What is a bear call spread?
A bear call spread seeks to make money on the sale of call options but does not believe the underlying security will increase. A Bear Call Spread strategy is utilized when one believes that the price of the underlying stock will go down (but not significantly) in the near future. It entails selling a call short at a lower price than you buy a long call, which is done to realize a net credit at the outset. Continue reading...
How Often Can I Change the Allocation in My 401(k)?
By law, your plan administrator (employer) must allow you to change your allocation at least quarterly, but most plans allow for more frequent changes. Generally speaking, you can change your allocations as often as you need to with no commissions or fees; that is, up to a point. Many plans start to impose fees after about the 10th reallocation, and partially this is meant to discourage over-trading. Continue reading...
What is Form 1045: Application for a Tentative Refund?
IRS Link to Form — Found Here Form 1045 can be used to apply for a refund that might carry-back of up to 5 years, if an individual or trust has overpaid on their taxes, finds Net Operating Losses (NOL), or has section 1256 losses to carry-back. The 1045 is meant to be the quickest way to get a carry-back refund. Net Operating Losses from a pass-through entity or business can be carried back up to 5 years now, according to updates to IRC 172(h). Section 1256, which applies to futures contract investing, will allow a carry-back of losses in a 3-year time frame. For such carry-backs, the standard filing is IRS Form 1045. Continue reading...
What is IRS Publication 524, Credit for the Elderly and the Disabled?
IRS Link to Publication — Found Here Individuals over 65 years old or are disabled may be eligible for a tax credit. Publication 524 describes this credit in detail. The credit is only available to those whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is relatively low, and the income limits are described in Pub. 524. Individuals over the age of 65 or younger than 65 but permanently disabled may be eligible to receive a federal income tax credit. Continue reading...
What is a Merkle Tree?
A Merkle Tree is a technique widely used to create the blocks in blockchains. When records of numerous transactions are blended together into a block and sent to a blockchain to be deciphered and validated, Merkle Trees are generally the design with which they are put together. Ralph Merkle first designed this hashing method in 1979 but didn’t see it popularized for some time. They are sometimes called hash trees. In case you are unaware, the difference between hashes and encryptions is that hashes are not intended to be decryptable unless someone has the original content. Hashes are basically symbols of a certain length generated using the “seed” of the actual content that was fed into the hash function. If the same content is entered as the seed, it will produce the same hash, but any differences will yield a completely different result. Continue reading...
What is Profit Margin?
Profit margin is a profitability ratio that measures, as a percentage, how much a company keeps per sale. Profit margin can be calculated by dividing net income by sales. A higher profit margin means a company keeps high percentage of each dollar sold as profit. For example, a 50% profit margin means that for every dollar earned, a company retains $0.50. It is often helpful for an analyst to look at how a company’s profit margins have changed over time, to measure whether it is becoming more efficient in the sales of goods. Continue reading...
What is the Income of the Average American?
This is a simple question, but one that varies almost exclusively based on geographical location (cost of living). According to the US Census Bureau, in 2008, the Median Household Income for the state of Mississippi was $37,818, while the figure for Maryland was $70,482. In California, the average was at $61,017, and in Arkansas it was $38,820. Since the cost of living is drastically different in various states, counties, and even cities, the figure changes drastically. In San Francisco, California, for example, the median income for 2008 was $71,957, while in Billings, Montana, the figure was $35,147 (less than half as much). Continue reading...
What is foreign exchange risk?
Foreign Exchange Risk is the possibility that exchange rates will move against you when you have pending payment on transactions in another currency or other investment positions in foreign currencies or foreign assets which will be affected by Forex fluctuations. Foreign Exchange Risk can also be called Forex risk, and it is the potential loss to an investor or institution when doing business in a foreign currency if the exchange rate swings unfavorably. Companies and countries take various measures to hedge against exchange rate risk, including holding reserves of other currencies and buying derivative contracts on various currency pairs. Continue reading...
What is Market Value?
Market Value refers to the amount an asset can be sold for on the open market, at any given time. If you hold 100 shares of stock ABC that you can sell on the market for $50 apiece, your holdings have a market value of $5,000. Market value does not necessarily refer only to stocks. It can be any asset that can be bought or sold on the open market. Stocks tend to have greater levels of liquidity and broad-based market participation, so it is easier to disseminate a stocks market value at any point in time. Illiquid assets can be more difficult to value, such as real estate or works of art. Continue reading...
Academy: Read our Articles and Sign Up for Lessons
Tickeron offers free ebooks to help users learn in-depth information about how to use our products and get tips on how to use certain features to your advantage. Newsletters are a great way to stay in the know. They offer a concise breakdown of the behavior of tagged tickers. To get informed on the latest trends, subscribe to Tickeron newsletters. Under the Academy tab, read up on our free expert blogs to get acquainted with specific tickers and industries, as well as terms, patterns, and trading jargon. Continue reading...