Switching costs are the costs that a consumer incurs as a result of changing brands, suppliers, or products. Although most prevalent switching costs are monetary in nature, there are also psychological, effort-based, and time-based switching costs.
A floating-rate note (FRN) is a debt instrument with a variable interest rate. The interest rate for an FRN is tied to a benchmark rate. Benchmarks include the U.S. Treasury note rate, the Federal Reserve funds rate—known as the Fed funds rate—the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), or the prime rate.
Portfolio variance is a measurement of risk, of how the aggregate actual returns of a set of securities making up a portfolio fluctuate over time. This portfolio variance statistic is calculated using the standard deviations of each security in the portfolio as well as the correlations of each security pair in the portfolio.
Green marketing refers to the practice of developing and advertising products based on their real or perceived environmental sustainability.
A distribution yield is the measurement of cash flow paid by an exchange-traded fund (ETF), real estate investment trust, or another type of income-paying vehicle. Rather than calculating the yield based on an aggregate of distributions, the most recent distribution is annualized and divided by the net asset value (NAV) of the security at the time of the payment.
Gross working capital is the sum of a company’s current assets (assets that are convertible to cash within a year or less). Gross working capital includes assets such as cash, accounts receivable, inventory, short-term investments, and marketable securities. Gross working capital less current liabilities is equal to net working capital, or simply working capital; a more useful measure for balance sheet analysis.
Form 1065: U.S. Return of Partnership Income is a tax document issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) used to declare the profits, losses, deductions, and credits of a business partnership. In addition to Form 1065, partnerships must also submit Schedule K-1, a document prepared for each partner.
Taxable income is the amount of income used to calculate how much tax an individual or a company owes to the government in a given tax year. It is generally described as adjusted gross income (which is your total income, known as “gross income,” minus any deductions or exemptions allowed in that tax year). Taxable income includes wages, salaries, bonuses, and tips, as well as investment income and unearned income.
Activity-based management (ABM) is a system for determining the profitability of every aspect of a business so that its strengths can be enhanced and its weaknesses can either be improved or eliminated altogether.
The Government Securities Clearing Corporation (GSCC) was a non-profit organization that cleared and netted U.S. government securities and agency debt securities. The GSCC was first established in 1986 by the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) to provide clearing and settlement of U.S. government securities. The GSCC handles both new issues and the reselling of government securities.