the extrinsic value can be very tricky to calculate. Black Scholes is used for calculating two types of options. Options on stocks Stock Options. Fisher Black, Robert Merton and Read More…
Definition: The simultaneous purchase of a security on one stock market and the sale of the same security on another stock market at prices which yield a profit. In Depth Description: In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets: striking a combination of Read More…
Over-The-Counter (OTC) Stocks Most investors are familiar with NASDAQ, the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange), TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange), and most other large national stock exchanges. However, there are also thousands of companies that want to sell shares to the general public, but are not able to sell on these exchanges. Stock traded on these Read More…
Home Budget Calculator! The most difficult thing people think of with personal finance is building your monthly budget, and sticking to it. There are tons of different expenses and payments to consider, so we put all the big ones in one place! This tool will also help you see exactly how much you can set Read More…
Car Loan Calculator! The first BIG purchase many people make is when they buy their first car. This calculator will help show the impact of many of the biggest factors people need to consider when taking out their first loan for a big purchase. If you have used our Credit Card Payment Calculator to see Read More…
Credit Card Minimum Payments Calculator! Credit Cards! These are usually the first “loans” a person takes out, and the first monthly payments! Tens of thousands of young people dig themselves deep into credit card debt before they even realize it, so have fun with this payments calculator to see how much these bits of plastic Read More…
Compound Interest Calculator The first thing to consider with all personal finance is the idea of compound interest! This is what separates the “Piggy Bank” savers from the Warren Buffets; making use of interest compounding is how you can really make your savings grow! If you have already used our Investment Return Calculator, you can Read More…
Advanced Investment Return Calculator Find out the difference between Simple and Compound Interest! See how big an impact your tax rates and inflation have on your savings over time! If you have already used our Becoming A Millionaire Calculator, you can use your targeted Expected Investment Return numbers in this calculator to see how to Read More…
How to Become a Millionaire Calculator Want to be a millionaire? Everyone does, but do you know how much you need to save and what rate of return you need to get on your investments to reach that million level? This financial calculator helps you learn how your savings grows over time and how Read More…
Buy Vs Lease Calculator! The biggest expense most people have is the place they live, one of the biggest decisions young people face is whether to buy their home, or continue to rent. Conventional wisdom says that buying will pay off in the long term, but believe it or not this is not always the Read More…
Use this calculator to find Net Present Value, based off expected annual growth, cash flow over a variable number of years, and separations of cash flow between investments and operations. This calculator will help you determine the attractiveness of a company by seeing how much it would be worth if you wanted to buy it Read More…
Use this calculator to calculate an Internal Rate of Return! Inputs include regular deposits and withdrawals, up to 20 irregular withdrawals, and whether to calculate based on deposits at the beginning or end of the period. The Internal Rate of Return or “IRR” is an important concept in math, finance and economics. It is frequently Read More…
Technical analysis software automates the charting, analysis and reporting functions that support technical analysts in their review and prediction of financial markets (e.g. the stock market).
Serbia is a European country with an upper-middle income economy. It had one of the fastest growing economies of its region, in terms of GDP growth rates prior to the global recession, and attracted solid foreign direct investment. This article explores Serbia’s economic strengths along with the stock market, largest banks and ways one can invest in the country.
A cup-and-handle chart pattern resembles a cup of tea. These are bullish continuation patterns where the growth has paused. momentarily, it trades down and then continues its upward pattern. This pattern must always be at least 5 weeks long and can last up to a year.
Latvia is an EU member country that experienced superior GDP growth rates prior to the financial crisis in 2008. It underwent significant privatization, which resulted in large foreign direct investment inflows. Its economy was ranked first among developing countries until 2008.
Belgium is an EU member located in Western Europe. It has a strong industrialized economy, well-developed transportation infrastructure, and a highly productive work-force making it an attractive destination for foreign capital.
Italy is an EU member country and one of G-8 leading industrialized economies, having the seventh largest economy in the world. Its thriving small and medium enterprises play an important economic role.
Ireland is an EU member country with a knowledge-based economy and strong industries in services and technology. With attractive corporate tax rates, Ireland has been ideal destination for multinational corporations.
Hungary is an EU member country with a medium-sized, liberal economy that is rapidly developing. It has the 5th largest economy in Central and Eastern Europe, with major exports in machinery, chemicals, textiles, and agricultural products. Hungary’s Main Industries Hungary is economically known for its strength in: Agriculture Sector Wheat Corn Sunflower Potato Sugar Read More…
Peru is a Latin American country with an emerging, market-oriented economy that has been among the top performers in South America. Rich in natural resources, it is a major exporter of gold, copper, zinc, and fish.
Portugal is an EU member country with a high-income and service-based economy. It enjoys vast forests, has a strong industrial base, and is an important agricultural exporter.
Romania is an EU member country, which has experienced positive foreign direct investment and GDP growth following privatisation initiatives over the last decade. It has an upper-middle income economy strong in its industrial and agricultural sectors.
Argentina is a South American country that is one of the G-20 economies. It is the third largest economy in Latin America and has the highest GDP per capita in its region. It possesses plenty of natural resources, a strong agricultural sector, and a well-educated population.
Albania is one of south eastern European countries that have shown promising economic growth potential. It has been increasingly attracting foreign direct investment and possesses a strong agriculture and natural resources industry
Gross National Product is the value of all goods and services produced by a country’s residents.
Free Cash flow is the cash available to all the capital providers of a company. There are two types of free cash flows: 1) Cash flow available to pay out to all capital providers and 2) Free Cash Flow to Equity (FCFE).
The Form-8K is a SEC-mandated report filed by public companies to report unexpected events or transactions that are material in nature, and thus have an impact on the share prices of the company.
Fixed income analysis is the process of evaluating and analyzing fixed income securities for investment purposes.
In investment valuation, financial modeling refers to the procedure and methodology performed to determine the value of an asset or financial security. Fundamentally, a business or company’s current value can be viewed as being derived from its future cash flow streams. An investor deciding whether to purchase or sell a stock, therefore, will be interested in estimating such value.
The earnings reports released by companies can be invaluable in providing such information. Released by public companies on a quarterly and annual basis, they can be used to assess and gauge a company’s: financial condition, strategic plans, industry and competitive position, Key performance drivers and risk factors and Future performance.
Discounted Cash Flow is a valuation technique or model that discounts the future cash flows of a business, entity, or asset for the purposes of determining its value. One aspect of investment decision-making entails discovering the fair value of investments.
The Debt-Snowball Method is a debt-management strategy aimed at reducing a borrower’s obligations. Borrowers can use this method to slowly eliminate their debt by focusing on their smallest debt balance, followed by larger ones until all obligations are paid off.
Covariance is a statistical measure of the extent that 2 variables move in tandem relative to their respective mean (or average) values. In the investment world, it is important to be able to measure how different financial variables interact together.
The use of correlation analysis extends to numerous important fields. For example, in finance, correlation analysis can be used to measure the degree of linear relationships between interest rates and stock returns, money supply and inflation, stock and bond returns, and exchange rates.
Comprehensive insurance to a form of insurance policy which includes a broad range of coverage or protection.
The options collar strategy is designed to limit the downside risk of a held underlying security. It can be performed by holding a long position in a security, while simultaneously going long a Put and shorting a Call.
The CME Group is an order-driven exchange that facilitates the trading of forward, futures, and options contracts on numerous products within key asset classes such as agriculture, energy, metals, equities, interest rates, and exchange rates.
The CBOT is an exchange providing trading in derivatives contracts and clearinghouse functions. It allows traders to buy and sell contracts on several products in asset classes such as agriculture, energy, metals, equities, bonds, and exchange rates. The majority of its trades are conducted electronically.
Measuring the cash conversion cycle is important to liquidity, working capital, and the operating cycle of a company. Good management of the CCC can also enhance a company’s cash flows, allowing it to effectively make sound investing and financing decision. Managing the CCC entails efficient inventory, receivables, and payables functions, and should be part of a company’s overall operational strategy.
Capital funding is the provision of monetary resources or capital for productive uses. Capital provided by investors or other parties is used by various entities such as governments, companies, organizations, and individuals in order to fund their functions and operations. In most cases, capital provided is compensated by some form of return to the provider. Two important types of capital are equity and debt. Equity capital represents an ownership stake, while debt capital is a form of lending.
Account Receivables Management refers to the set of policies, procedures, and practices employed by a company with respect to managing sales offered on credit.
Account Payables Management refers to the set of policies, procedures, and practices employed by a company with respect to managing its trade credit purchases.
Insurance is protection from losing or damaging something. It is defined as the transfer of loss risk in exchange for payment. Basically, if we damage or lose something that was insured, the insurance will cover the cost of having it fixed or replaced.
A Commercial Bank is a type of financial institution that is responsible for catering to everyday banking needs. Commercial Banking is also sometimes referred to as Retail Banking. This is the kind of bank that individuals go to for their everyday financial needs.
We will teach you how to save money so that you can afford your future now. There are two main questions you need to ask yourself to effective save money: A.“How much will I need?”, and B.“What can I afford?”
There are a couple of different strategies that you can employ to build a stock portfolio: 1) You can take the risk that the products will not be good, and buy the cheapest brands of everything on the list; 2) You can buy half the things on the list from the discount aisle, while splurging on good brand names for the other half; or 3) You can avoid the risk of disappointment and buy just big brand names.
A portfolio is a collection of assets that contribute collectively to an overall return. There are many different reasons you could create a portfolio, and you need to define your reason or objective from the very beginning before adding stocks and other securities to your account.
Price ceiling is a government-mandated limit on the price that can be charged for a given product, such as a utility or electricity. The intended purpose of a price ceiling is to protect the consumers from conditions that would make a vital product from being financially unattainable for consumers.
A “Poison Pill” creates a strong defense mechanism for a “targeted takeover company” allowing the company to properly identify legitimate and beneficial acquisitions and weed out the actions of corporate raiders. The “Poison Pill” is also useful in slowing down the speed of potential raids.
A straddle is an investment strategy that involves the purchase or sale of an option allowing the investor to profit regardless of the direction of movement of the underlying asset, usually a stock.
An oligopoly is characterized by a small number of sellers who dominate an entire market.
Monopoly, in economic terms, is used to refer to a specific company or individual has a large enough control of a particular product or service that allows them to influence it’s price or certain characteristics.
Monopolistic Competition is characterized as a form of imperfect competition.
Money supply is the total amount of money available in an economy at any particular point in time.
Monetary Policy refers to the process by which the Monetary Authority of a given country implements a variety of measures to control the supply of money.
Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is an investment theory whose purpose is to maximize a portfolio’s expected return by altering and selecting the proportions of the various assets in the portfolio.
Fiscal policy is the use of government spending to influence the economy.
The Expected Return is a weighted-average outcome used by portfolio managers and investors to calculate the value of an individual stock, or an entire stock portfolio.
A good way to evaluate a manager is to ask many relevant questions pertaining to your own personal financial situation and your financial goals. Examples of questions to ask are:
Elasticity is one of the most important terms in economics, and has a plethora of uses. Economists define elasticity as the ratio of the percent change in one variable to the percent change in another valuable.