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What is Collateralized Mortgage Obligation (CMO)? A CMO is a mortgage bond that consists of a large number of different individual mortgages bundle...

When a bond is secured, it means it's protected, i.e. there are assets that would be forfeited if repayment is not made. When it's unsecured... it'...

What is Counterparty Risk? Counterparty risk is the risk to either party within a transaction that the other will not or be unable to abide by the...

What are Bond Anticipation Notes (BANS), Revenue Anticipation Notes (RANS), and Tax Anticipation Notes (TANS)? BANS, RANS and TANS are all short-te...

What is Contingent Liability? Contingent liability refers to a possible liability in the future contingent upon some other event being the trigger....

Power of attorney refers to the authorization to conduct business on legal and financial matters on behalf of another party. So...choose wisely.

What are T-Notes, T-Bonds, and TIPS? T-Notes are debt securities (like bonds) that are issued by the government and mature within one to 10 years....

What is liquidity? Think: water. It's liquid. It can be squeezed into little, tiny spaces and infused into large spaces. A defining trait of liquid...

A liquid market is a market featuring high trading volumes, i.e. investors actually want to put their cash to work.

What's a yankee bond, and does it stick a feather in its cap and call it macaroni?

What is a Country Basket (Index Fund)? Investing internationally can be a challenge, as foreign exchange, different accounting rules, time zones an...

What is AMBAC? AMBAC stands for American Municipal Bond Assurance Corporation. It provides insurance for municipalities that sell muni bonds, such...

What are credit ratings and how are they interpreted? Credit ratings describe a borrower’s likelihood to pay back their debts; it’s a look at h...

What are bond ratings and what do they mean? Bond ratings are just credit ratings used on bonds. Just like a credit rating, they give the investor...

What is the Federal Funds Rate? The federal funds rate is the interest rate used for overnight lending between banks. The amount banks are able to...

The Federal Open Market Committee's purpose is to manage financial outcomes through monetary policy.

What is Accrual Accounting? Accrual accounting is used to determine how well a company is doing by looking at the present and the future. It takes...

What is the Acid Test Ratio/Quick Ratio? The Acid Test Ratio is used to determine if a company can cover their liabilities in the short-term. It on...

What are Return on Equity and Return on Assets? Return on equity is a percentage that is found by dividing net income by shareholder’s equity. It...

A wrap account is an account that wraps into one annual fee all of the services you'd normally pay for a la carte at a given brokerage.