06) Exchange-Traded Funds: Index Funds Vs. ETFs
If you plan to follow a more passive approach to investing, the question that is most likely to come next is how best go about it-using index funds or exchange-traded funds? Index Funds versus...
05) Exchange-Traded Funds: Active Vs. Passive Investing
Exchange-Traded Funds usually take on a passive approach to investing. Lately, there have been ETFs with a more aggressive or active stance on investing. Which approach is better for an investor? What is Active...
04) Exchange-Traded Funds: SPDR S&P 500 ETF
The first Exchange-Traded Funds in the US is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF with a trade name of SPY on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX:SPY). It was created by State Street Global Advisors (SsgA),...
03) Exchange-Traded Funds: Features
Many Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) are made to track a specific index. Its performance, therefore, is similar to that of an index mutual fund. The following are the the general differences between the two: Trading...
02) Exchange-Traded Funds: Background
The very first US Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) originally tracked a wide market index. It was created when State Street Global Advisors introduced the S&P 500 Depositary Receipts (SPDR), fondly called “spiders”, into the market....
6) The Federal Reserve: Conclusion
They say that “money makes the world go round,” and couldn’t this be more true now that you’ve learned a lot about the Federal Reserve? The power and influence that the Fed holds over...
5) The Federal Reserve: The FOMC Rate Meeting
FOMC Decisions The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decides whether to raise, lower or maintain its objective for the federal funds rate (FFR), as well as to determine the discount rate. As mentioned in...
4) The Federal Reserve: Monetary Policy
What happens when interest rates are reduced? While many debtors will most likely rejoice at this welcome news, the fact is that it will have an adverse affect on the economy. If more people...
3) The Federal Reserve: Duties
The Federal Reserve’s task is written in its mandate: “To promote sustainable growth, high levels of employment, stability of prices, to help preserve the purchasing power of the dollar and moderate long-term interest rates.”...
2) The Federal Reserve: What Is The Fed?
Originally, the US was not regulated by any organization for studying and implementing economic and monetary policy. Financial institutions were free to do whatever they wanted without real government intervention. As a consequence, markets...
10) Financial Concepts: Conclusion
Now let us review the key points of this tutorial: The risk/return tradeoff is achieving a balance between the desire for the lowest possible risk and the highest possible return. The higher the risk,...
09) Financial Concepts: Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
Capital Asset Pricing Model was developed originally by Harry Markowitz in 1952. It was modified a decade later by others. The CAPM is the relationship between change and expected return and serves as the...
08) Financial Concepts: The Optimal Portfolio
This concept is under the modern portfolio theory which assumes that investors would always try to reduce risk while waiting to strike the highest return possible. The theory states that investors behave rationally, in...
07) Financial Concepts: Efficient Market Hypothesis
Eugene Fama is best known for her role in the development of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) in the 1960s. This hypothesis states that because prices already incorporate and reflect all relevant data, it...