192 definitions by abu yahya

*noun*; series of programs enacted by the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) in response to the Great Depression. This definition refers to the New Deal in US history (as opposed to the current "New Deal" in Great Britain).

The main architects of the New Deal were Harry Hopkins, Henry A. Wallace, and Harold L. Ickes. The chief prigrams were:
--- The Works Progress Administration (WPA);
--- the Public Works Administration (PWA);
--- the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA).
These were set up to address industrial and farming failures.

Other programs addressed a long-standing need:
--- the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC);
--- the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which introduced electrical power infrastructure to much of the impoverished rural South;
--- the Civil Works Administration (CWA), which supplied electrical power generation;
--- the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which provides insurance for bank accounts;
--- the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC);
--- the Social Security Administration (SSA);

Legislation included:
--- the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), or Wagner Act, which gave most workers the right to organize;
--- the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), which was struck down in 1935 by the US Supreme Court;
--- the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which set basic working standards.

The New Deal's main impact was to establish basic protections for workers, consumers, and farmers. While some of these protections could have been better designed, they perform an indispensable function. In terms of actual fiscal policy, the New Deal was far too small to hasten the end of the Great Depression itself.
A lot of the public buildings in this country were built by New Deal programs.
by abu yahya March 6, 2009
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*noun*; the tendency for the public to want to hold income in cash relative to its willingness to hold it as interest-bearing savings (bonds).

The liquidity preference is analogous to a supply curve for lendable funds. If the price for lendable funds--that is to say, the interest rate--is high, then the amount be be large. If the interest rate is low, then the public will be more inclined to hoard income as cash.

Income held as cash is not spent on goods and services, so if the amount increases abruptly then there will be a recession. If it is held in some interest-bearing form, then it can be spent on fixed capital, thereby increasing output and employment.

During a recession, if the liquidity preference is high, a lot of money is going to be held as cash. One could free up some cash for job-creating investment by raising interest rates, but that would eradicate a lot of business opportunities. So monetary authorities monetize debt instead, creating a new supply of credit to replace the savings lost by falling interest rates.
...An individual’s liquidity preference is given by a schedule of the amounts of his resources, valued in terms of money or of wage-units, which he will wish to retain in the form of money....

John M. Keynes, *General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money* (1936), Ch.13
by abu yahya March 4, 2009
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(FINANCE) the situation in which a derivatives trader with a short position is wrong about the behavior of the market. Having sold shares of stock he doesn't own, he is now compelled to buy them at a higher price than he sold them for (in order to reimburse whomever he borrowed the shares from).

If the short position was taken by writing naked options (i.e., issuing call options of stock the trader doesn't happen to have), then the trader has to buy shares of underlying stock in order to honor the options.

It's extremely expensive for traders to have to cover their shorts.
The surprising stock rally came as a shock. Nicholas Leeson had been riding high, but now he was furiously covering shorts, and driving the share prices higher still. By closing bell, he was ruined.
by abu yahya May 5, 2010
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In economics, (1) Materials or equipment used to produce goods (e.g., tools, parts, inventory, buildings, fixtures, hours of training); or (2) money that is used in a business venture. Capital is created by saving, rather than consuming, economic output. Over time, saving accumulates into capital; it also depreciates.
The total amount of capital in an economy is very important in determining total output.
by abu yahya August 4, 2008
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(FINANCE) when a trader in a short position is wrong about the price movement, and is consequently forced to buy the asset at the higher price in order to meet legal obligations.

The classic example of this is the broker who sells stocks he does not own, in the expectation that he can buy the stock in the future at a lower price for delivery. If the price goes up instead of down, the broker must "cover his shorts," and very possibly drive prices higher still.
When Morgan was ready to squeeze the shorts, he was damn certain his corner would hold as the Twombly men scrambled to buy shares at any price.

"I've got your short cover right here, Gentlemen," he snorted from his seat overlooking the trading pit.
by abu yahya April 15, 2010
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(FINANCE) department of a securities firm that specializes in repurchase agreements. A repurchase agreement is a type of short-term loan in which a borrower sells a security (like a share of stock) and agrees to buy the same security back in a few days.

From the point of view of the counterparty buying/re-selling the stock, this deal is known as a reverse-repo. Reverse-repos are useful to brokerages because they allow the brokerage to short the stock.
Through a repo desk, the bank can finance short-term borrowings on behalf of itself and its clients. The repo desk makes money by charging interest on typically very short term loans - 1 to 5 days.
by abu yahya September 27, 2010
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(ECONOMICS) the capital that a business sells in order to make money. The obvious example is the inventory of a convenience store; in this case, the circulating capital is the merchandise, and the fixed capital includes the cash register, the display racks, and so on.

In other cases, the circulating capital consists of raw materials or supplies; for example, a mechanic has transmission fluid or air filters, while a dress maker has muslin and thread.
An entrepreneur makes money by hanging onto fixed capital as long as possible, and getting rid of circulating capital as fast as possible.
by abu yahya May 4, 2010
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