Preferred stocks come in two additional flavors: non-participating and participating. In the first category, the dividends paid out may exceed the amounts declared in any given year. In the second scenario, the incentive sum remains constant regardless of whether or not the company’s profits increase. Preferred stock dividends are not a tax deductible business expense. […]

Successful investment requires a careful management of potential losses. The most risk-tolerant investors can position themselves for substantial long-term gains by purchasing the equities with the greatest beta. The market risk associated with these stocks is high. When compared to the S&P 500, the standard deviation of returns for stocks with betas of 1.5 or

There are several factors that go into a company’s decision to distribute shares to employees. Money is a staple in the corporate world. Stocks can be classified as either “ordinary” or “special,” the latter being more valuable. An initial public offering (IPO) occurs when a firm begins selling shares of stock to the general public

A stock’s “fundamentals” are its underlying qualities that investors believe will increase the price of the security. Cash flow and the debt-to-equity ratio are quantitative examples of fundamentals of stocks, as are qualitative and situational aspects like the business idea and its advantage over competitors. Article sections on evaluating company’s core competencies. Quantitative and qualitative

Individual stock purchases are favored by the last group of investors. Both strategies have both benefits and drawbacks, but I will only discuss the advantages of holding stocks individually in nonqualified accounts for the rest of this article. A nonqualified account is one that does not hold funds from a qualified retirement plan, such as