Content tagged with “finance” under “Stuff I Looked Up”

There are 7 item(s) tagged with “finance” in this section.

See items tagged with “finance” across the entire site.

Other tags used by these items: politics, acronym

Bank Holding Company
Explanation
August 21, 2022
225

“ This is a company that owns banks, but doesn’t necessarily do banking itself. There are a lot of laws and regulation around banking. A bank holding company – a ‘bancorp’ – operates under different rules than banks, which can make it easier for them to borrow money. ”

Commercial Paper
Explanation
October 13, 2024
401

“This is short-term, unsecured debt, issued by corporations to fund day-to-day activities. It’s normally effected by selling promissory notes at a discount. To ‘issue’ commercial paper means to ask for a loan, basically. Most buyers of commercial paper are banks and other financial institutions. So…”

EBITDA
Stuff I Looked Up
Explanation
July 9, 2022
187

“It’s an acronym for ‘earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.’ By definition, this will always be larger than ‘normal’ earning figures, which subtract those four things. EBITDA measures the health of a company’s operating business , meaning the things it actually produces to…”

Hawala
Stuff I Looked Up
Explanation
May 29, 2023
432

“This is an informal, traditional method of money transfer which started in India and is common in Africa and the Middle East. In its simplest form, a Hawala network operates as a set of promises: ‘Can your friend Bob give my friend Ted some money?’ There are four parties to a Hawala transaction:…”

Hedge Fund
Stuff I Looked Up
Explanation
September 8, 2021
292

“This is a pooled investment fund where a group of people contribute money, and the total funds are invested with returns to be distributed. Shares in the fund can also be bought and sold. In these senses, it’s no different from a mutual fund. But there are some key differences: Mutual funds are…”

SWIFT Network
Stuff I Looked Up
Explanation
September 8, 2021
567

“This is the ‘internet for banks,’ basically. It’s a worldwide messaging system which banks use to exchange data and payment orders. If you need to transfer money from one bank to another, this message gets sent along the SWIFT Network. SWIFT technically stands for ‘Society for Worldwide Interbank…”

TARP
Stuff I Looked Up
Explanation
September 13, 2022
1550

“TARP – the Troubled Asset Relief Program – was the famous ‘$700 billion bailout’ that the U.S. government undertook in 2008 to try and stave off the mortgage crisis. The crisis that led to this program was the basis for the book (and movie) Too Big To Fail . Did the government lose $700 billion?…”