Investing Basics

Definition of Days to Cover

Days to cover is a formula which tracks the number of shares short in the market relative to the available float.  This allows a trader to see how bearish or bullish traders are on a security.  The last component of the ratio is the amount of daily volume.  If you know the nu

Definition of Short Squeeze

A short squeeze is a direct result of the lack of supply and demand in a security.  The resulting affect of the squeeze is a sharp rally in the price of the security.

Cash Trading Overview

Cash trading is a term used to describe a speculator that only trades with the cash on hand and does not use any margin.  Cash trading today sounds like something out of an ancient manuscript.  As more people hav

Block Trade Definition

A block trade is a transaction that is a minimum of 10,000 shares of stock or $200,000 of bonds.  Large block trades are handled by investment firms.  If a company or person were to go out and attempt to buy 2,000,000 shares of a stock that only trades 500,000 shares on a daily basis, would c

Wall of Worry - Definition

Climbing the wall of worry refers to the markets ability to rise in the face of negative news and economic conditions.

Mutual Fund Expenses

Mutual funds is one of the most popular investment vehicles for retail investors. There are thousands of mutual funds and one of the best ways to select the bust fund is to take a closer look at the mutual fund expenses. One of the determining fact

What is a Basket Trade?

A basket trade is an order to buy 15 or more stocks at once.  Basket trades are initiated by large institutions or hedge funds with substantial amounts of money to invest.  Basket trades are not only an option for the banks, but it is also a good investment strategy for retail traders.&nbs

Price Target Overview

A price target is the expected level at which to exit an open position.  Price targets are a key component of any trading plan.  In order to trade effectively, a trader must know when to get off the bus. 

A falling knife is a security which has a steep decline with virtually no counter move on the way down.  Falling knife stocks have been a vice for a number of traders for a long time.  There is something within a trader's nature that forces him to step in front of this freight train.  The issue with buying a falling knife is that they are dropping like a rock for

Overview of Insider Trading

Insider trading occurs when an individual who has access to non-public information about a security, makes a trade within that security.  Most of the public only thinks of insider trading as an illegal activity;  however, any form of trading by a corporate "insider&q

Cash Flow Statement Overview

The cash flow statement shows a company's money flow in and out over a fixed period of time.  Most companies report their cash flow statement on a quarterly or monthly basis.  The cash flow is broken out into three reporting areas: (1) Operating, (2) Inv

What is a Drawdown?

A drawdown represents the drop from a peak to a trough for an account value.  The drawdown is one of the most important inputs for assessing the risk associated with an investment.  Many traders overlook the drawdown factor and only focus on the gains.

So you want to find an etf with berkshire hathaway holdings.  Unfortunately, if it where this easy, we would all know in real-time what the greatest investor of all-time is up to.  However, Berkshire Hathaway releases its holdings quarterly via the 13-F filings and it provides details of which stocks were added or removed from their portfolio.  Som

Overview

The closing bell rings at the end of a trading session signifying that the trading day is over. The New York Stock Exchange is one of the few exchanges which still uses an actual bell to end the session.

Choppy Market

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