What is a Breakeven Analysis?
A Breakeven Analysis is one of the most common ways to assess a business decision. In its most simplistic form, a breakeven analysis looks at how many units of a product or service must be sold in order for total revenues to equal the cost of production. A breakeven analysis is commonly used in financial […]
Economics 101: Macro vs. Micro Economics
Understanding the basic concepts of economics is critical to making smart investment decisions both at the stock-picking level and also at the portfolio asset allocation level. There are two major fields of economics; microeconomics and macroeconomics, and the laws of supply and demand play a factor in both which we will discuss as well. Microeconomics […]
Make Life 2% Cheaper with Cash Back Credit Cards!
Credit cards can get a bad wrap, but when using the right card and paying your account down to zero on a monthly basis, cash back credit cards can be a powerful way to help knock 2% off your annual expenses! Smart savers would be wise to use cash back credit cards and get a […]
Types of Inflation: Demand-Pull vs. Cost-Push Inflation
With inflation now running over 4% in the U.S. and other developed countries, investors are wondering how to classify the seriousness of the situation. As this article will discuss, the two main types of inflation are demand-pull inflation and cost-push inflation. Both demand-pull inflation and cost-push inflation are likely contributing to the economic environment we […]
What are the Stock Market Sectors? – Global Industry Classification Standards
One of the most common ways investors think about a company and analyze their portfolio diversification is by sector. There are 11 main sectors used by the S&P and MSCI in their popular Global Industry Classification Standards (GICS), which was started in 1999 to offer investors a standardized way to segment the market. From these […]
Be Aware of Liquidity Risk as an Investor
Liquidity Risk is an important concept that continuously pops its ugly head up from time to time. It occurs when a party has urgency or an obligation to discharge an asset and it affects the market price for that asset by trying to sell it too quickly. Sometimes obligations cannot be met fully (even at […]
Inflation is Looming… Where Can Investors Hide?
With the inflation genie starting to make its way out of the bottle, it is time for investors to refresh themselves on which asset classes provide the most protection to rising prices. The recent June 2021 numbers out from the U.S. showed the consumer price index (CPI) climbing 5.4% year-over-year which was its largest gain […]
Recognizing High Barriers to Entry to Enhance Returns
Barriers to entry are often one of the first concepts learned in business strategy classes. Barriers to entry describe the factors which would deter new competitors from entering a market. Barriers to entry can be natural or human-made obstacles that make it difficult for a new entrant to compete with established incumbent firms. Understanding barriers […]
Behavioral Biases 101 – Those Most Common to Average Investors
Updated – 11/17/23 To be a truly great investor, you need to be able to recognize and correct your own behavioral biases. This article will look at some of the most commonly taught behavioral biases with examples and corrective strategies. While this is not an exhaustive list, they are some of the most relevant to […]
Protective Put Options as “Insurance”
The markets are expensive at the moment and it might be time for investors to refresh themselves on the risk management benefits of options. Put options can be used as “insurance” to hedge a position in what is commonly known as a Protective Put option strategy. With a Protective Put option strategy, the investor stays […]
