What is the Durable Goods Orders Report? The durable goods orders report is a monthly report released by the U.S. government. The report encapsulates the sales of durable goods over the preceding month. It is keenly followed by financial analysts and economists as the purchases require large amounts of funds and are directly proportional to…
What is Automatic Bill Payment? Automatic bill payments are recurring money transfers authorized by a customer to pay certain vendors on a regular basis. The payments are often scheduled by users to pay various types of bills on a monthly basis, such as mortgage, credit card bills, installment loans, cell phone bills, electricity and water…
What are Fixed Income Portfolio Mandates? Fixed-income portfolio mandates refer to the set of rules that should be followed while investing in a variety of fixed-income securities. A fixed-income security is one that gives the investor a fixed amount of interest payment every year until maturity. Some examples of fixed-income securities include certificates of deposit,…
What is Volumetric Production Payment (VPP)? A volumetric production payment (VPP) is a means of financing used predominantly in the oil and gas industry in which the owner of an oil or gas property sells a percentage of the total production of hydrocarbons for an upfront cash payment. The VPP deal includes an overriding royalty interest, i.e., a…
What is Variability? Variability is a term used to describe how much data points in any statistical distribution differ from each other and from their mean value. The statistical tools used to measure variability are range, standard deviation, and variance. It is a useful metric in finance when applied to measure the variability of investment…
What is Effective Yield? Effective yield is a financial metric that measures the interest rate – also known as the coupon rate – return on a bond. The effective yield metric is that it takes compounding into consideration. It is important because bonds typically pay interest more than once a year. It makes effective yield…
What are Donchian Channels? Donchian Channels are a channel-based technical analysis trading strategy used as an indicator for trading in financial markets. The indicator is primarily used by traders to identify potential breakouts and retracements. A breakout is a rise in a security’s price above a resistance level (previous high) or a drop below a level…
What is an ECN Broker? An ECN broker is a type of foreign exchange brokerage that uses an Electronic Communications Network (ECN) to match buy and sell orders in the currency exchange trading market. The ECN is essentially a computerized trading system that automatically matches various orders between buyers and sellers in the forex (foreign exchange)…
What is an Education IRA? An education IRA is an individual savings account used for education expenses and offers tax advantages. It was first implemented into law in the United States in 1997 through the Taxpayer Relief Act and is governed by Section 530 of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code. In 2002, education IRAs…
What is EdTech? EdTech is short for “education technology.” It uses computers, computer programs, and educational systems to provide learning and training to students and employees. The broad field of EdTech encompasses not only the hardware and software programs used in what is commonly known as “remote learning,” “distance learning,” or “online education,”…
