unit 4

current yield = annual interest / bond price (compares bonds)

asset - any source of value that can be converted to cash

appreciating asset - increases in value over time

depreciating asset - decreases in value over time

real assets - physical things like

  • real estate

  • art

  • antiques

  • metals / commodities (universal value and usually from earth)

intangible assets - intellectual property

financial assets - get their value from contractual claim or ownership claims

security - tradable financial asset

  • bonds (debt) - loan, benefits from interest,

  • stocks (equity) - equity / ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporations assets and earnings, benefits from growth of company, profits paid in form of dividends, vote for board of directors

  • derivatives - betting on the future / predictions

mature companies tend to pay the most

start ups pay the least dividends

preferred stock - mix of a stock and bond

pays fixed dividend

ownership like stock

cannot vote for board of directors

mutual fund - actively managed my pro money managers

selects and trades

share price based on size of company AND availability of stocks, also based on the company

bonds - debt security

issuer (borrower)

coupon rate (interest rate)

par value (amount borrowed excluding interest)

maturity (time at which face value (total value) is repaid)

determined by supply and demand competition who consider Credit quality and duration

bond rating - measurement of creditworthiness (financial health) of bond issuers

lower rating → higher risk

conflict of interest - bond issuers pay the bond rating agencies to rate their debt

treasuries - full faith and credit of US gov, lowest level of risk, risk free rate

governments create baselines (lowest amount) for coupon rate

exchange traded funds (etfs)

represents an index (creates diversity)

  • DOW

  • S&P

  • QQQ

  • approximate of a particular country’s market

  • commodities

passively managed

  • contents of fund aren’t constantly being re-evaluated, bought, and sold

  • no expensive fees to pay pro money managers

  • cheaper then mutual funds

who sets tax rates - elected officials (so raising taxes lowers their change of revoting)

federal -

state - state legislature + governor

city - city council + mayor

municipal bonds - considered safe investments

warning: governments can declare bankruptcy to avoid repayment like detroit

tax exempt

commercial paper

bonds issued by corporations

cannot be issued by sole proprietorships / partnerships (general, limited, or limited liabilities)

demand deposits

cash and bank deposits held in saving accounts at a commercial bank

some pay interest

can be withdrawn on demand

most common financial asset

insured up to 250,000 by FDIC in US

money market acc

financial asset offered by commercial banks

diff then money market fund offered by investment banks

pay market interest rates

limits the num of transactions in a period of time (fed abandoned it but bank may still do it)

fincanical risk

credit risk - danger associated with lending money, when borrower cant pay the loan loaner will lose principal and interest, need to be able to price it correctly

liquidity risk - danger associated with not being able to sell securities or assets to cut losses, more liquid more risk

speculative risk - high risk high reward situations

foreign investment risk - variations in market operations, politcal volatitty, currency exchange flucuations

risk return relationship -

risk = outcome is uncertain, probabilties estimated

investors must demand higher rewards as compensation for taking higher risks

yield - income earned while continuing to hold on to an investment

refers to interest or dividends

functions of money

medium of exchange - accepted by all parties as payment for goods / service, currency

Measure of value - unit of account, measuring stick of relative worth of goods / services

store of value - purchasing power can be saved until needed

characteristis of money

portable

durable

divisible

scarce