An annuity is described as a stream of fixed cash flows, i.e. payments or receipts, that occurs periodically, over time. For example, payment of housing loan, life insurance premium, rent, etc. There can be two types of annuities, i.e. ordinary annuity and annuity due. Ordinary annuity means an annuity which is related to the period preceding its date, whereas annuity due is the annuity related to the period following its date. Most of the people use an annuity as a retirement tool (pension) … [Read more...]

Bulls thrust up their horns while attacking the opponent, in the same way, when the market rises belligerently, it is said to be a bulls market. On the other hand, bears swipes down, their paws for attacking the opponent, likewise, when the market falls, it is known as bears market. In the stock market, the terms bulls and bears are commonly encountered which indicates, how the stock market is doing, at a particular time. For the novice investors, these terms are a bit confusing, but one can … [Read more...]

Nowadays, end number of investment avenues are available before investors. New investors often suffer a dilemma, that whether they should invest in mutual funds or go for individual stocks. There is a big difference between these two investment vehicles as in mutual fund is a pooled investment scheme, professionally managed by a fund manager who invests the money collected from different investors and invests it into stocks, bonds and other short-term securities of different companies. On the … [Read more...]

Fixed exchange rate and flexible exchange rate are two exchange rate systems, differ in the sense that when the exchange rate of the country is attached to the another currency or gold prices, is called fixed exchange rate, whereas if it depends on the supply and demand of money in the market is called flexible exchange rate. The depreciation of Indian Rupee against US dollar is the common headline of almost all news dailies, since past few years. Not only India but the primary concern of the … [Read more...]

In financial jargon, the terms investment and speculation are overlapping and used synonymously. In investment, the time horizon is relatively longer, generally spanning at least one year while in speculation, the term may extend up to a half year only. As per Benjamin Graham, an American economist, and professional investor, investment is an activity, which upon complete analysis assures the safety of the amount invested and adequate return. Conversely, speculation is an activity which does … [Read more...]

In accounting glossary, the term depreciation is often used, for writing off the value of the asset over its useful life. It is nothing but the decrease in the value of the fixed asset because of continuous use, the passage of time and technological obsolescence. There are nine different methods of calculating depreciation of assets out of which straight line method and written down value method is widely used. In straight line method (SLM), an equal amount of depreciation is written off every … [Read more...]

In investment jargon, you have often heard the term depository many times. It refers to an organisation established to hold securities like shares, debentures, bonds, mutual fund units, etc. of the investors in dematerialised form through an agent registered with SEBI i.e. Depository Participant. The two apex depositories in India, incorporated with SEBI namely NSDL and CDSL.NSDL is a pioneer depository in India promoted by the prominent banks and other institutions. On the other end, CDSL is … [Read more...]

Dematerialization is nothing but paperless trading, that has been introduced in a few years ago. In this process, the physical certificates are transformed into the electronic one. For this purpose demat account is used to hold securities in dematerialised form. It is often misconstrued with a trading account which acts as an intermediary between the demat account and the saving bank account. For investing in securities in an stock exchange, there is certain requirement which must be complied … [Read more...]

The profitability and performance of a business concern can be calculated through various measures, which helps in comparing various companies operating in the same industry or sector. EBIT and EBITDA are the examples of such measures. EBIT or Earnings before interest and tax takes into account depreciation and amortisation while calculating the earnings of the company. Conversely, EBITDA or Earnings before interest and tax, depreciation and amortisation, is reckoned by adding back, the … [Read more...]

The interest rate is the rate at which the money is borrowed. Many of us think that the interest cost is greatest, but there are some implied costs included in the cost of borrowing which we don't notice. On the other extreme, APR or Annual Percentage Rate is an example of such cost, that is described as the overall borrowing cost. Nowadays, loan and mortgage are considered as one of the best means to fulfil the monetary requirement of businesses and individuals, for which they need to pay a … [Read more...]