Definitions by abu yahya
sovereign debt
(ECONOMICS) debt owned by a national government to all creditors foreign and domestic. Backed by the national government's power to tax.
Even after the International Monetary Fund worked out a bailout for Greece, other sovereign debt crises could still arise in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
sovereign debt by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010
covering shorts
(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.
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.
covering shorts by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010
circulating capital
(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.
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.
circulating capital by Abu Yahya May 4, 2010
complex number
(MATHEMATICS) a number consisting of a real number and an imaginary number; imaginary numbers are multiples of the square root of -1.
complex number by Abu Yahya April 23, 2010
square root
(MATHEMATICS) each positive number has another number that, when multiplied times itself, equals that number. So, for example, 4 has a square root of 2 (2 x 2 = 4).
The square root of a negative number is an imaginary number. Imaginary numbers are not, by themselves, useful solutions to math problems; but they can be used to find them.
The square root of a negative number is an imaginary number. Imaginary numbers are not, by themselves, useful solutions to math problems; but they can be used to find them.
BILL: Anna, we have a rectangle that's 3 x as long as it is wide, and it encloses an area of 300 square meters. What are the dimensions?
ANNA: Well, that's like 3 squares of 100 square meters. The square root of 100 is 10, so the rectangle is 10 by 30.
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The logarithm of a square root is one half the log of the number itself; hence, the natural log of 25 is 3.2189, while the natural log of 5 is 1.6094.
ANNA: Well, that's like 3 squares of 100 square meters. The square root of 100 is 10, so the rectangle is 10 by 30.
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The logarithm of a square root is one half the log of the number itself; hence, the natural log of 25 is 3.2189, while the natural log of 5 is 1.6094.
square root by Abu Yahya April 23, 2010
logarithm
(MATHEMATICS) a function of numbers that are the root of a base. For example, log(base 2) means a function of numbers that are the numbered roots of 2. The log(base 2) of 2 is 1, meaning 2 raised to the power of 1 is 2 (2^1 = 2); log(2) of 4 is 2, and so on.
The idea here is that any number can be expressed as 2 raised to some power; better still, if you do math with the logs of a number rather than the numbers themselves, you can find useful patterns. For example, if you are graphing population growth, and you just plot the raw number of people over time, you aren't going to notice anything in particular. If you plot the log of population, you can see that, while population is growing, the rate of growth is falling.
Usually, if you are doing statistical research with numbers that always have to be positive (like population, death tolls from diseases, etc.), you need to use logarithms for the numerical values in order to represent a confidence interval.
Logs usually have a base of e or 10. Logs with a base of e are called natural logs.
The idea here is that any number can be expressed as 2 raised to some power; better still, if you do math with the logs of a number rather than the numbers themselves, you can find useful patterns. For example, if you are graphing population growth, and you just plot the raw number of people over time, you aren't going to notice anything in particular. If you plot the log of population, you can see that, while population is growing, the rate of growth is falling.
Usually, if you are doing statistical research with numbers that always have to be positive (like population, death tolls from diseases, etc.), you need to use logarithms for the numerical values in order to represent a confidence interval.
Logs usually have a base of e or 10. Logs with a base of e are called natural logs.