Response: For nations like the US, there is little difference between GDP and GNI. The difference between income received versus payments made to the rest of the world does not tend to be significant. For some countries, however, the difference is significant. GNI can be much higher than GDP if a country receives a large amount of foreign aid, as is the case with East Timor. Conversely, it can be much lower if foreigners control a large proportion of a country's production, as is the case with Ireland, a low-tax jurisdiction where the European and U.S. subsidiaries of a number of multinational companies nominally reside.


What Is Barrel of Oil Equivalents (BOE) in Economics?

Response: Oil is measured in barrels and natural gas is measured in cubic feet. To help facilitate like-for-like comparisons, the industry standardized natural gas production into "equivalent barrels" of oil.


Response: By law you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus at least once every 12 months. The official website for all three bureaus is AnnualCreditReport.com. Note that your credit score is not part of your credit report, so you have to obtain it separately.


Response: PITI is an acronym for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance—all of the standard components of a mortgage payment. Because PITI represents the total monthly mortgage payment, it helps both the buyer and the lender determine the affordability of an individual mortgage.


Response: Investment bankers often work as part of a financial institution. Examples of investment banker employers are Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC), and Deutsche Bank (DB).


Response: Bank policies vary, but an NSF fee can often be waived through an NSF reversal after the fact, especially if it's the first time that it's been assessed. Calling the bank's customer service line and requesting a refund is the best course of action for a consumer.


Response: The term ex-ante interest rate refers to the real interest rate calculated before the actual rate is revealed. The ex-ante interest rate is what lenders and bond issuers publish for loans and bonds. One of the key factors about the ex-ante interest rate is that it isn't adjusted for inflation.


Response: A stop-loss order limits your exposure to less of a loss than you might otherwise experience by automatically closing out your position if your stock trades to an unfavorable market price level that you designate. If you use a trailing stop with your stop-loss order, that protection can move with your position even as it increases in value. So, a loss could translate to less profit rather than a complete loss.


Response: To determine a company's market share, you divide its total sales by its industry's total sales over a given period. For example, if a company sold $2 million worth of dishwashing liquid and the industry's total sales were $15 million, the company would have a market share of 2/15 = 13.3%


Response: In the United States, organized labor successfully improved the lives of millions of workers in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. By 1979, union membership was considered a fast ticket to the middle class, and there were over 20 million union members in the United States.


Response: TEFRA's proponents emphasized toughening tax enforcement in order to close the so-called "tax gap."This was based on assumption that one in five tax dollars never made it into the government coffers due to unreported income or overstated deductions, expenses, and exemptions.Many of the provisions hit individuals, not businesses:A crackdown on underreporting of tips received by waiters and others who earn tips as part of their income.A requirement for an automatic 10% tax withholding on dividends and interest paid to individuals.A requirement for tax withholding on payments of pensions and annuities.The bill also increased penalties for non-compliance.


Response: Yes. If an equity's price does not move larger than the comparative premiums paid on the options, a trader faces the risk of losing money. For this reason, straddle strategies are often entered into in consideration of more volatile investments.


What Is the Rial to Toman Exchange Rate?

Response: One toman is equal to 10 Iranian rials.


How Hard Is It to Be a Virtual Assistant?

Response: A virtual assistant has some of the same challenges as an in-person assistant, including working with a variety of programs, managing and prioritizing competing tasks and answering to an employer. What's different is that the virtual assistant is doing all of this remotely, without frequent in-person interaction, in a different location than their employer. This may be a less stressful environment for many employees. However, it's also an environment without any technical support staff on hand if there are any technological problems.


Response: On the Ethereum blockchain, a smart contract deployment takes gas, which costs Gwei (a lower denomination of ether). Depending on the complexity of the contract, it can cost billions of Gwei to deploy a smart contract. Less complex contracts like a simple exchange are much cheaper.


What Are the Top 10 Social Networking Sites?

Response: Some top social networking sites are Facebook, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok, Facebook Messenger, Douyin, QQ, and Sina Weibo.


Response: A gas fee is a blockchain transaction fee, paid to network validators for their services to the blockchain. Without the fees, there would be no incentive for anyone to stake their ETH and help secure the network.


What Is an Example of Comparative Advantage?

Response: An interesting example of comparative advantages often arises for high-powered executives, who may consider hiring an assistant to answer their emails and perform certain secretarial functions. The executive may even better at performing these duties than their assistant—but the time they spend doing secretarial work could be spent more profitably by doing executive work. Likewise, even if the assistant is mediocre at secretarial work, they would likely be even more ill-suited for executive work. Together, they are ultimately more productive if they focus on their comparative advantages.


Response: Yes, any salary that has been paid to an employee is a sunk cost. As long as those wages are not recoverable, that salary represents an expense that has been incurred and can not be captured back by the company.


What Are the Limitations of the Debt-to-Income Ratio?

Response: The DTI ratio does not distinguish between different types of debt and the cost of servicing that debt. Credit cards carry higher interest rates than student loans, but they're lumped in together in the DTI ratio calculation. If you transferred your balances from your high-interest rate cards to a low-interest credit card, your monthly payments would decrease. As a result, your total monthly debt payments and your DTI ratio would decrease, but your total debt outstanding would remain unchanged.


Response: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recommends that investors be wary of anyone who tries to sell REITs that aren't registered with the SEC. It advises that "You can verify the registration of both publicly traded and non-traded REITs through the SEC's EDGAR system. You can also use EDGAR to review a REIT's annual and quarterly reports as well as any offering prospectus."


Will Next of Kin Automatically Get Life Insurance and IRA Benefits?

Response: In most cases, the next-of-kin status doesn't matter. This means that the proceeds from life insurance policies and retirement accounts are transferred to the beneficiaries named by a decedent even if the decedent designates different people in their will.This changes if the decedent is married and lives in a community property state. In this case, the surviving spouse is legally entitled to an equal portion of any funds earned or accrued during the marriage, unless the spouse signs a waiver.


Do I Have to Buy a Warranty for My Home?

Response: Unlike homeowners insurance, you do not have to purchase a warranty on appliances in your home. However, if you purchase an older home where appliances are dated, you may want to consider replacing them or purchasing a home warranty policy .


Response: Corporate finance departments in companies focus on solid decision-making for profitable financial results. Thus, corporate finance involves activities that relate to the budgeting of capital, the debt and equity used to finance operations, management of working capital, and shareholder dividends.


What Is an Inflection Point in Calculus?

Response: In calculus, the inflection point is where a graph's concavity changes from either up to down or down to up. This change may be slow or dramatic but it is regarded as the point where the slope starts to change.


Response: The biggest downside of sweat equity is the risk that the final value of your equity might be worth less than the work you put in. For new companies, workers take the risk that the company might fail, making their sweat equity worthless. Likewise, homeowners who perform their own construction assume the risks of poor workmanship that would otherwise fall to their contractors.


Response: There are now many ways investors can deposit funds into alternative investments that generate interest. This also means investors must take care in selecting borrowers. The best way to earn interest is to property research the risk profile of your borrower; should they default on the loan, you may not have recourse to recover your lost principal.


Response: Open enrollment for Medicare runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 every year. Coverage takes effect on Jan. 1 of the following year and lasts through Dec. 31.


What Is the Difference Between an Annualized Total Return and an Average Return?

Response: The key difference between the annualized total return and the average return is that the annualized total return captures the effects of compounding, whereas the average return does not.


Response: Improving confidence in the DMI involves a combination of methodological adjustments and strategic integration with other analytical tools. Some ways to improve its reliability include adjusting the length of the period, using the DMI with the ADX, combining the DMI with other indicators, incorporating it into the analysis price action and chart patterns, using the DMI in suitable market conditions, and implementing risk management techniques when using it.


What Are the Main Benefits of Social Responsibility?

Response: Benefiting society and lessening the negative impacts on the environment are among the main benefits of social responsibility. Consumers are increasingly looking to buy goods and services from socially responsible companies, which can have a positive impact on their bottom line.


Response: When looking at an asset definition, you'll typically find that it is something that provides a current, future, or potential economic benefit for an individual or company. An asset is, therefore, something that is owned by you or something that is owed to you. A $10 bill, a desktop computer, a chair, and a car are all assets. If you loaned money to someone, that loan is also an asset because you are owed that amount. For the person who owes it, the loan is a liability.


What Are the 2 Types of Internal Controls?

Response: Internal controls are broadly divided into preventative and detective activities. Preventative control activities aim to deter errors or fraud from happening in the first place and include thorough documentation and authorization practices. Detective controls are backup procedures that are designed to catch items or events that have been missed by the first line of defense.


If I Have an LLC Operating Agreement Do I Need a Business Plan?

Response: There's no legal requirement for an LLC to have a written business plan, but there are still clear advantages to having one. A well-structured business plan is an important tool to set out the goals and values of an enterprise and provides an objective way of assessing whether or not those goals are being met.


Response: A licensing agency is a broker that brings together license owners with potential licensees and arranges licensing agreements between these parties. A licensing agent may approach the owner of a license to see if they would be interested in such an arrangement.


What Affects Your Life Insurance Premiums?

Response: Age (life insurance is less expensive)Gender (female tends to be less expensive)Smoking (smoking increases premiums)Health (poor health can raise premiums)Lifestyle (risky activities can increase premiums)Family medical history (chronic illness in relatives can raise premiums)Driving record (good drivers save on premiums)


What Can I Deduct if I Take the Standard Deduction?

Response: You can claim above-the-line deductions including retirement plan contributions, health savings account (HSA) contributions, alimony, educator expenses, student loan interest, and health insurance premiums for individual health insurance policies if you are self-employed.


What Are Some Drawbacks of Using the Run Rate?

Response: The run rate can be a very deceiving metric, especially in seasonal industries, where estimates of future performance may be incorrectly inflated. Also, since it is generally based only on the most current data, it may not properly compensate for circumstantial changes that can cause an inaccurate overall picture. Furthermore, run rates do not account for large, one-time events which can skew projections.


Do I Need to Register a Copyright for My Website?

Response: Copyright exists as a right from the moment of creation. You do not need to register your original work, such as content on your website, in order for it to be your intellectual property. However, registering a copyright provides more legal protection. If you plan to bring a lawsuit against someone for infringing on your work, you will need to have a registered copyright.


Who Creates the Articles of Association?

Response: A company's founders typically will create its articles of association. Because it is an important document addressing the company's management and finances, the creators of the document typically do so in consultation with lawyers, accountants, or both.


Response: Since the policy is taken out on an executive's life, tax-free death benefits are paid when the executive dies.


Response: Yes, Americans can invest in the FTSE. The easiest way to do this is by investing in exchange-traded funds that track these indices, such as the Vanguard FTSE 100, the Vanguard FTSE 250, the iShares 350 U.K. Equity Index Fund, and the iShares Core FTSE 100.


Response: Balanced scorecards allow companies to measure their intellectual capital along with their financial data to break down successes and failures in their internal processes. By compiling data from past performance in a single report, management can identify inefficiencies, devise plans for improvement, and communicate goals and priorities to their employees and other stakeholders.


How Are Conventional and Islamic Banking Different?

Response: One of the primary differences between conventional banking systems and Islamic banking is that Islamic banking prohibits usury and speculation. Shariah strictly prohibits any form of speculation or gambling, which is referred to as maisir. Shariah also prohibits taking interest on loans. Also, any investments involving items or substances forbidden in the Quran—including alcohol, gambling, and pork—are prohibited.


Response: Escheat is the right of a government to take ownership of an account if no one claims it or has a claim to it after the owner's death.


What Determines the Rate on a Variable-Rate CD?

Response: The financial institution decides which benchmark rate it will use to set the CD’s rate, the frequency of change, and any other factors. For example, institutions could use the Federal Reserve Bank’s federal funds target rate, the bank's prime rate, the federal funds rate upper limit, or the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate (WSJP). The interest rate is expressed as an annual percentage yield could even change daily at the institution's discretion.


What Accounting Procedures Did ZZZZ Best Fail to Follow?

Response: ZZZZ Best failed because it was a Ponzi scheme so, in essence, the company followed almost no proper accounting procedures. However, it took the company going public before the fraud was discovered so there is an argument that exists that Minkow was quite skilled with his accounting.


What Is the Definition of a Monetary Base?

Response: A country's monetary base is the total amount of money that its central bank creates. This includes any money that is printed and in circulation as well as any money held in reserves at commercial banks. This base also includes money held in reserves by banks at the central bank.


How Much Is the COLA Adjustment for 2023?

Response: The COLA adjustment for 2023 is 8.7%. An individual's annual benefit would total $10,870 if they received $10,000 in Social Security benefits in 2022. For 2024, it is 3.2%. If someone received $10,000 in Social Security benefits in 2023, their 2024 annual benefit would total $10,320.


What Is the Difference Between Debt and Credit?

Response: Debt is amount of money you owe, while credit is the amount of money you have available to you to borrow. For example, unless you have maxed out your credit cards, your debt is less than your credit.


Response: A credit card facility is different than a credit facility. The term credit card facility is often used to describe features of a credit card that a cardholder receives when a credit card is opened. For example, a credit card may come with technology allowing for transactions to be automatically paid, split into tracking categories, or transferred to other cards.


Response: Debt-to-equity measures how much debt a company has to its shareholders' equity. Because shareholders' equity is part of total liabilities, it shows how much of a business's debt is equity financing. Lower ratios are ideal, but "good" depends on a business's financial structure and how other companies in the same industry structure themselves.


Response: Okun's law is an observation about the statistical correlation between unemployment levels and overall productivity. While there have been many times when these variables did not behave as Okun's law predicts, the rule appears to hold true overall. A 2014 review by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco finds that, despite cyclical variations, the rule "has held up surprisingly well over time."


How Much Is a Subscription to Morningstar Premium?

Response: Morningstar Premium offers several subscription packages. Members can pay monthly, annually, biennially (every two years), and triennially (every three years). Monthly memberships cost $34.95 per month; annual memberships cost $249, biennial memberships are $399, and triennial memberships are $499.


Response: Cloud security refers to efforts to protect digital assets and data stored on cloud-based services. Measures to protect this data include two-factor authorization (2FA), the use of VPNs, security tokens, data encryption, and firewall services, among others.


What Investment Instruments Can Be Used for SIPs?

Response: SIPs can be utilized to invest in various investment instruments such as mutual funds (equity funds, debt funds, hybrid funds), index funds, ETFs, and other investment products offered by financial institutions.


What Are the Main Disadvantages of Options?

Response: The main disadvantage of options contracts is that they are complex and difficult to price. This is why options are considered to be a security most suitable for experienced professional investors. In recent years, they have become increasingly popular among retail investors. Because of their capacity for outsized returns or losses, investors should make sure they fully understand the potential implications before entering into any options positions. Failing to do so can lead to devastating losses.


What Is the Sherman Antitrust Act in Simple Terms?

Response: The Sherman Antitrust Act is a law passed by Congress to promote competition within the economy by prohibiting companies from colluding or merging to form a monopoly.


What Are Some High- and Low-Profit Margin Industries?

Response: High-profit margin sectors typically include those in the services industry, as there are fewer assets involved in production than an assembly line. Similarly, software or gaming companies may invest initially while developing a particular software/game and cash in big later by simply selling millions of copies with very few expenses.Operations-intensive businesses such as transportation, which may have to deal with fluctuating fuel prices, drivers’ perks and retention, and vehicle maintenance, usually have lower profit margins. Automobiles also have low profit margins, as profits and sales are limited by intense competition, uncertain consumer demand, and high operational expenses involved in developing dealership networks and logistics.


Response: A living trust is one established during one's lifetime and can be either revocable or irrevocable. A revocable living trust is often used in estate planning to avoid probate court and fights over the assets of an estate, Unlike an irrevocable trust, the revocable living trust does not confer tax or creditor protection.


Why Would My Advisor Change My Shares to Y-Shares?

Response: Advisors may upgrade to Y-shares if there is a cost savings benefit. Mutual funds, meanwhile, may change the share class of an issued fund—called a reclassification—if certain requirements are met.


Response: To work in the United States or file taxes with the IRS, individuals need a TIN. A taxpayer identification number allows individuals to take advantage of benefits or services offered by the government, run their day-to-day business operations, and report their taxes.


Response: Getting student loans forgiven has two basic parts. First, you consolidate all your loans into one debt (if you have any federal student loans that aren't direct loans). Then, you apply for forgiveness by filing a special application: Federal Student Aid’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) & Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) Certification & Application.


Response: In contrast to call options, put options grant the contract holder the right to sell the underlying (as opposed to the right to buy it) at a set price. The equivalent position using puts would involve selling short shares and then selling a downside put. This, however, is uncommon. Instead, traders may employ a married put, where an investor, holding a long position in a stock, purchases a put option on the same stock to protect against depreciation in the stock's price.


Which Agency Regulates Investment Banking Firms?

Response: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversees the operations of investment banks as these banks deal with securities.


What Are the Avalanche and Snowball Methods of Repayment?

Response: Avalanche and snowball are names given to different strategies of paying down your debt. The “avalanche” approach calls for sending in the minimum payments on all debt and putting any extra money toward those with the highest interest rates. Alternatively, the “snowball” method is about building psychological momentum. Again, you’re paying the minimum for all your debts, but this time you use any extra funds to clear the smaller debts first. Each has pros and cons: the avalanche method reduces the interest paid over the long term, while the snowball strategy provides quicker wins to motivate you to stick with your repayment plans.


How Does Deferred Compensation Affect Your Taxes?

Response: Those making contributions to a plan enjoy a tax deduction in that year, which can in some cases be substantial enough to help a taxpayer avoid alternative minimum tax (AMT).The funds grow tax-deferred until the payout date.If you retire in a lower tax bracket or a lower-tax jurisdiction you will benefit from the tax deferral upon retirement.


What Are the Risks of Debt Consolidation?

Response: Consolidating debt could potentially lead to you paying more in the long run, particularly if you consolidate credit card debt but then continue to use the cards you paid off. There may also be a minor, short-term ding to your credit score.


How Do You Recognize Off-Balance Sheet Items?

Response: It's important to read any company's balance sheets closely, including all notes. When seeing common OBS items such as leased items or partnerships with factors that handle accounts receivables, it's a good idea to look especially closely.


What Are Ways to Avoid Becoming House Poor?

Response: If you are worried about becoming house poor, or already find yourself in this situation, there are some options. You can look to boost your income through a side job or gig work, and look to cut costs elsewhere. Refinancing a mortgage may be an option, especially if interest rates have fallen. Moreover, you can pull some cash out of your home's equity to help with other expenses. Finally, while it is not always ideal, downsizing to a more affordable home or switching to a rental are another option.


Response: Generally, yes. It means that there were more trades that made money than trades that lost money. Bear in mind, though, that it says nothing about the amounts of money made or lost. For instance, you may have 15 winning trades and five losing trades for a positive win/loss ratio of 3.0. However, those five losing trades may have cost you more than the 15 winning trades made you.


What Welfare Programs Does the United States Have?

Response: The following welfare programs are offered in the U.S.: Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Children's Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, housing assistance, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.


Response: Free trials and freemiums are slightly different; free trials are typically time-bound and only allow a user to "test out" a few parts of a product or service. Meanwhile, freemium models allow their free users to access the full application indefinitely.


Response: What counts as a “good” APR will depend on factors such as the competing rates offered in the market, the prime interest rate set by the central bank, and the borrower’s own credit score. When prime rates are low, companies in competitive industries will sometimes offer very low APRs on their credit products, such as the 0% on car loans or lease options. Although these low rates might seem attractive, customers should verify whether these rates last for the full length of the product’s term, or whether they are simply introductory rates that will revert to a higher APR after a certain period has passed. Moreover, low APRs may only be available to customers with especially high credit scores.


What Is the Difference Between Unsolicited and Solicited?

Response: The difference between an unsolicited bid and a solicited bid is that in a solicited bid, the target company wants to be sold and is actively seeking a buyer. An unsolicited bid is when the target company is not actively seeking a buyer and may not be interested at all in being acquired.


Response: Fully vetted suggests that an option has undergone a complete analysis with an objective decision made upon its completion.


Why Do Companies Keep Acquiring Other Companies Through M&A?

Response: Two of the key drivers of capitalism are competition and growth. When a company faces competition, it must both cut costs and innovate at the same time. One solution is to acquire competitors so that they are no longer a threat. Companies also complete M&A to grow by acquiring new product lines, intellectual property, human capital, and customer bases. Companies may also look for synergies. By combining business activities, overall performance efficiency tends to increase, and across-the-board costs tend to drop as each company leverages the other company's strengths.


Response: The backdoor Roth strategy can be beneficial if you earn too much to contribute to a Roth IRA or if you've determined that a Roth IRA is better for your retirement.


Response: High-frequency trading is fast. It can be as fast as 10 milliseconds. In some cases, it can be even less to execute a large batch of trades.


What Is the Difference Between FATCA and FBAR?

Response: The FBAR and FATCA reporting requirements are similar, but there are several significant differences. Some assets should be disclosed on one form but not the other, and some must be disclosed on both.The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or FBAR, is a form required by the IRS for expatriates and other citizens with certain foreign bank accounts. FBARs also must be filed on behalf of trusts, estates, and domestic entities with interests in foreign financial accounts.FATCA applies to individual citizens, residents, and non-resident aliens.Residents and entities in U.S. territories must file FBARs but don't need to file FATCA forms.The FATCA requires disclosure of foreign stocks and securities, partnership interests, hedge funds, and other private equity funds. FBARs are required for assets held in foreign branches of U.S. banks, accounts where the owner has signatory authority, and indirect ownership interests or beneficial interests.


Response: For a real estate bridge loan, you’ll need an excellent credit score. Lenders also prefer borrowers with low debt-to-income (DTI) ratios.


Response: A routing number is made up of nine digits that identify your bank to other banks. It will typically be printed on deposit slips that come with your checkbook and it may even appear on blank deposit slips that you can pick up at your bank.


Response: Financial ratio analysis is often broken into six different types: profitability, solvency, liquidity, turnover, coverage, and market prospects ratios. Other non-financial metrics may be scattered across various departments and industries. For example, a marketing department may use a conversion click ratio to analyze customer capture.


How Do Authorities Detect and Investigate Price-Fixing Schemes?

Response: Authorities employ various methods, including whistleblower reports, market monitoring, and data analysis, to detect and investigate price-fixing schemes. Entities can ask internal staff to provide information (without penalty) for information as well.


Is it better to use the alpha, beta, or Sharpe ratio?

Response: All three calculation methodologies will give investors different information. Alpha ratio is useful to determine excess returns on an investment. Beta ratio shows the correlation between the stock and the benchmark that determines the overall market, usually the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Sharpe ratio helps determine whether the investment risk is worth the reward.


Response: Black Wall Street was a nickname given to the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the largest and most prosperous African-American business communities in the U.S. in the early 20th century. From May to June, 1921, its 35 blocks were destroyed during the Tulsa Race Riot. It was quickly rebuilt, with over 80 businesses reopening by 1922. More generally, Black Wall Street can also refer to any area of African-American high economic or financial activity.


Response: A tax deduction lowers your taxable income, which reduces your total amount of taxes owed. That can result in a refund if you overpaid taxes during the year.


Should I Claim Single or Head of Household Status?

Response: For tax purposes, it is almost always better to be head of household. Head of household filers have a lower tax rate and higher standard deductions than single filers.


How Is a Widow's Allowance Different from a Will?

Response: A widow's allowance is determined by court or state statute, whereas a will is determined by an individual's own preferences, as stated in a legal document. Though the actual benefits—that is, what a spouse receives when a loved one dies—may be similar, the difference is how the benefits are determined: who decided them, and when.


What Are the Benefits of Financial Statements?

Response: Financial statements show how a business operates. It provides insight into how much and how a business generates revenues, what the cost of doing business is, how efficiently it manages its cash, and what its assets and liabilities are. Financial statements provide all the details on how well or poorly a company manages itself.


Do More People Save For Retirement With QACAs?

Response: Yes, QACAS increase participation rates for company retirement plans because they are opt-out plans, meaning they employ automatic enrollment. An employee must choose to opt-out of the plan. However, many employees who participate in QACAs still lack adequate retirement funds over the long term because they choose to just go along with the low preset contributions of a QACA and not increase their savings.


Response: A balance sheet explains the financial position of a company at a specific point in time. As opposed to an income statement which reports financial information over a period of time, a balance sheet is used to determine the health of a company on a specific day.A bank statement is often used by parties outside of a company to gauge the company's health. Banks, lenders, and other institutions may calculate financial ratios off of the balance sheet balances to gauge how much risk a company carries, how liquid its assets are, and how likely the company will remain solvent.A company can use its balance sheet to craft internal decisions, though the information presented is usually not as helpful as an income statement. A company may look at its balance sheet to measure risk, make sure it has enough cash on hand, and evaluate how it wants to raise more capital (through debt or equity).


Response: Yes, salvage value can be considered the selling price that a company can expect to receive for an asset the end of its life. In other cases, that asset may be scrapped or turned into raw materials. However, those materials may be sold. Therefore, the salvage value is simply the financial proceeds a company may expect to receive for an asset when its disposed of, though it may not factor in selling or disposal costs.


What Are the Balanced Scorecard Benefits?

Response: There are many benefits to using a scorecard. The most important advantages include the ability to bring information into a single report, which can save time, money, and resources. It also allows companies to track their performance in service and quality in addition to tracking their financial data. Scorecards also allow companies to recognize and reduce inefficiencies.


How Much Money Do Banks Need to Keep in Reserve?

Response: The reserve amount has historically ranged from zero to 10%. Since March 26, 2020, it has been zero.


Response: Marx thought that the capitalistic system would inevitably self-destruct. Competition would grow so fierce that most businesses would fold and be absorbed into unwieldy monopolies. Workers would reject a system that exploited them. The oppressed workers would ultimately overthrow the owners to take control of the means of production, ushering in a classless society of shared ownership.


Response: The capital asset pricing model was developed by the financial economists William Sharpe, Jack Treynor, John Lintner, and Jan Mossin in the early 1960s, who built their work on ideas put forth by Harry Markowitz in the 1950s.


Response: A United Parcel Service (UPS) reference number is also called a UPS pickup reference number. One or more parties to the shipment will use this series of characters or numbers to help UPS Freight correctly identify the shipment. The carrier can designate the reference number from various sources, including the return authorization number.


Response: To earn money without the typical practice of charging interest, Islamic banks use equity participation systems, which are similar to profit sharing. Equity participation means if a bank lends money to a business, the business will pay back the loan without interest and instead give the bank a share in its profits. If the business defaults or doesn't earn a profit, then the bank also doesn't get paid.


What Are Examples of High and Low Operating Leverage?

Response: Companies with high fixed costs tend to have high operating leverage, such as those with a great deal of research & development and marketing. With each dollar in sales earned beyond the break-even point, the company makes a profit. Conversely, retail stores tend to have low fixed costs and large variable costs, especially for merchandise. Because retailers sell a large volume of items and pay upfront for each unit sold, COGS increases as sales increase. Because of this, such stores often have low operating leverage.


Response: A unit bank is a small, local bank that provides banking services to a small community in the region it is located. Unit banks stand in contrast to large, national banks that provide a vast array of services to millions of customers through different branches. A unit bank does not have any other locations or branches and is a standalone entity.


Response: Insurance is a way to manage your financial risks. When you buy insurance, you purchase protection against unexpected financial losses. The insurance company pays you or someone you choose if something bad occurs. If you have no insurance and an accident happens, you may be responsible for all related costs.


How Many Different Industries Are There?

Response: Different classification systems will group and report industries differently. The NAICS has historically grouped companies into roughly 20 sectors, 100 subsectors, and over 1,000 six-digit NAICS industry codes.


Response: Consider the following quarterly income statement where a company has $100,000 in revenues and $75,000 in cost of goods sold. Under expenses, the calculation would not include selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses. To arrive at the gross profit total, the $100,000 in revenues would subtract $75,000 in cost of goods sold to equal $25,000.


Response: YOY calculations are straightforward and usually expressed in percentage terms. This would involve taking the current year’s value and dividing it by the prior year’s value and subtracting one: (this year) ÷ (last year) - 1.


How Does Inflation Erode Purchasing Power?

Response: Inflation is the gradual rise in the prices of a broad range of products and services. If inflation persists at a high level or gets out-of-control, it can eat away your purchasing power—what you can buy with the money you have. The same product that cost $2 six months ago might now cost $4, due to inflation. This rise in prices in turn can erode people's savings and consequently, their standard of living.


What Is the Benefit of Using a Contra Account?

Response: Contra accounts are used to reduce the value of the original account directly to keep financial accounting records clean. If a contra account is not used, it can be difficult to determine historical costs, which can make tax preparation more difficult and time-consuming.


Response: The CPI rose 3.2% for the 12 months ending February 2024. The index rose 0.4% in February, which is slightly higher than the 0.3% increase in January 2024.


How Do Managers Decide on Capital Structure?

Response: Assuming that a company has access to capital (e.g. investors and lenders), they will want to minimize their cost of capital. This can be done using a weighted average cost of capital (WACC) calculation. To calculate WACC the manager or analyst will multiply the cost of each capital component by its proportional weight.


Why Should Investors Pay Attention to PP&E?

Response: PP&E are assets that are expected to generate economic benefits and contribute to revenue for many years. Purchases of PP&E are a signal that management has faith in the long-term outlook and profitability of its company.


How Are Cryptocurrencies Used in Money Laundering?

Response: The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) noted in a June 2021 report that convertible virtual currencies (CVCs), or cryptocurrencies, are a currency of choice in various online illicit activities. CVCs can layer transactions and obfuscate the origin of money derived from criminal activity. Criminals use several money-laundering techniques involving cryptocurrencies, including “mixers” and “tumblers” that break the connection between an address or crypto “wallet” sending cryptocurrency and the address receiving it.


Response: At its core, a marketing mix is focused on promoting a product or service to generate revenue for a company. On the whole, it integrates key marketing strategies that create brand awareness, build customer loyalty, and drive product sales.


Why might consumers want to consider a linked account?

Response: Linked savings accounts allow customers to keep the majority of their funds in a savings account, which may earn more interest, moving money into the checking or NOW account as needed. Some packaged or linked accounts may also offer incentives such as lower fees or free checking.


Does the U.S. Have a Flat Tax Income Tax System?

Response: The U.S. has a progressive income tax system where an individual's income determines various tax brackets from low income to higher income, each with a different tax rate. The taxpayer pays the rates applicable to their income in each bracket. An individual who earns $45,000 in 2024 will pay a total tax of 10% on the first $11,600 of their income and 12% on the remaining $33,400.


Can the Buyer Be Present During an Appraisal?

Response: Both buyers and sellers can ask to be present at the home appraisal with the approval of the appraiser. In lieu of attending themselves, buyers and sellers can request that their agents be allowed to attend the appraisal. But typically, only the appraiser is present as it's less common for buyers or sellers to show up.


What Is the Difference Between Commercial Banking and Retail Banking?

Response: Retail banking offers deposit, access, and lending services to individuals. Commercial banking is another name for corporate banking, which offers banking services to businesses, governments, and other institutions. While retail banking offers its services to people for personal use, commercial banking serves institutions.


What If I Buy Real Estate With an Encumbrance?

Response: That depends on the encumbrance. An encumbrance on your newly purchased property may be simply a mortgage. Or it may be a financial lien placed by someone owed money for work they did for the previous owner, that wasn't paid. It could be a property tax lien placed by the county. Or it might be a zoning regulation that prohibits you from building a structure you'd hoped to have. Be sure to research all possible encumbrances before you purchase a home so you understand how you might be obligated financially or otherwise.


Response: The focus on the four Ps—product, price, place, and promotion—has been a core tenet of marketing since the 1950s. Three newer Ps expand the marketing mix for the 21st century.People places the focus on the personalities who represent the product. In the current era, that means not only sales and customer service employees but social media influencers and viral media campaigns.Process is logistics. Consumers increasingly demand fast and efficient delivery of the things they want, when they want them.Physical evidence is perhaps the most thoroughly modern of the seven Ps. If you're selling diamond jewelry on a website, it must be immediately clear to the consumer that you are a legitimate established business that will deliver as promised. A professionally designed website with excellent functionality, an "About" section that lists the principals of the company and its physical address, professional packaging, and efficient delivery service are all critical to convincing the consumer that your product is not only good, it's real.


Response: OPEC is made up of 13 member nations. The five founding members are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, while the other full members include Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates.


How Much Can I Earn Before I Pay 40% Tax?

Response: Currently, there is no 40% tax bracket. For 2023, the highest earners in the United States pay a top rate of 37% federal tax on all income made above $578,125 (single filers) and $693,750 (married couples filing jointly).


What Is an Example of Ceteris Paribus in Economics?

Response: All things being equal, if the price of milk increases, people will buy less milk. This assumption ignores how other substitutes are behaving, how household income is behaving, or non-economic factors such as the health benefits of milk. Ceteris paribus, people will buy less of a product if the price is higher.


Response: Reasons for a dead cat bounce include a clearing of short positions, investors incorrectly believing the bottom has been reached, or from investors trying to find oversold assets. Ultimately, the dead cat bounce is not founded on fundamentals and so the market continues to decline soon after.


Are Binary Options Considered High Risk?

Response: Binary options are considered high-risk because of their all-or-nothing payouts, their short-term speculative nature, their volatility, and the leverage involved in the product.Approach binary options with caution, fully understanding the risks involved, and have a trading strategy with risk management measures in place. Using a regulated and reputable broker to mitigate some of these risks is essential.


Response: Agribusiness is a large industry involving many different types of farming and businesses, small and large. Those who work in the sector might be planting fields, building farm machinery, designing aquaculture tanks, and transporting animals and vegetables to the market.


Response: An escrow disbursement is a payment made from an escrow account. With real estate, it's made by the lender on behalf of a borrower to cover property taxes and homeowners insurance.


Does the IRS Track Capital Loss Carryover?

Response: You're allowed to deduct up to $3,000 in capital losses per year, carrying over any remaining losses into the following year. So, if you've experienced $9,000 in capital losses, each year for three years you can deduct $3,000 from your income to offset the loss.


Does Group Term Life Insurance Provide Permanent Coverage?

Response: No, group term life provides temporary coverage while you work for your employer, or while you pay premiums through a membership association. Unlike permanent insurance, term life does not last your entire lifetime and does not accumulate cash value.


Response: Support and resistance levels represent points on a price chart where there is a likelihood of a letup or a reversal of the prevailing trend. Support occurs where a downtrend is expected to pause due to a concentration of demand, while resistance occurs where an uptrend is expected to pause due to a concentration of supply. In an ascending triangle pattern, the upward-sloping lower trendline indicates support, while the horizontal upper bound of the triangle represents resistance.


What Are the Main Advantages of Options?

Response: Options can be very useful as a source of leverage and risk hedging. For example, a bullish investor who wishes to invest $1,000 in a company could potentially earn a far greater return by purchasing $1,000 worth of call options on that firm, as compared to buying $1,000 of that company’s shares.In this sense, the call options provide the investor with a way to leverage their position by increasing their buying power.On the other hand, if that same investor already has exposure to that same company and wants to reduce that exposure, they could hedge their risk by selling put options against that company.


Response: Brick-and-mortar banking refers to the practice of depositing and borrowing money through online banking applications or websites, compared to visiting a branch in person. Many retail banks are now eliminating some of their branches to provide more services by mail, telephone, or on the web.


Response: You can report the information found on Form 1099-DIV on Schedule B or on Form 1040 directly.


Response: Quid Pro Quo is a Latin phrase that literally means "something for something," suggesting an implied agreement to exchange one service or favor for another. This may be required in certain business contexts, since courts may strike down a contract that does not include equal considerations. Quid pro quo agreements are also common in politics, although they sometimes suggest shady or unethical business dealings.


What Is the Difference Between EBIDA and EBITDA?

Response: EBIDA and EBITDA are both profitability measurements that compare a company's earnings after certain expenses have been considered. The only difference between the two is the treatment of taxes. EBIDA does not consider taxes, while EBITDA does deduct the amount of taxes owed. Therefore, EBIDA is often a higher calculation due to it consider one less corporate expense.


Response: Any effort to predict opportunity cost must rely heavily on estimates and assumptions. There's no way of knowing exactly how a different course of action will play out financially over time. Investors might use the historic returns on various types of investments in an attempt to forecast their likely returns. However, as the famous disclaimer goes, "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."


Response: A random variable is one whose value is unknown a priori, or else is assigned a random value based on some data generating process or mathematical function.


Response: LME warrants are documents that represent an entitlement to a specific lot of LME-approved metal. These documents also serve as a form of insurance for owners. On March 1, 2021, the LME switched to digital-only warrants.


What Are the 4 Quadrants of the BCG Matrix?

Response: The BCG Growth-Share Matrix uses a 2x2 grid with growth on one axis and market share on the other. Each of the four quadrants represents a specific combination of relative market share and growth:Low Growth, High Share: Companies should milk these cash cows for cash to reinvest elsewhere.High Growth, High Share: Companies should significantly invest in these stars as they have high future potential.High Growth, Low Share: Companies should invest in or discard these question marks, depending on their chances of becoming stars.Low Share, Low Growth: Companies should liquidate, divest, or reposition these pets.


Response: HRP begins with an analysis of the available labor pool from which a company can draw. It then evaluates the firm's present and future demand for various types of labor and attempts to match that demand with the supply of job applicants.


Response: The retention ratio, also called the plowback ratio, is the proportion of earnings kept back in the business as retained earnings. It refers to the percentage of net income that is retained to grow the business, rather than being paid out as dividends. It is the opposite of the payout ratio, which measures the percentage of profit paid out to shareholders as dividends. This metric helps investors determine how much money a company is keeping to reinvest in the company's operations. Typically, newer companies have high retention ratios as they are investing earnings back into the company to accelerate growth.


Response: A bear trap is short-term bearish but long-term bullish because it usually occurs in a bullish market trend.


Response: Higher inflation causes the price of most goods and services to spike. As a result, consumers tend to scale back overall spending or prioritize necessities and select inflation-proof purchases.


What Is the Cause of the Gambler's Fallacy?

Response: The gambler's fallacy is a behavioral issue primarily derived from the belief in small numbers. People erroneously believe that small sample sets are always representative of larger populations or outcomes.


Response: The BRICS nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In 2023, the group invited Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates to join. Full membership is expected to be granted as of Jan. 1, 2024.


Response: By law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major bureaus at least once a year. The official website for that purpose is AnnualCreditReport.com. You're also entitled to see your credit report free of charge if you've recently been denied credit, insurance, or employment based on the information in your report or if you've been a victim of identity theft.


Response: In the U.S,, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has the primary responsibility for overseeing the commodities markets, including foreign currency trading.


Response: Depreciation recapture is treated as ordinary income and taxed as such. With real estate, it's a little more complicated. The gain beyond the original cost basis is taxed as a capital gain, whereas the part that is related to depreciation is taxed at the unrecaptured gains section 1250 tax rate, which is capped at 25%.


Can Banks Engage in Proprietary Trading?

Response: The Volcker Rule, implemented in response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, places restrictions against large banks using their own accounts for short-term proprietary trading of securities, derivatives, and commodity futures, along with options on these instruments. The rule is designed to shield customers by preventing banks from making the types of speculative investments that contributed to the Great Recession.


Response: OTC stocks were traded without a broker or central exchange as they were generally too small to be listed on a formal exchange. Some OTC stocks were considered publicly traded, though some companies on the OTC market were private companies.


How Do You Calculate Year to Date Returns?

Response: Consider an investor who bought shares in a company on January 1 at $200 per share. In March, they are worth $202. Year to date equals ($202 ÷ $200) - 1, or .01. Then multiply this by 100 to arrive at 1%. The next step is to annualize these returns. Since the shares grew 1% in the first quarter of the year, that works out to an annualized growth of 4% (1% x 4).


What are the Limitations of Hypothesis Testing?

Response: Hypothesis testing relies exclusively on data and doesn’t provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject being studied. Additionally, the accuracy of the results depends on the quality of the available data and the statistical methods used. Inaccurate data or inappropriate hypothesis formulation may lead to incorrect conclusions or failed tests. Hypothesis testing can also lead to errors, such as analysts either accepting or rejecting a null hypothesis when they shouldn’t have. These errors may result in false conclusions or missed opportunities to identify significant patterns or relationships in the data.


How Do Businesses Use the Break-Even Point in Break-Even Analysis?

Response: The break-even point (BEP) helps businesses with pricing decisions, sales forecasting, cost management, and growth strategies. A business would not use break-even to measure its repayment of debt or how long that repayment will take to complete.


Response: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming do not collect state income taxes. New Hampshire doesn’t tax earned wages, but it does tax income earned from interest and dividends. At the end of 2023, New Hampshire will begin phasing out these taxes, and all personal income in the state will be tax free by 2024.


Response: Examples of due diligence can be found in many areas of our daily lives. For example, conducting a property inspection before completing a purchase to assess the risk of the investment, an acquiring company that examines a target firm before completing a merger or acquisition, and an employer performing a background check on a potential recruit.


What Is Reconveyance in a Deed of Trust?

Response: In real estate law, reconveyance means the transfer of a property from a lender or trustee to a borrower. This usually happens at the end of a mortgage or other loan, when the borrower has satisfied the terms of their debt.


Response: A lien is simply the legal right of a lender to sell your property (a house or a car, for example) if don't meet your contractual obligations on the loan you took out to purchase it.


Response: An interest rate floor is a financing mechanism to ensure the lender is able to assess interest regardless of how external variable interest rates are performing. An interest rate floor is a fixed interest rate that is triggered should interest rates drop below the floor.


What Are Collateralized Debt Obligations?

Response: A collateralized debt obligation or CDO is a complex structured finance product backed by a pool of loans and other assets that are then sold to institutional investors. CDOs are a type of derivative and played a significant role in the 2007 housing crisis.


Who Is the Beneficial Owner of an Irrevocable Trust?

Response: When it comes to trusts, beneficial ownership information includes information on the settlor, trustees, protector, beneficiaries, and any other person exercising ultimate control over a trust. If a trust owns 25% or more of a corporation or legal entity, the trustee(s) of that trust are considered beneficial owners of the corporation.


Response: A p-value is a measure of the probability that an observed difference could have occurred just by random chance. When the p-value is sufficiently small (e.g., 5% or less), then the results are not easily explained by chance alone and the null hypothesis can be rejected. When the p-value is large, then the results in the data are explainable by chance alone, and the data is deemed consistent with (while proving) the null hypothesis.


Response: Standby letters of credit are often used in international trade deals where the terms may be different between parties, but that is not the only use. Anytime a buyer needs to guarantee payment for goods or services, a SBLC may be in order.


What Is Considered a Good Level of Discretionary Income?

Response: This is somewhat a matter of lifestyle; however, many experts agree that around 10-30% of your take-home (after-tax) pay should consist of discretionary income. The so-called 50-20-30 rule suggests that 50% of your net income goes towards living expenses, 20% to savings or investments, and 30% to discretionary spending.


What Responsibilities Did the Buyer Have in a DES Transaction?

Response: The buyer's responsibilities commenced upon the goods' arrival at the designated port. The buyer would of had to bear the costs associated with unloading, importing duties, and any subsequent transportation. Additionally, the buyer was responsible for securing and paying for any necessary insurance coverage.


What's the Difference Between a C Corporation and an S Corporation?

Response: C and S corporations are two types of private companies. The difference between these two entities lies in how they are taxed. A C corporation files a corporate tax return and pays federal income tax at the corporate rate. An S corporation, on the other hand, is treated as a pass-through entity. This means they do not file a federal income tax return. Instead, the corporation's profits and losses are reported on the shareholders' returns and are taxed at individual tax rates.


Response: The best method of sampling to use will depend on the nature of the analysis and the data being used. In general, simple random sampling is often the easiest and cheapest, but stratified sampling can produce a more accurate sample relative to the population under study.


What Is the Main Purpose of Organized Labor?

Response: The main purpose of organized labor is to improve the conditions and economic power of the working class. Unions can negotiate on behalf of their members for higher wages, better benefits, or protection from termination. In addition, they also lobby for better labor laws with legislators and politicians.


Response: A stratified random sample, in contrast to a simple draw, first divides the population into smaller groups, or strata, based on shared characteristics. Therefore, a stratified sampling strategy will ensure that members from each subgroup are included in the data analysis. Stratified sampling is used to highlight differences between groups in a population, as opposed to simple random sampling, which treats all members of a population as equal, with an equal likelihood of being sampled.


What Is a Data Warehouse and What Is It Used for?

Response: A data warehouse is an information storage system for historical data that can be analyzed in numerous ways. Companies and other organizations draw on the data warehouse to gain insight into past performance and plan improvements to their operations.


Response: Progress Energy, which was previously known as Carolina Power & Light Company, was acquired by Duke Energy in 2012. At the time, the $26 million merger created the largest electric utility company in the U.S.


Why Is It Called a "Bull" Market When Prices Go Up?

Response: The actual origin of the term "bull" is subject to debate. The terms "bear" (for down markets) and "bull" (for up markets) are thought by some to derive from the way in which each animal attacks its opponents. That is, a bull will thrust its horns up into the air, while a bear will swipe down. These actions were then related metaphorically to the movement of a market. If the trend was up, it was considered a bull market. If the trend was down, it was a bear market.Others point to Shakespeare's plays, which make reference to battles involving bulls and bears. In "Macbeth," the ill-fated titular character says his enemies have tethered him to a stake but "bear-like, I must fight the course." In "Much Ado About Nothing," the bull is a savage but noble beast. Several other explanations also exist.


Response: Imagine a hypothetical example where a company is analyzing why its products are being shipped late. It comes up with 20 various reasons for what may be causing the delay.Pareto analysis holds the claim that of those 20 various reasons, roughly four of those items will be the primary cause of roughly 80% of the shipping delays. The company undertakes an analysis to track how many instances of each reason occur.Pareto analysis isn't exact; the company may find that five reasons are causing 75% of the company's delays. Still, in principle, the fact remains that only several items are the primary drivers for a majority of outcomes. The company must focus its resources on these five reasons to make the most impactful positive change to its delivery processes.


Response: Typically a head-fake move will involve a test of important technical support or resistance, such as trendline support in an uptrend, or a test of key moving averages. These technical levels are made to be tested, and frequently stop-loss orders to buy/sell are placed around that price level. If the price move tests or breaks these levels, stop-loss orders may be triggered, bringing in temporary buying/selling pressure. If the technical level is regained within a short period of time (hours for day traders; days for longer-term traders), the market has likely shown its hand as a head fake, or a false break of that technical level.


What Is the Difference Between an ETF and a Mutual Fund?

Response: Both investments contain a basket of individual securities such as stock or bonds. However, mutual fund orders are executed once per day and all investors receive the same price at the end of the day. ETFs trade like stocks and are bought and sold on a stock exchange and experience price fluctuations throughout the trading day.


Response: Descending triangles are a bearish pattern that anticipates a downward trend breakout. A breakout occurs when the price of an asset moves above a resistance area, or below a support area.


What Are You Actually Buying When You Trade Index Options?

Response: When you trade an index option, you are actually buying the right to buy or sell a futures contract on the underlying index. Since these futures are themselves derivatives, an index option can be considered a second derivative of the underlying index.


Are Cryptocurrencies Subject to Rule 144?

Response: Cryptocurrencies are not subject to Rule 144. In fact, their sale is lightly regulated by the SEC or any other government body. The SEC takes the position that the top five cryptocurrency exchanges, which are responsible for 99% of crypt trading, "likely are trading securities" and should be required to register with the SEC and comply with its regulations.Recent turmoil in the industry, including the collapse of FTX, is likely to increase pressure to regulate crypto trading.


Response: Critics have argued that quantitative easing is effectively a form of money printing and point to examples in history where money printing has led to hyperinflation. However, proponents of quantitative easing claim that banks act as intermediaries rather than placing cash directly in the hands of individuals and businesses so quantitative easing carries less risk of producing runaway inflation.


Response: Real GDP tracks the total value of goods and services calculating the quantities but using constant prices that are adjusted for inflation. This is opposed to nominal GDP, which does not account for inflation. Adjusting for constant prices makes it a measure of real economic output for apples-to-apples comparison over time and between countries.


Response: Real GDP is informative of the size of the economy and the performance of recent economic activity. The real growth rate is often used as a performance indicator as it often provides better guidance on economic conditions due to actual activity as opposed to growth due to inflated prices.


Response: Offshore trading involves opening and maintaining a brokerage or trading account with an offshore investment firm. These accounts are generally opened in the name of a holding company rather than an individual. Trading this way provides investors with favorable tax treatment, which puts more money back into their pockets.


What Is the Difference Between a Fiscal Quarter and a Calendar Quarter?

Response: Fiscal quarters do not have to line up with the calendar year. For instance, if a company chooses to have its fiscal year starting in February rather than January, then its first quarter would consist of February, March, and April. Companies sometimes choose to do this if they want their fiscal year to end in their own peak season. Alternatively, since finishing the year often involves a lot of additional accounting work, some companies choose to end their fiscal year on a relatively calm month.


Is the BCG Matrix Used in the Real World?

Response: According to BCG, at the height of its success, the growth share matrix was used by about half of all Fortune 500 companies; today, it is still central in business school teachings on business strategy.


Where Did the Word Underwriting Come From?

Response: The term "underwrite" originates in the 17th century when marine vessels would be underwritten for insurance risk for overseas voyages. The insurance company would sub-scribe (literally to write underneath or under-write) the policy by signing their name at the bottom of the document and acknowledging consent that the policy is in force.


How Did the Eurozone Get the PIIGS Countries Out of Debt?

Response: During the European sovereign debt crisis, the European Union provided two bailouts to prevent the Greek economy from defaulting. While Greece accepted the first bailout, Greek voters ultimately rejected the second bailout due to required austerity measures. The European Central Bank also issued a $750 million euro rescue package, which was used to prop up Greek bonds on the secondary market. Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus also received bailouts.


How Do Mergers Differ From Acquisitions?

Response: In general, "acquisition" describes a transaction, wherein one firm absorbs another firm via a takeover. The term "merger" is used when the purchasing and target companies mutually combine to form a completely new entity. Because each combination is a unique case with its own peculiarities and reasons for undertaking the transaction, the use of these terms tends to overlap.


What Is the Difference Between an Investment Manager and a Fund Manager?

Response: Investment managers focus primarily on individual securities and bond investments while fund managers work with mutual funds comprised of multiple securities and assets, often tailored to a particular market sector.


Are There Strategies Traders Can Use For Triple-Witching Dates?

Response: One strategy is to look for arbitrage opportunities from price discrepancies between the stock market and derivative markets. Also, some traders might take up a straddle strategy, holding both a put and a call option with the same strike price and expiration date, to try to profit from large price swings in either direction. However, these strategies have risks and are not recommended for less experienced traders.


What Happens After a Cup and Handle Pattern Forms?

Response: If a cup and handle forms and it is confirmed, the price should see a sharp increase in the short- to medium-term. If the pattern fails, this bull run would not be observed.


Does Underinsured Motorist Insurance Cover Hit-and-Runs?

Response: No, UIM coverage doesn't apply to hit-and-run accidents, because this type of coverage applies when the driver doesn't have enough insurance. Since a hit-and-run driver wasn't identified, they're typically classified as an uninsured motorist, and UM coverage usually applies. In some states, you may also need collision coverage. If you're not sure, check with your insurance agent.


Response: Card theft, scams, and black markets for personal IDs have been around since the advent of credit cards in the 1960s and '70s. The first large-scale credit card dump, however, is often attributed to the year 1984, when the New York Times reported that the password for a leading credit union, TRW, was stolen from a Sears store on the West Coast. That password unlocked the credit histories and personal information of many Sears customers that would subsequently be used to obtain their credit card numbers.


Response: A voucher typically includes all of the supporting documents showing the money owed and any payments made for an outstanding payable. Some of the common documents are supplier invoice, supplier name, terms for payment such as the amount owed, the due date, and any discounts for paying the invoice early, company's purchase order, receipt of goods received, general ledger accounts, signatures of authorized representatives, proof of payment of invoice and date of payment.


How Has Monetary Policy Been Used to Curb Inflation In the United States?

Response: A contractionary policy can slow economic growth and even increase unemployment but is often seen as necessary to level the economy and keep prices in check. During double-digit inflation in the 1980s, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate to 20%. Though the effect of high rates spurred a recession, inflation was reduced to a range of 3% to 4% over the following years.


Response: A bottleneck occurs when there is not enough capacity to meet the demand or throughput for a product or service. It is called a bottleneck since the neck of a bottle narrows and tapers, restricting the amount of liquid that can flow out of a bottle at once.


Response: A lien waiver is a waiver that forfeits a counterparty's right to place a lien on a payer's property or goods. These are common in the construction business during various stages of construction. A lien waiver is similar to a receipt and can prevent a mechanics' lien from being filed.


How Does a Gift of Equity Affect the Seller?

Response: Gifts of equity could have tax implications for the seller, depending on the size of the gift. The seller may have to pay a gift tax unless the gift of equity is lower than the annual exclusion. For 2024, that exclusion is $18,000 for single individuals and $36,000 for married couples.


What Has Been the Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Unions?

Response: Studies show that states with right-to-work laws have seen a dramatic decrease in union membership and unionization rates. Other research suggests that RTW laws impact corporate policies by decreasing that bargaining power.


How Are Fixed Costs Treated in Accounting?

Response: Fixed costs are associated with a business's basic operating and overhead costs. Fixed costs are considered indirect costs of production, meaning they are not costs incurred directly by the production process, such as parts needed for assembly. However, they do factor into total production costs. As a result, fixed costs are depreciated over time instead of being expensed.


Response: Operating costs that are high or increasing can reduce a company's net profit. A company's management will look for ways to stabilize or decrease operating costs while still balancing the need to manufacture goods that meet consumer demands. If operating costs become too high, management may need to increase the price of their products in order to maintain profitability. They then risk losing customers to competitors who are able to produce similar goods at a lower price point.


Response: The Russell 2000 Index is a small-cap stock market index that includes the smallest 2,000 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index.


Response: You can get a home equity loan by contacting a lender who offers these types of loans. The first step is to get a professional appraisal of your home to find out its market value. If you have enough equity in your home to take out this type of loan, a lender will also check your credit and debt-to-income ratio. If you qualify for a home equity loan, your loan funds are usually delivered in a lump sum after the closing. Home equity loans are essentially a second mortgage on your house, with fixed-rate monthly payments.


What Is the Difference Between an MOU and an MOA?

Response: An MOU is a document that describes very broad concepts of mutual understanding, goals, and plans shared by the parties. In contrast, an MOA (memorandum of agreement) is a document describing in detail the specific responsibilities of, and actions to be taken by, each of the parties so that their goals may be accomplished.


What Are the Legal Underpinnings of U.S. Trade Embargoes?

Response: U.S. trade embargoes are based on laws passed in Congress and executive orders signed by U.S. presidents. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control administers the embargoes and fields applications for exemptions.


Response: Lenin led the revolutionary uprising that brought the Bolshevik faction of communism to power in Russia and across the territories of the old Russian Empire. This was one of the major events of world history in the 20th century, which would influence the course of economic, political, and strategic trends all over the world. Lenin's revolution and establishment of the Soviet Union resulted in the deaths of many millions of Russians and others, and it drove the world into a century of episodic wars and diplomatic conflicts known as the Cold War.


Response: Inflation, or a general rise in prices, is thought to occur for several reasons, and the exact reasons are still debated by economists. Monetarist theories suggest that the money supply is the root of inflation, where more money in an economy leads to higher prices. Cost-push inflation theorizes that as costs to producers increase from things like rising wages, these higher costs are passed on to consumers. Demand-pull inflation takes the position that prices rise when aggregate demand exceeds the supply of available goods for sustained periods of time.


Response: Delta-gamma hedging is an options strategy. It is closely related to delta hedging. In delta-gamma hedging, delta and gamma hedges are combined to cut down on the risk associated with changes in the underlying asset. It also aims to reduce the risk in the delta itself. Remember that delta estimates the change in the price of a derivative while gamma describes the rate of change in an option's delta per one-point move in the price of the underlying asset.


Response: Microsoft Excel can be used to create a PERT chart. Custom software with ready-made templates, such as Lucidchart, also are available.


Response: A TRIN index below 1.0 is usually a bullish sign, indicating that the market is advancing. However, it is important to understand the peculiarities of the TRIN formula because there are some circumstances where it can generate false signals.


What Are the Stages of a Financial Crisis?

Response: The financial crisis can be segmented into three stages, beginning with the launch of the crisis. Financial systems fail, generally caused by system and regulatory failures, institutional mismanagement of finances, and more. The next stage involves the breakdown of the financial system, with financial institutions, businesses, and consumers unable to meet obligations. Finally, assets decrease in value, and the overall level of debt increases.


Response: Yes, U.K. investment funds are quite similar to American mutual funds, allowing investors to invest in a single fund to buy shares in a diverse portfolio of securities.


When Should Married Couples File Taxes Separately?

Response: Despite the many benefits of filing jointly, there are instances in which filing separately may be more beneficial. This may be the case, for example, if one of you has significant miscellaneous deductions or medical expenses to claim.


Response: Most economists say that a market economy system is best able to deliver a high quality of life to most of its citizens. Its benefits include increased efficiency, steady economic growth, and motivation for innovation. Its potential downsides include the risks of monopolies, exploitation of labor, and income inequality.


Response: People buy mortgage bonds because they offer a higher return than government bonds. They may also provide higher yields than investment-grade corporate bonds depending on the credit rating.


Why Are Credit or Debit Card Transactions Declined?

Response: Credit and debit card transactions can be declined for a long list of reasons. For example, a credit card might not have a sufficient credit line to cover the charge or the checking account linked to a customer's debit card may lack enough cash. Transactions can also be declined if the card has expired, the customer entered an incorrect PIN or other information, or the credit card company suspects fraud, among other causes.


Response: Equity is a very important concept for investors. For instance, in looking at a company, an investor might use shareholders’ equity as a benchmark for determining whether a particular purchase price is expensive. If that company has historically traded at a price to book value of 1.5, for instance, then an investor might think twice before paying more than that valuation unless they feel the company’s prospects have fundamentally improved. On the other hand, an investor might feel comfortable buying shares in a relatively weak business as long as the price they pay is sufficiently low relative to its equity.


What Career Opportunities Are Available to Graduates With an MPA Degree?

Response: Graduates with an MPA degree can pursue a wide range of careers, mainly in the public and nonprofit sectors. Opportunities include roles such as government administrators, policy analysts, program managers, nonprofit directors, international development specialists, and urban planners.


What Is the Job of a Board of Directors?

Response: In general, a board sets broad policies and makes important decisions as a fiduciary on behalf of the company and its shareholders. Issues that fall under a board's purview include mergers and acquisitions, dividends and major investments, as well as the hiring and firing of senior executives and their compensation.


Response: The operating margin is an important measure of a company's overall profitability from operations. It is the ratio of operating profits to revenues for a company or business segment.Expressed as a percentage, the operating margin shows how much earnings from operations is generated from every $1 in sales after accounting for the direct costs involved in earning those revenues. Larger margins mean that more of every dollar in sales is kept as profit.


Response: You can deduct several types of interest, including mortgage interest, student loan interest, investment interest, and business loan interest. You must meet specific requirements to qualify for each deduction.For example, you can deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest, but only if your income is below $75,000 ($155,000 if you’re married filing jointly) for tax year 2023, and $80,000 and $165,000, respectively, for 2024.


How Do You Interpret Multicollinearity Results?

Response: Data will have high multicollinearity when the variable inflation factor is more than five. If the VIF is between one and five, variables are moderately correlated, and if equal to one, they are not correlated. In technical analysis, the indicators will be generally identical.


What Is Proof-of-Stake vs. Proof-of-Work?

Response: Proof-of-Stake (POS) uses randomly selected validators to confirm transactions and create new blocks. Proof-of-Work (POW) uses a competitive validation method to confirm transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain.


What Are the Components of Shareholder Equity?

Response: Aside from stock (common, preferred, and treasury) components, the SE statement includes retained earnings, unrealized gains and losses, and contributed (additional paid-up) capital.The retained earnings portion reflects the percentage of net earnings that were not paid to shareholders as dividends and should not be confused with cash or other liquid assets.All of these numbers should be listed on the company's earnings reports.


What Is the Difference Between a Centralized and Decentralized App?

Response: A centralized app has a single owner. The application software for a centralized app resides on one or more servers controlled by the owner. As a user, you'll interact with the app by downloading a copy of the app and then sending and receiving data back and forth from the company's server.A decentralized app (also known as a dApp or dapp) operates on a blockchain or peer-to-peer network of computers. Users engage in transactions directly with one another rather than relying on a central authority. The user of a dApp will pay the developer an amount of cryptocurrency to download and use the program's source code. The source code is known as a smart contract, which allows users to complete transactions without revealing personal information.


Response: M1, M2, and M3 are classifications of money in the United States. M1 consists of all money in circulation as well as deposits in banks. M2 money includes M1 money plus savings deposits and money market funds. M3, which has been discontinued, includes M2 plus time deposits.


What Is the Difference Between ACTC and CTC?

Response: The ACTC is simply the refundable portion of the CTC. It refers to the amount that can be claimed by families who owe the IRS less money than their qualified CTC amount.


What term lengths are available for municipal bonds?

Response: Municipal bonds are available in a variety of terms ranging from two to 30 years.


What Kinds of Loans Have the Highest Delinquency Rates?

Response: Student loans have the highest delinquency rates overall, at 12% through the period of May 2021-May 2022, according to the Federal Reserve. Although the percentage has declined since reaching a high of 17% in the fall of 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student loan delinquencies have declined throughout the pandemic as a result of the payment relief included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and various executive orders.


Response: A quid is a colloquial term for the British pound sterling. As of July, 2023, the value of a quid is equal to approximately $1.30 USD.


What Time Frame Is Best Used With Bollinger Bands®?

Response: Bollinger Bands® typically use a 20-day moving average.


Response: U.S. investors who wish to diversify globally can avoid PFIC status and taxation by looking to domestic mutual funds and ETFs that hold foreign assets. For example, a U.S. mutual fund that specializes in emerging markets stocks or else in global sovereign debt.


Response: The word commerce is not interchangeable with business, but is rather a subset of business. Business includes sourcing, manufacturing, production, and marketing whereas commerce pertains to the distribution side of the business, specifically the distribution of goods and services.


Response: Lean manufacturing is a form of production used by manufacturers that want to reduce production system time to increase efficiency. Implementing a lean manufacturing approach means that a company wants to boost productivity while eliminating as much waste as possible.


How Are Accounts Receivable Different From Accounts Payable?

Response: Accounts receivable represent funds owed to the firm for services rendered, and they are booked as an asset. Accounts payable, on the other hand, represent funds that the firm owes to others—for example, payments due to suppliers or creditors. Payables are booked as liabilities.


Response: The FINRA Series 6 license is valid for the duration of your employment with a FINRA member firm, as long as you remain registered and in good standing with FINRA. If you leave the firm or your registration lapses, your Series 6 license will no longer be valid.After two years, an individual who holds a Series 6 license must complete a certain number of continuing education (CE) credits in order to renew their license. The number of CE credits required for renewal depends on the specific requirements of the state in which the individual is licensed. In general, continuing education is required to ensure that registered representatives stay up-to-date on the latest developments in the securities industry and maintain their knowledge and skills. Completing CE credits can also help individuals maintain their professional licenses and stay in compliance with regulatory requirements.


Can I still use Incoterms 2010 after Jan. 1, 2020?

Response: Yes, it is still acceptable to use the 2010 Incoterms. However, both buyer and seller should agree in writing to use either the 2010 or 2020 Incoterms version.


What Makes a Multiple Regression Multiple?

Response: A multiple regression considers the effect of more than one explanatory variable on some outcome of interest. It evaluates the relative effect of these explanatory, or independent, variables on the dependent variable when holding all the other variables in the model constant.


What Are the Most Regulated Industries in the United States?

Response: The most regulated industries in the United States are:Petroleum and coal product manufacturingElectric power generation, transmission, and distributionMotor vehicle manufacturingNon-depository credit intermediationDepository credit intermediationScheduled air transportationFishingOil and gas extractionPharmaceutical and medicine manufacturingDeep sea, coastal, and Great Lakes water transportation


How Long Does It Take for a Series I Bond to Mature?

Response: These bonds are issued at face value with a 30-year final maturity: a 20-year original maturity period immediately followed by a 10-year extended maturity period.


Response: If your tax refund is offset, the federal government has seized a portion of your refund to put towards a state or federal debt you owe. Unpaid child support is an example.


What Is the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery?

Response: Established in 2013 as part of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington D.C. and named after its primary benefactor, the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery is the world’s largest gallery dedicated to philately. Distributed throughout the thematic areas are hundreds of pullout frames containing more than 20,000 objects, providing opportunities to view noteworthy stamps that have never been on public display.


Response: "Simple" interest refers to the straightforward crediting of cash flows associated with some investment or deposit. For instance, 1% annual simple interest would credit $1 for every $100 invested, year after year. Simple interest does not, however, take into account the power of compounding, or interest-on-interest, where after the first year the 1% would actually be earned on the $101 balance—adding up to $1.01. The next year, the 1% would be earned on $102.01, amounting to $1.02. And so one.


Response: Black Friday always occurs the day after Thanksgiving. In 2023, Black Friday takes place on Nov. 24.


Response: A CPM of $15 means it costs you an average of $15 to achieve 1,000 advertising impressions. In other words, you pay $15 for every 1,000 people who see your ad.


Response: Wage increases cause inflation because the cost of producing goods and services goes up as companies pay their employees more. Companies must charge more for their goods and services to maintain the same level of profitability to make up for the increase in cost. The increase in the prices of goods and services is inflation.


Is a Living Will the Same as a Living Trust?

Response: No. A living will is a directive written by an individual granting power of attorney and other rights to a trusted other if that individual becomes incapacitated or loses the ability to communicate. A living (or intervivos) trust establishes a legal entity (the trust), which holds assets that can be distributed without probate to beneficiaries after one's death.


Response: The make-to-stock strategy might be used by companies that produce goods that tend to be particularly popular during the holiday season. For instance, a toy manufacturer would forecast consumer demand and produce products accordingly.


How Is Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) Analysis Used?

Response: Cost-volume-profit analysis is used to determine whether there is an economic justification for a product to be manufactured. A target profit margin is added to the breakeven sales volume, which is the number of units that need to be sold in order to cover the costs required to make the product and arrive at the target sales volume needed to generate the desired profit. The decision maker could then compare the product's sales projections to the target sales volume to see if it is worth manufacturing.


What Is the Grace Period of an Insurance Policy?

Response: In insurance, the grace period is the time between the payment due date and the time when insurance coverage will be revoked due to nonpayment. This may be anywhere between 24 hours and a full month after payment.If you miss a payment and later choose to reinstate coverage, your insurer may choose to inspect the property to make sure that there has been no new damage during the grace period. There may be additional penalties for late payment.


What Ratios Measure a Firm's Ability to Meet Its Current Debt Obligations?

Response: The debt ratio, which is defined as the ratio of total debt to total assets, is often used to measure how likely a financial institution is to meet its obligations. Liquidity and solvency ratios are also commonly used for the same purpose.


What is the difference between a money manager and an asset manager?

Response: As implied in their respective names, money managers manage money and asset managers manage assets. However, as assets essentially represent money, the two can largely be considered the same thing.


What Are the Benefits of Using an Irrevocable Letter of Credit for Buyers?

Response: Buyers benefit from the assurance that payment will only be made upon proper documentation and compliance. An ILOC reduces the risk of non-performance by the seller and provides a level of security in international trade transactions.


Response: Gross profit, or gross income, equals a company’s revenues minus its cost of goods sold (COGS). It is typically used to evaluate how efficiently a company manages labor and supplies in production. Generally speaking, gross profit will consider variable costs, which fluctuate compared to production output. These costs may include labor, shipping, and materials, among others.


What Is Sampling Error vs. Standard Error?

Response: Sampling error is derived from the standard error (SE) by multiplying it by a Z-score value to produce a confidence interval.The standard error is computed by dividing the standard deviation by the square root of the sample size.


Can I Keep the Electricty My Solar Panels Produce If I Sell RECs?

Response: Yes, because you're not selling the electricity, but its attributes that make it clean power. If you have solar panels on your home, you produce electricity and can receive RECs for the power produced. You may still use the electricity and have it cut the amount of your electric bill while selling the REC. Selling the REC is not about electricity as such. Instead, it is selling a legal instrument that allows the buyer to claim the environmental benefits of the electricity produced.


Which Brokers Charge $0 Fees on Stock Trades?

Response: Robinhood was one of the first large online broker to offer free trading in stocks and ETFs in 2013 when its app officially launched. Since then, many brokerages have followed suit, including Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Merrill Edge, E*TRADE, Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, Webull, J.P. Morgan, Vanguard, SoFi, and Ally Invest (among others).Note that many of these platforms still charge commissions for trading in OTC stocks, options, futures, or other non-stock securities.


What Is the Difference Between a Liquid Asset and Illiquid Asset?

Response: A liquid asset is an item of future economic benefit to a company that can easily be exchanged for cash. On the other hand, illiquid assets are more difficult to sell. Consider an office building in downtown New York compared to a single share of stock of Amazon. The office building may take months to find a buyer, engage in negotiations, draft legal documentation, and finalize the deal. On the other hand, a single share of stock of publicly traded companies can usually be bought or sold online very quickly.


What Is the Difference Between TOD and Beneficiary?

Response: A transfer on death is an instrument that transfers ownership of specific accounts and assets to someone. A beneficiary is someone that is named to receive something of value.


When is it appropriate to use a quitclaim deed?

Response: Quitclaim deeds lack certain protections and promises found in other types of deed to real property. Because of this, they should only be used under certain circumstances. These include transferring real estate between close family members—for example, from a parent to a child.


Why Did China Create Special Economic Zones?

Response: Special economic zones are found all around the world. But some of the most successful ones are found in China. The country started to develop SEZs in the 1980s as a way to boost economic growth in order to take advantage of global capital as foreign firms and investors showed interest in the country's economic potential. The federal government revitalized existing SEZs and established new ones in the 1990s to continue fueling this growth.


What Are the Countries in the Middle East?

Response: The Middle East is generally considered to include the countries on or near the Arabian Peninsula. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Middle East includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Gaza Strip/Westbank, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Afghanistan and Pakistan are often grouped together with the Middle East, but they are not typically included in considerations of the MENA region.


Response: Reverse ICOs can be fraught with potential legal troubles. The SEC has said that reverse ICOs may constitute the sale of securities and that proper registration is required. During the height of the cryptocurrency craze, some companies used reverse ICOs or investor interest in blockchain more broadly to generate quick funding without necessarily providing an apparent business service relating to the crypto industry.For these reasons, among others, reverse ICOs have become significantly less popular in recent years.


What Did the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) Designation Do?

Response: Prior to 2002, investors from foreign nations were prevented from buying and selling stocks on Chinese exchanges. The QFII program lifted these tight capital controls and gave some foreign institutional investors the authorization to trade on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.


What Is a Measure of Efficiency in an Investments?

Response: An investment's measure of efficiency is its return on investment. This is the way investors and financial professionals measure how efficiently an investment makes a profit. This metric can also be used to compare one investment to another or multiple investments in a particular class, such as mutual funds that invest in the same asset class. ROI can be expressed as a ratio by dividing an investment's return by its cost. It can also be expressed as a percentage by multiplying the result by 100.


Response: You can invest in blue chip stocks through a stock brokerage such as Fidelity or Charles Schwab. Simply search for the company's ticker symbol in the broker's stock screener. In addition, many asset managers also run mutual funds or index funds that specifically target blue chip securities, making it easy to invest in a basket of such companies.


What Is the Difference Between Form 13D and Form 13F?

Response: SEC Form 13F requires institutional managers with $100 million or more in assets to disclose their holdings. Form 13D is a beneficial owner report that has to be filed when a person or group of persons acquire more than 5% of a voting class of a company's equity securities.


Response: The amount of times stocks gap really depends on the time frame that a trader is viewing and making trades. The shorter the time frame, the more frequent the gaps. So a daily chart would have more gaps than a monthly chart.