The Russell 2000 small-cap index has failed to join blue-chip benchmarks at new highs, despite favorable seasonality and a major uptick in speculative fervor. This unusually weak performance stands out like a sore thumb in the first quarter landscape, affecting market breadth readings that usually soar during bull market runs. Unfortunately, positive seasonal forces tend to…
In yet the latest shake up in the online brokerage industry, E*TRADE, one of the original internet brokers, is being sold to legacy Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley in an all-stock deal worth $13 billion. With five million retail customers and $360 billion in assets, and an online bank, E*TRADE will bring new customers into…
What Is Bootstrapping? Bootstrapping describes a situation in which an entrepreneur starts a company with little capital, relying on money other than outside investments. An individual is said to be bootstrapping when they attempt to found and build a company from personal finances or the operating revenues of the new company. Bootstrapping also describes a…
What Is a Loan Constant? A loan constant is a percentage that shows the annual debt service on a loan compared to its total principal value. The calculation for a loan constant is the annual debt service divided by the total loan amount. When shopping for a loan, borrowers can compare the loan constant of…
What Is Loan Servicing? Loan servicing refers to the administrative aspects of a loan from the time the proceeds are dispersed to the borrower until the loan is paid off. Loan servicing includes sending monthly payment statements, collecting monthly payments, maintaining records of payments and balances, collecting and paying taxes and insurance (and managing escrow funds),…
Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (DPZ) shares rose more than 25% during Thursday’s session after the company reported better-than-expected fourth quarter financial results. Revenue rose 6.5% to $1.15 billion, beating consensus estimates by $20 million, and non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $3.13, beating consensus estimates by 16 cents per share. Comparable sales rose 3.9% during…
What Is the Rule of 78? The Rule of 78 is a method used by some lenders to calculate interest charges on a loan. The Rule of 78 requires the borrower to pay a greater portion of interest in the earlier part of a loan cycle, which decreases the potential savings for the borrower in…
Morgan Stanley (MS) will buy E*TRADE Financial Corporation (ETFC) for around $13 billion in stock, adding over 5.2 million accounts to the company’s customer base of 3 million. The firm will now handle assets of over $3 trillion while gaining exposure to a less affluent retail demographic. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman crowed about the deal, telling…
The Dow Jones Transportation Average has failed to break out with major benchmarks, setting off a bearish divergence originally described by Dow Theory more than 100 years ago. This “non-confirmation” could be significant because it’s forecasting tougher times for blue chips and big tech in the second quarter. It’s even possible that the Dow Jones Industrial…