How do you become a chief executive officer? Is there a precise blueprint to follow to attain this prestigious title? What professional and personal traits are necessary for the position? Technically, anyone can fill the chief executive slot, but typically those who have distinguished themselves in some manner and have strong leadership characteristics get the…
Consumer goods are goods that are sold directly to consumers. They can be used for personal, recreational, or corporate use, and are classified in three different ways. The first category is services, which include things like haircuts and car washes. The second is the durable goods sector, which includes products that don’t necessarily have a…
Tobacco stocks have burnt a hole in investors’ portfolios over the past year, dropping 0.65% on the back of declining cigarette volumes. By comparison, the broader stock market has logged a gain of nearly 20% over the same time. To address shrinking demand from its traditional products, leading tobacco companies Philip Morris International Inc. (PM)…
The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) is trading at an all-time high above $150 on Monday morning, after a two-month advance that accelerated in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The long bond yield has hit an all-time low at the same time, highlighting growing fears of an economic downturn. This price action has taken…
What Is a Curve Steepener Trade? A curve steepener trade is a strategy that uses derivatives to benefit from escalating yield differences that occur as a result of increases in the yield curve between two Treasury bonds of different maturities. This strategy can be effective in certain macroeconomic scenarios in which the price of the…
It is rarely just one thing that gets people into financial trouble serious enough to consider bankruptcy. More often, it is a sort of double whammy. For example, losing their job, then being diagnosed with a major illness. Or taking on a big mortgage right before the job they were counting on to pay the…
What Is an Advance Rate? An advance rate is the percentage of the value of the collateral that a lender is willing to extend as a loan. The advance rate helps a borrower determine what kind of collateral to bring to the table to secure the desired loan amount and helps minimize a lender’s loss exposure…
What Are Nonpassive Income and Losses? Nonpassive income and losses constitute any income or losses that cannot be classified as passive. Nonpassive income includes any active incomesuch as wages, business incomeor investment income. Nonpassive losses include losses incurred in the active management of a business. Nonpassive income and losses are usually declarable and deductible in…
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) released a solid earnings report after the closing bell on Feb. 4. The stock popped to as high as $147.30, which was a failed test of its monthly risky level at $146.40. The stock is above a “golden cross” on its daily chart and tested its 200-day simple moving average…