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What is a BitLicense?
A BitLicense is an informal name for the New York state license required of cryptocurrency businesses to operate within the state. While a lot of cryptocurrency transactions can and do happen “off the grid,” many companies working in cryptocurrency choose to register for licenses to do business and to comply with relevant state and federal regulations and reporting requirements. Different states have different requirements for the businesses that operate within them. In New York state, the applicable license has come to be called the BitLicense. Continue reading...
What does Ticker Mean?
A ticker symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock or security on whatever market it trades on. Stocks are usually represented by a combination of letters (typically 3-4), ETFs are generally identified with 3 letters, and mutual funds often have 5-letter combinations that end in the letter “X”, but they can also be alphanumeric. A ticker can consist of a combination of letters, numbers, and sometimes (but not often) both. Continue reading...
What does “Buy-Side” Mean?
The “buy side” refers to businesses in the financial services industry such as pensions, mutual funds, and asset managers that manage money. Since firms on this “side” of Wall Street tend to be the ones buying and selling securities for their portfolios, when a person works for one of these funds or companies they are said to be on the “buy side.” Research analysts that provide analysis and data to fund managers solely for the purpose of making investment decisions within the portfolio are “buy side analysts.” That research is typically not published for public use. Continue reading...
What are the Withdrawal Rules From My 457 Plan?
457 plans are the only retirement plan that does not require you to wait until a certain age to avoid an IRS penalty on withdrawals. Unlike 401(k)s and 403(b)s, you are allowed to take money out of a 457 Plan before the age of 59½ without a 10% early withdrawal penalty, but only if you’ve separated from service. Separation from service can mean retiring or just leaving to take a job elsewhere. Roth IRAs allow you to withdraw your principal amount early without penalty, but you will incur taxes and penalties if the gains are withdrawn. 457 plans do not have such stipulations. All other retirement accounts require certain exception criteria to be met for the IRS not to penalize you for early withdrawals. Continue reading...
What is the Absolute Breadth Index?
The Absolute Breadth Index (ABI) is a market breadth indicator, calculated using the absolute value of the difference between the number of advancing stocks and declining stocks to indicate the size of market movement without considering price direction. Larger ABI numbers will indicate more volatility. When breadth is smaller, it means that the market isn’t experiencing significant movement, or movement in a definitive direction. When advances or declines pull away from the other, it indicates the presence of market-wide trends. Continue reading...
What does it Mean to be "Listed"?
To be “listed” means a stock has been registered and approved for trading on an exchange. The most relevant companies will aim to be listed on a major exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the NASDAQ. Who are Venture Capitalists? Should I Listen to Commentators on Financial News Programs? Continue reading...
What is a Stock?
Buying a stock means taking an ownership position in a publicly traded company. Once you purchase a stock, you become a shareholder. A company has two ways of acquiring capital needed for growth: borrowing it (often in the form of issuing bonds), or selling shares of their company's equity, which is known as stock. In other words, when you buy shares of a company’s stock, you are buying a claim to the company's profit margin, because you are technically a part-owner in the company. Those who hold shares of Common Stock, the most typical form of stock, have voting rights in the election of the company’s board members. Continue reading...
Should I Listen to Commentators on Financial News Programs?
It’s easy to become drawn in by the financial media, but it’s important not to let them do your thinking for you. Commentators on the most reputable financial channels will always be sharp-looking, smooth-talking, and quoting a barrage of statistics that makes it seem like you didn’t know anything before you tuned in. Is this an indication of being camera-friendly? Without a doubt. Is it an indication of sound financial advice? Absolutely not. Continue reading...
Should I pay for financial planning services?
Any professional that you work with for financial planning is going to be compensated for the work they do, but there are different ways they earn their pay. Whether it’s worth it to you is another question. If you have enough knowledge and time on your hands, and your investment portfolio is not very complicated, you may be able to manage it on your own. This can save you some money on financial advisor fees. Continue reading...
What is Credit Counseling?
Credit counselors can negotiate debt management strategies with lenders on behalf of individuals with debt problems, as well as providing behavioral financial habit construction counseling. Debtors seek out credit counselors to find out what their options are to get out of debt and to get some coaching during the process. Credit counselors can be certified through several accredited institutions who are overseen by the Department of Justice in the United States, and they may be part of a non-profit organization, lending institution, or independent financial practice. Continue reading...
Who is an Account Manager?
Account managers are the point of contact and liaison between a business and its clients. An account manager is assigned to specific accounts to maintain the customer relationship, provide service, and to ensure that the customer remains client. It is easier and more cost-effective to preserve a long-term relationship with a client and to get their repeat business than to find new clients. This is especially true when the client is a business entity and their business constitutes a significant portion of overall Revenue. Continue reading...
How Does Ethereum Mining Work?
Ethereum mining is the process of solving blocks of encrypted blockchain data using a proof-of-work algorithm and occasionally being rewarded with Ether. Blockchain data is validated and added to the distributed ledger by computers on the network performing the task of “mining,” which is continually attempting to solve puzzles, basically, which each unlock a block of encrypted data containing information about transactions, and, on the Ethereum platform, information about distributed application functions and smart contracts. Once a block is unlocked, the data within is shared with the network and added to the distributed ledger. Continue reading...
What is a commodity etf?
Commodity ETFs are focused on tracking the performance of commodity prices and their derivatives contracts. ETFs are like mutual funds that trade intra-day like stocks, but the volatility of commodities prices can make these equally unpredictable. Commodity ETFs are intended to track the performance and price movements of commodities and their derivatives. All sorts of commodities can and have become part of an ETF offering, from gold to grain, cattle, and coffee, and even US and foreign currencies. Each commodity has its peculiarities and it would be good to know about the market for each commodity that you intend to invest in. Continue reading...
What is Investment Banking?
Investment banking activity is different than traditional banking. Investment banks often serve as intermediaries that underwrite a new issue of stock and help to distribute it. They also trade in their own accounts, run hedge funds, and generally invest and speculate in ways that most institutions can’t. Investment banks can assist with new issues of stocks and bonds, purchasing large blocks of them to distribute at a premium. Continue reading...
Who Establishes a 401(k)?
Employers make the decision to establish a 40(k), but it has to be good enough for employees to want to participate. An employer is responsible for establishing a 401(k) and for overseeing it as the sponsor and fiduciary. A self-employed individual can also establish an Individual 401(k), which has the same contribution limits and requires none of the testing or auditing of a regular plan. Other options for work-site retirement plans are SIMPLE IRAs, SEP IRAs, and various kinds of profit-sharing and deferred compensation arrangements. Continue reading...
What is an Accounting Period?
An accounting period is a specific time frame from which documents and records have been used by accountants to arrive at reported balances and statements. An accounting period can be a fiscal year, quarter, or month, or any other time frame for which reporting is being done. At any given time, there may be different accounting periods running. Books are kept and reports are made for different tiers of accounting periods. Continue reading...
Can I Withdraw Money From My Defined Benefit Plan?
Most pensions will not allow in-service withdrawals but some will allow loans. While you are working for your employer, you typically may not withdraw money from your Defined Benefit Plan. The IRS permits plan loans if the plan administrator permits it. In-service withdrawals are possible after age 62, meaning money can get taken out before separation from service. If you leave your employer before retirement, the funds are usually kept in a Trust until you reach retirement age (or until a specified age at which you can start to receive the benefits). Continue reading...
What is Revenue?
Revenue is a word describing any cash flowing into a business as a result of goods and services rendered. It is sometimes call gross income, and is a representation of income before all expenses. It is notable, though, that revenue only includes receivables in the current period. The Accounts Receivable on the company’ s books may include the entire cost of the goods or services rendered during that period, but the Revenue should generally only reflect the amount that is paid to the company in the current year. Continue reading...
How Do You Accept Bitcoin Payments for Your Store?
Several services make it easy to accept bitcoin payments, or a programmer can help you set up your own node. The most convenient way to accept bitcoin payments as a merchant is to use the services made available by exchanges like Coinbase and Bitpay, who make it simple enough to add a button to your website and to accept payments in person via NFC and QR codes. These exchanges have established what is called Full Nodes on the blockchain, which are slightly more efficient than using regular client software on the blockchain, and have optimized them for merchant services. Continue reading...
What is Accounts Receivable Subsidiary Ledger?
The Accounts Receivable Subsidiary Ledger will be a separate ledger from a company’s General Ledger, where all of the information pertaining to all Accounts Receivable will be reported. Receivables may have only a line-item on the General Ledger of a company, but may have an entire department dedicated to servicing the receivable accounts. Because there may be a large amount of information in just the Receivables sub-account, there is often a Subsidiary Ledger dedicated to the minutia of all the Accounts Receivable business. Continue reading...