06 Apr 2005 10:35 AM

Buy an index fund. Approximately 80% of mutual funds underperform the average return of the stock market. Here’s something else you need to know about mutual funds. We

26 Mar 2005 10:36 AM

While many investors may believe that options are a product of recent financial innovation, options were, in fact, conceived thousands of years ago. Some market historians trace the origins of options as far back as ancient

26 Mar 2005 10:29 AM

Private equity investments are capital invested in public, but more typically private, companies on a private placement basis and are not available in the public markets. Private equity investments run the gamut of corporate finance strategies, ranging from financing of start-up companies to debt investments in mature companies

26 Mar 2005 07:32 AM

Corporate bonds (also called corporates) are debt obligations, or IOUs, issued by private and public corporations. They are typically issued in multiples of $1,000 and/or $5,000. Companies use the funds they raise

26 Mar 2005 04:34 AM

Stock generally refers to shares of Common Stock or an "equity share" of a corporation. Each share of Common Stock represents a share of ownership in a company. The

26 Mar 2005 02:25 AM

A "closed-end fund," legally known as a "closed-end company," is one of three basic types of investment company. The two other basic types of investment companies are mutual funds (open-end investment companies

25 Mar 2005 04:27 PM

Exchange funds allow investors a tax-free means to diversify a low-cost-basis and/or restricted stock position. Exchange funds allow investors to pool their low-cost-basis stocks in a fund. In

10 Feb 2005 09:53 AM

Registered Bonds: Some corporate bonds are issued as certificates, with the owner’s name printed on them. There are no coupons attached for the owner to submit for payment of interest. The issuer’s agent or trustee sends the interest to the bondholder at the proper intervals and forwards the principal at maturity. Bearer Bonds:

10 Feb 2005 07:45 AM

Many investors who want to reap the returns available in the corporate bond market may buy shares in bond mutual funds instead of individual bonds - or in addition to individual bonds. They do so for the same reasons investors

05 Feb 2005 04:43 AM

Most corporate bonds are debentures - that is, unsecured debt obligations backed only by the issuer’s general credit and the capacity of its earnings to repay interest and principal. However, even unsecured bonds usually

01 Feb 2005 09:41 AM

A sinking fund is money taken from a corporation’s earnings that is used to redeem bonds periodically, before maturity, as specified in the indenture. If a bond issue has a sinking-fund provision, a certain portion of the issue must be retired each year. The bonds retired are usually selected by lottery. One investor benefit of a sinking fund is that it lowers the risk of default by reducing the amount of the corporation’s

22 Jan 2005 08:39 AM

Like all bonds, corporates tend to rise in value when interest rates fall, and they fall in value when interest rates rise. Usually

16 Jan 2005 09:38 AM

One of the key investment features of any bond is its maturity. A bond’s maturity tells you when you should expect to get your principal back and how long you can expect to receive interest payments. (However, some corporates

15 Jan 2005 09:36 AM

Investors buy corporates for a variety of reasons:

11 Jan 2005 08:05 AM

Mutual funds have suffered a serious blow when the public learned about serious machinations in the industry. The public has heard a number of times that the majority of the funds underperform the average return of the stock market