capital gains

(FINANCE) the increase in wealth that goes to the owner of a financial asset when it increases in value. If you buy a share of stock, and the share increases in value, then you have capital gains whether you have sold it or not.

If you sell the stock at the higher price, you have made money on the transaction and have "realized capital gains." If you hang onto the asset in the hopes its value will increase even more, you have "unrealized capital gains."
For owners of stocks, wealth can come in the form of capital gains or dividends. For owners of gold, the only benefit comes from capital gains. This is why gold is usually not a good investment.
by Abu Yahya April 15, 2010
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open triangle

a sexual relationship involving three persons, two of whom never have sex with EACH OTHER. For example, in a heterosexual triangle M-F-M, the two men have sex with the woman but never with the other.

See closed triangle.
A famous example of an open triangle was that involving Manuel de Godoy, Queen Maria Louisa, and King Carlos IV . In exchange for servicing two of the most repulsive people in Europe, Godoy made an enormous fortune and became the effective ruler of Spain.

The relationship was an open triangle because the king and queen found each other unbearable.
by Abu Yahya March 21, 2010
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seasonally adjusted

(ECONOMICS) adjusted for the time of year the data refer to.

Economic statistics are often reported as rates of change from month to month, or quarter to quarter. However, some months, such as November and December, have very high retail sales, while May through September have very high home sales. For this reason, data is sometimes "seasonally adjusted" to offset ordinary seasonal variations.

The US Federal Reserve System reports changes in GDP from quarter to quarter in annualized form; so, for example, during the last quarter of 2004, US GDP was (about) $3,044.6 billion. But it was reported as an annualized (and seasonally adjusted) $11734.9. If you divide that by 4 you get 2957.8, which reflects the fact that the Fed shaved 86.8 billion off its estimate of economic activity for 2004Q4 and reallocated it to Q1 & Q2.

The reason the Fed (and everyone else) does this is to measure economic change separately from the usual seasonal change in business activity.
BILL: Hey! This data on GDP growth is way different from that data.

ANNA: That's because one set of data is seasonally adjusted. The Fed tweaked the numbers so economic growth from quarter to quarter reflects changing economic conditions, instead of ordinary yearly cycles.

BILL: You mean it's not an evil plot?

ANNA: It's an evil plot to make you forget about Christmas shopping season and labor day white sales.

BILL: Gasp! You mean the Fed is behind the War on Christmas?????
by Abu Yahya September 08, 2010
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blood libel

a false allegation of murder; the term refers specifically to a recurring rumor from 12th century Europe that Jews were kidnapping Christian children and using their blood for ritual purposes. A famous example of the blood libel is recounted in the "Nun Prioress's Tale" from Chaucer's *Canterbury Tales*. In this and other versions of the story, the events are absurd and feature perverse miracles.


Frequently occurrences of the blood libel were accompanied by a wave of mass murder of Jewish residents of the city. In many cases, the zealots would force the authorities to try random Jews for the alleged crime; these trials were, naturally, travesties.

The last case of a blood libel resulting in murder was the Kielce pogrom of 1946. 200 Jewish survivors of the Final Solution were being transported back to Poland when a boy (who had disappeared for a couple of days) told the police he had been kidnapped by Jews. The police went to a hostel where returning Holocaust survivors were staying, and massacred 37 of them.

Sometimes the phrase "blood libel" is used to refer to similar allegations against primarily non-Jewish groups; for example, many nationalities have been accused of kidnapping children to harvest their organs and sell them to rich patients in the developed world.
Although the details have changed over the last millenium, the blood libel retains core elements of sadistic fantasy, psychological projection, and crass opportunism.
by Abu Yahya February 15, 2009
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Glass-Steagall

Act passed in 1933 which regulated banking. Named for Sen. Carter Glass (D-VA) and Rep. Henry Steagall (D-AL 3rd). Also known as the Banking Act of 1933. Motivated by the Great Depression and one of the pillars of the New Deal.

Glass-Steagall prohibited commercial banks from engaging in underwriting securities, i.e., banks that accepted deposits and loaned money at interest were not allowed to issue bonds or new public offerings of stocks. The Act also authorized the creation of deposit insurance.

The Banking Act of '33 was strengthened in 1956 when bank holding companies were barred from the insurance business.

Between 1982 and 1999, banks were deregulated until the same corporation could take deposits, create credit, borrow from the Federal Reserve, underwrite stocks and bonds, operate a hedge fund, and sell insurance.
Glass-Steagall was repealed in stages between 1982 and 1999.

In 1990, the largest bank in the USA--CitiBank--held assets of $369.1 (2009 dollars); by 2009, it held over 5x that. Bank of America is now 13.24 times its size in 1990. The repeal of Glass-Steagall undeniably worsened our problem with banks that were too big to fail.
by Abu Yahya April 05, 2010
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current account surplus

(ECONOMICS) the annual increase in financial claims owed to the people of particular country, MINUS any increase of claims that same people owe abroad. The net annual increase in assets resulting from commerce with the rest of the world.

COMPONENTS
There are three components of current accounts:
(1) trade balance (surplus or deficit)
(2) foreign factor income (income minus outgo)
(3) net foreign aid

Usually the largest component of a current account surplus is the trade surplus, although in 1990 the USA actually had a quarterly current account surplus caused by massive "foreign aid" (actually, payments to defray the cost of waging the first Gulf War.
The South Korean won was lower late Tuesday as investor appetite for risk{y} assets was damped by broad-based losses in regional stock markets, led by a sharp fall in Chinese shares.

The local currency largely brushed off news that the country's current account surplus rose in May to a six-month high of $3.83 billion.

Traders said any positive impact from the current account data was offset by data showing the capital account balance... posted a net outflow of $11.96 billion in May, compared with a $8.56 billion inflow in April.
by Abu Yahya July 04, 2010
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long position

(FINANCE) a situation in which an investor stands to gain if a particular investment instrument (stocks, bonds, gold, real estate) goes up in value. One "takes a long position" with respect to a particular item.

There are several ways of taking a long position; an obvious way to go long is to actually own the thing itself. Supposing you are taking a long position on Intel common stock (NASDAQ:INTC), here are some other ways:

* Buy a call option for INTC, especially with a strike price higher than the current spot price.

* Write a put option for INTC, committing yourself to buy more INTC stock if the price goes down over the near term

* Buy a futures contract for INTC at spot (or more).

CAVEAT LECTOR: there are many _potential_ definitions of long position; I have given the broadest one available.
MICHAEL: I want to flatten my long position on T-bills.

ANNA: I would recommend buying a covered interest swap with another major currency, like yen.
by Abu Yahya April 10, 2010
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