Investments glossary terminology
The power-distance index (PDI) is a measurement of the acceptance of a hierarchy of power and wealth by the individuals who make up the general population of a nation, culture, or business. Developed by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede, the PDI ultimately provides insight into the extent to which regular citizens, or subordinates, accept or challenge the authority of the person or people in charge.
A ticker symbol is an arrangement of characters—usually letters—representing particular securities listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities that investors and traders use to transact orders. Every listed security has a unique ticker symbol, facilitating the vast array of trade orders that flow through the financial markets every day.
An optimal currency area (OCA) is the geographic area in which a single currency would create the greatest economic benefit. While traditionally each country has maintained its own separate, national currency, work by Robert Mundell in the 1960s theorized that this might not be the most efficient economic arrangement. In particular, countries that share strong economic ties may benefit from a common currency. This allows for closer integration of capital markets and facilitates trade. However, a common currency results in a loss of each country’s ability to direct fiscal and monetary policy interventions to stabilize their individual economies.
Nationalization refers to the action of a government taking control of a company or industry, which generally occurs without compensation for the loss of the net worth of seized assets and potential income. The action may be the result of a nation’s attempt to consolidate power, resentment of foreign ownership of industries representing significant importance to local economies or to prop up failing industries.
The market approach is a method of determining the value of an asset based on the selling price of similar assets. It is one of three popular valuation methods, along with the cost approach and discounted cash-flow analysis (DCF).
Brand personality is a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name. A brand personality is something to which the consumer can relate; an effective brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent set of traits that a specific consumer segment enjoys. This personality is a qualitative value-add that a brand gains in addition to its functional benefits.
A contra account is used in a general ledger to reduce the value of a related account when the two are netted together. A contra account’s natural balance is the opposite of the associated account. If a debit is the natural balance recorded in the related account, the contra account records a credit.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage Limits Trigger is one of the two triggers that can be specified by an insured party to protect against losses caused by an accident with a driver who has insufficient insurance. The underinsured motorist coverage limits trigger ensures that in the event of an accident caused by a driver with inadequate insurance, the underinsured motorist coverage comes into effect when the underinsured driver’s liability limit is lower than that of the insured person or policy holder. The other trigger for underinsured motorist coverage is the damages trigger.
Socialism is a populist economic and political system based on public ownership (also known as collective or common ownership) of the means of production. Those means include the machinery, tools, and factories used to produce goods that aim to directly satisfy human needs. Communism and socialism are umbrella terms referring to two left-wing schools of economic thought; both oppose capitalism, but socialism predates the Communist Manifesto, an 1848 pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, by a few decades.
Net asset value per share (NAVPS) is an expression for net asset value that represents the value per share of a mutual fund, an exchange-traded fund (ETF), or a closed-end fund. It is calculated by dividing the total net asset value of the fund or company by the number of shares outstanding and is also known as book value per share.