What are the Tax Implications for Making a Profit (or Loss) On a Stock?
Gains on stock investments will be taxable in the current year unless they can be offset with losses. Stocks that appreciate in value do not incur any tax liability while they are held, unless they pay dividends. Dividends will generally be taxable as ordinary income. For this article we will focus on capital appreciation instead of dividends. Capital appreciation can be considered long-term gains or short-term gains by the IRS upon the sale of the shares. A stock held for less than a year will incur short-term capital gains taxes, which are taxed at ordinary income rates. Continue reading...
What is Diluted Earnings Per Share?
If all the convertible securities a company had issued were converted at once to common stock, the stock would be diluted; Diluted EPS reveals by how much. Companies will sometimes entice investors to buy bonds or preferred stock by giving them an option to convert them into shares of common stock. If a bond is converted, shareholders equity increases on the balance sheet and liabilities go down, since a debt liability is being retired. Continue reading...
What is the Operating Cash Flow Ratio?
The operating cash flow ratio, or OCF ratio, is used to measure whether a company’s cash flows are sufficient to cover current liabilities. It essentially measures how many times a company can use cash flow from operations to cover debt expenses. It can be measured by dividing a company’s cash flow from operations by its current liabilities. Companies with high (relative to their peers or other companies in the sector OCF ratios are generally in good financial health, meaning they can adequately cover ongoing liabilities with cash flow from operations. Continue reading...
What is an Accounting Interpretation?
Similar to the practice of law, the standards and practices of accountants will change based on an ongoing interpretation and application of tax law and codes. Accounting interpretations are generally publications from groups like the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). These interpretations are not official standards, and do not have to be followed the way a standard does, but they give insight and suggestions for situations which may be new developments. Continue reading...
What are Bank Fees?
Bank fees are penalties or maintenance requirements that may apply to checking, savings, or money market accounts. Banks may charge fees for specific types of transactions, if a check bounces, or just a monthly checking account fee. There are many other types of fees and reasons for them. They may be penalties, such as an overdraft fee, or they may be customary for the kind of transaction or account being used. Continue reading...
What is market share?
Market share is the percentage of the total amount of similar products sold in a marketplace that are constituted by a particular product or the products of a particular company. This sometimes used synonymously with the term Market Penetration. Most industries have many competitors offering essentially the same services and products; in fact that is a sign of a healthy capitalistic marketplace. The market share of a company is the proportion of the total sales in that industry that belong to their company. Continue reading...
What is Mortgage REIT?
Mortgage REITs are a type of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) which offers investors income distributions which result from the interest payment on mortgage loans. Investors enjoy REIT investments as a high-yield income investment which offers exposure to an asset class which is not necessarily correlated with other major asset classes. Mortgage REITs are a subset of this asset type which derives income from the interest due on mortgage loans, which are generally purchased in the form of mortgage-backed securities. Equity REITs are the other major type of REIT, and they invest directly in income-producing properties. Continue reading...
What should I look for in a good “Rent or Own a House” calculator?
The decision process to rent or own a home can be made a little easier with a good rent-or-own calculator. In the ideal “Rent or Own a House” comparison calculator, you should be able to input the following: an assumed appreciation rate for residential real estate in the area, the cost of maintaining an owned home, rent increases, and potential tax benefits of owning versus renting. Make sure to use realistic or even pessimistic assumptions on the inputs, because once time has passed there will be no way to fix overly optimistic assumptions. Continue reading...
Should I Rely on Analyst Upgrades or Downgrades of the Positions in my Investment Portfolio?
Upgrades and downgrades can be useful but they may not be the most current form of trading information. The problem with upgrades or downgrades is that they rely on the events which already happened; in most cases, the information is already built into the price of the stock. Very often, after a company reports bad results, analysts will downgrade that company — how smart they are! Of course, we all wish that they would do it before the results had been reported. Still, if a majority of analysts downgrade the stock, it might be prudent to seriously consider selling it. Continue reading...
How many financial advisors do I need?
It’s good to have the opinion of advisors who are knowledgeable in various areas of your planning and portfolio, but for most portfolios this can be reasonably accomplished with one advisor. It’s a good idea to have one Financial Advisor who oversees all of your assets, and if the individual parts of your portfolio are of significant size, you might consider having a specialist in those fields to oversee them. Continue reading...