Investing News

Yield to maturity (YTM) is an important metric used in bond markets that describes the total rate of return that is expected from a bond once it has made all of its future interest payments and repays the original principal amount. Zero-coupon bonds (z-bonds), however, do not have reoccurring interest payments, which distinguishes YTM calculations

As one of the largest economies in the world, the United Kingdom has long been a major focus of American investors. The nation’s economy contracted sharply in 2020 due to the disruption stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. But the U.K. economy is beginning to recover as the vaccine rollout reaches more citizens. Investors looking to

Oil and gas exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer investors more direct and easier access to the often-volatile energy market than many other alternatives. While there is the potential for significant returns by investing in the oil and gas sector, the risks can be high. Oil futures, for example, tend to be volatile and often require a

Platinum is regarded as an important precious metal by many investors, though it’s less commonly talked about than gold and silver. Many investors use platinum as either a hedge against inflation or a safe haven in troubling economic times. Platinum is also valuable as an industrial metal, used in the manufacturing of products such as

Precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum are valued by many investors as a hedge against inflation or a safe haven in times of economic turmoil. They also are valued for their rarity and their use in a broad range of industrial applications. Precious metals exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a popular way to invest

Real estate exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hold baskets of securities in the real estate sector, providing investors with a less expensive way to invest in the industry compared to other options. These funds often focus specifically on real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are securitized portfolios of real estate properties. REITs offer investors income potential as well as the liquidity of

You may find it hard to believe, but voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) has been around well before the new millennium. VOIP is a technology that allows users to make voice and video calls through the internet. The technology takes a voice signal and converts it into a digital one using traditional phone technology. This signal travels across

Fidelity and Vanguard are two of the largest investment companies in the world. Fidelity boasts 40 million individual investors and $11.8 trillion in total customer assets. Meanwhile, Vanguard has more than 30 million investors and $8.1 trillion in global assets under management. Both brokers have solid industry reputations and offer a large selection of low-cost

Welcome to the Green Investor, powered by Investopedia. I’m Caleb Silver, the Editor-in-Chief of Investopedia, and your guide and fellow traveler on our journey into what it means to be a green investor today, and where this investing theme is headed in the future. We’re going to break format this week and get straight to

Tracking interest rates over time shows us significant volatility over long-enough time periods. Typically, the rates will be lowest on mortgages, highest on credit cards, and somewhere in the middle on auto loans. We can predict only one thing about interest rates with reasonable surety: that rates will change significantly over most 10-year periods. Key

Making mistakes on your tax return can cost you money. You may miss out on a larger refund than you claimed, wind up owing more taxes—plus interest and penalties—or invite an audit from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The best defense against results like these is a good offense: avoiding errors on your return. Key

Banks and credit unions offer certificates of deposit (CD) for savers who want to earn interest on money they don’t plan to spend right away. CDs can offer different maturity terms designed to fit both short- and long-term financial goals. Deciding at what age it makes sense to open a CD can depend on where

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly will not seek to ban payment for order flow (PFOF), despite earlier indications that SEC Chair Gary Gensler had been inclined to issue such a prohibition. A notable winner from this apparent decision is online broker Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD), whose business model is based on PFOF.

We live in a sharing economy. This is an economic model that uses peer-to-peer activity, allowing individuals to acquire and provide goods and services to one another. This includes everything from access to capital, data, fashion, employment, and even transportation. The latter is commonly referred to as ride-sharing but you probably know it better by

E*TRADE, established in 1982, is a very large broker that helped to disrupt the brokerage industry as one of the earliest online brokerage platforms. Robinhood was formed much more recently in 2013, and was also an industry disruptor because of their primary focus on their mobile app and elimination of commissions for stock/ETF, options, and

The capitalization rate is the most commonly used baseline for comparing investment properties. It is analogous to the estimated effective rate of return on security investments. For example, a $100,000 all-cash property with a cap rate of 4.5% will produce the same returns as a $100,000 invested in securities at 4.5%. This figure helps real

Inflation occurs when an economy grows due to increased spending without an accompanying increase in the production of goods and services. When this happens, prices rise and the currency within the economy is worth less than it was before. The currency essentially won’t buy as much as it would before. When a currency is worth less, its exchange

Certificates of deposit (CDs) are a low-risk way to put some money aside for the short- to medium-term future and earn a modest return in the meantime. This makes them suitable and popular for seniors who have extra savings in retirement, and a common part of inheritance settlements. There are several ways to inherit a

Consumer protection laws are made to protect consumers from fraudulent business practices, defective products, and dangerous goods and services. They play an important role in a reliable market economy, helping to keep sellers honest, with no threat of unpleasant surprises. Consumer protection laws in the U.S. are comprised of various federal and state laws, each

What Is Decentralized Finance (DeFi)? Decentralized finance (DeFi) is an emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers similar to those used by cryptocurrencies. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) define the rules for centralized financial institutions like banks and brokerages, which consumers rely on to access capital and