What Are Commodities? Do you ever think about what goes into that cup of coffee you reach for every morning? What about the gas that you use to fill up your tank every week? Most of us never realize it, but virtually all of the goods begin with commodities. Commodities

What Is Short Interest? Short interest is the number of shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. Short interest, which can be expressed as a number or percentage, is an indicator of market sentiment. Extremely high short interest shows investors are very pessimistic

What Is Small Cap? The term small-cap describes companies with a relatively small market capitalization. A company’s market capitalization is the market value of its outstanding shares. The definition for small-cap varies, but generally means a company with $300 million to $2 billion in market capitalization. Understanding Small Cap The “cap” in small-cap

What Is After-Hours Trading? After-hours trading starts at 4 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time after the major U.S. stock exchanges close. The after-hours trading session can run as late as 8 p.m., though volume typically thins out much earlier in the session. Trading in the after-hours is conducted through electronic communication

When interest rates increase too quickly, it can cause a chain reaction that affects the domestic economy as well as the global economy. It can create a recession in some cases. If this happens, the government can backtrack the increase, but it can take some time for the economy to

What Is Dilution? Dilution occurs when a company issues new shares that result in a decrease in existing stockholders’ ownership percentage of that company. Stock dilution can also occur when holders of stock options, such as company employees, or holders of other optionable securities exercise their options. When the number

What Is Insider Trading? Insider trading involves trading in a public company’s stock by someone who has non-public, material information about that stock for any reason. Insider trading can be either illegal or legal depending on when the insider makes the trade. Insider trading is illegal when the material information

To calculate the gains or losses on a stock investment, one must first know the cost basis, which is the purchase price initially paid for the stock. Investors who neglected to record this information may find it on the order execution confirmation form or the brokerage account statement from the

Exchange-traded funds are one of the most important and valuable products created for individual investors in recent years. ETFs offer many benefits and, if used wisely, are an excellent vehicle to achieve an investor’s investment goals. Briefly, an ETF is a basket of securities that you can buy or sell

Stock markets and major commodities such as oil and gold seem to get most of the mainstream financial market headlines these days. Despite being the largest and most liquid trading markets in the world, the global currency markets do not get nearly the same attention. There are a few key