What are Medicare Benefits?
Medicare is a medical insurance benefit for Americans 65 years of age or older, but it also provides coverage for those with severe disabilities, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and ESRD (end-stage kidney disease) at any age. The premiums for what is known as Part A are paid throughout the insured’s working career, with Part B available as a supplement at low cost. Once you’re over 65, this becomes your medical insurance unless you’re still on an employer’s plan. Medicare provides coverage for in-patient procedures and short stays in the hospital, as well as hospice care and a few other small benefits for home health care. That is just for Part A—the “free” portion of Medicare people pay into over their working lives as part of their FICA taxes. Continue reading...
Bitcoin’s Source Code, Part 2: What Does It Mean That Bitcoin Is Open-Source?
Open-source software code can be viewed and changed by anyone, but it actually works in the favor of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s source code was uploaded by Satoshi Nakamoto to a code-sharing site called Sourceforge, which enabled anyone to download, use, and modify the code as they saw fit. In fact, he encouraged the community to do so. The fascinating thing about the design of Bitcoin and many other open-source software is that they will work, and will continue to exist, without anyone owning the rights to the code. In most people’s concept of ownership and responsibility, the owner is responsible for maintaining something, for protecting it from attacks, manipulation, vandalism, fraud, etc, and is also responsible for making sure that it is safe for other people to use. Continue reading...
What is the Symmetrical Triangle Bottom (Bearish) Pattern?
The Symmetrical Triangle Bottom pattern forms when the price of a pair fails to retest a high or a low and ultimately forms two narrowing trend lines. Points 1 5 form the triangle patterns. The price is expected to move up or down past the triangle depending on which line is broken first. This pattern is commonly associated with directionless markets, since the contraction (narrowing) of the market range signals that neither bulls nor bears are in control. However, there is a distinct possibility that market participants will either pour in or sell out, and the price can move up or down with big volumes (leading up to the breakout). Continue reading...
What is Account Reconcilement?
Account reconcilement is the act of comparing and affirming multiple records of the same financial information. To “reconcile the books” is to compare different records of the same accounts to ensure that they match up. One might reconcile all the different record-keeping for the same account, such as copies of checks and receipts, to be sure that they add up to the balance and ledger shown on a bank account statement. It could be that the recipient of a check has not yet cashed it, and it is important to keep all records “synced” with one another. Continue reading...
What is Adjusted Book Value?
Adjusted Book Value takes true fair market value of all assets and liabilities into account. Adjusted Book Value tends to be used when a company has been devalued to the point of facing possible bankruptcy and liquidation. Book value in general does not account for intangible assets, such as intellectual property, so it is more useful in assessing the risk of loss in a foundering company than the earnings potential of a profitable company. Technically the adjustments to book value will raise or lower the value of assets and liabilities according to current fair market value. 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...
What is Chapter 10?
Chapter 10 is a bankruptcy filing available to smaller corporations where they agree to have their management replaced to oversee a restructuring, and they also agree to have their debts repaid within three years. If a company does not have more than $2.5 million in debt, they may be able to file Chapter 10 bankruptcy. The company and its attorney will put together a plan for reorganization and explain how the plan will ensure that the company meet its obligations in the future. Continue reading...
What is a stock downtrend?
A downtrend occurs when the successive peaks of a security's price trend downward without recovering from the troughs, with successively lower market peaks each time. Downtrends may happen in a span of minutes or months, depending on the security being discussed. In a downtrend, it may not be advisable to purchase (or “go long” on) a security, since the duration of the trend is unknown. Many traders, however, see it as an opportunity for short selling. Continue reading...
What were the Biggest Single Day Market Moves?
Since the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s creation in 1896, there have been several crashes and several days of huge gains. The biggest moves can be defined in two ways: either by percentage change or by change in points. In terms of gains, the largest single-day point gain occurred on October 13, 2008, when the Dow rose 936 points (11%) – the sudden leap occurred during a time of wild upside and downside volatility, and was in response to unexpected positive global economic news. Continue reading...
How often do I need to rebalance my portfolio?
There are different methods and theories about rebalancing, and the answer is basically “it depends.” There is no set rule for the frequency of rebalancing your portfolio, and any generic rules that exist do not necessarily apply to or predict the performance of your particular portfolio. If you’re not very familiar with it, rebalancing is the redistribution of gains from the winning areas of your portfolio to the other areas. Continue reading...