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Abu Yahya's definitions

spot price

(FINANCE) market price of a traded stock, commodity, currency, or bond at a specific point in time. For example, right now it's 5 April 2010 08:10 (GMT), and the spot price of WTI crude is $85.56/bbl. Spot price is the price at a specified time on a specific market.
The value of a derivative is determined by the relationship of its strike price to its spot price.
by Abu Yahya April 5, 2010
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leveraged buyout

(FINANCE) when somebody buys a corporation using borrowed money ("leverage"), with the expectation that the new owner will able to pay for it from the corporation's own profits.

Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (KKR) developed the LBO back when Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. and Henry Kravis were still partners at Bear Stearns (1960's). The technique was refined by Michael Milken's methods of underwriting and trading junk bonds. At the same time, corporate raiders and takeover artists like T. Boone Pickens perfected greenmail as a way to make money from failed hostile takeovers.
In constant US dollars, the largest leveraged buyout deal in history was the KKR takeover of RJR Nabisbo for $31.1 billion (1989). In 2006, several deals of even larger size were planned or attempted, but adjusted for inflation, they were not as large.
by Abu Yahya September 4, 2010
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cash flow

(ACCOUNTING) the total amount of money paid to a company during the period covered by a statement. For example, during a quarterly statement of cash flow, "cash flow" means the firm received payments or realized capital gains of that much money.

During the same period, the firm may have billed out (accounts receivable) a certain amount for which it has not received payment, and received payment on account for bills it made before the quarter began.

This is not the same as operating cash flow, which is revenue minus operating expenses.
Over the course of a few months, the cash flow for a business is about the same as revenue, as payments will generally come in at about the same rate as the firm bills customers.

This NOT true for operating cash flow or net cash flow.
by Abu Yahya September 20, 2010
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economic efficiency

The ability of an economic system to provide what people what, given their incomes. Given the fact that incomes and resources are both finite, efficiency will be of the utmost importance in determining if people's wants are satisfied by the workings of the economic system.
Free market economies usually provide high levels of economic efficiency.
by abu yahya June 23, 2008
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theodicy

*noun*; from Greek, θεός {god} + δίκαιον (justice). Literally, "the justice of God." Specifically, the attempt to explain God's ways to mortals.

The term was used by Gottfried Leibniz for his book {Théodicée} explaining how an omnipotent and benevolent God could allow suffering in the universe. Leibniz took the approach that this was the "best of all possible worlds," meaning that God could not have made this world better in any one respect, without making it worse in others.

In 1759, Voltaire published the novel *Candide* which was essentially a very long satire of Leibniz' views. The character of Dr. Pangloss is based on Leibniz, although it has been argued that Voltaire misrepresented Leibniz' views.


In common usage, the term *theodicy* refers to any defense of a thing based on the claim that whatever that thing does is the best possible. The obvious example is neoclassical economics, which insists that whatever outcome achieved by "the market," it is the best one that could possibly exist. It's a fallacy because it uses circular reasoning, and it is unfalsifiable.
Privileged and successful groups need religion for a very different purpose, namely legitimation. Their members are convinced that they deserve their good fortune and that the poor deserve their misfortune. {Max} Weber calls this the "theodicy of good fortune"...

Anthony Waterman in 2002 put forward the suggestion that Smith could be read as offering a kind of Augustinian theodicy of the market. According to him, Smith's idea could be interpreted as thus: just like God put governments in place to restrain sin, the institution of the market also restrains sin.

Nimi Wariboko, *God and Money: A Theology of Money in a Globalizing World* (2008)
by Abu Yahya March 23, 2009
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in the money

(FINANCE) when a financial derivative has intrinsic value to the person who holds it. There are two examples:

* when the strike price of a call option is less than the spot price of the underlying stock, it is worthwhile to exercise it;

* when the strike price of a put option is more than the spot price of the underlying stock, it is worthwhile to exercise it.

Please remember that an option being "in the money" does not mean it was a good investment. You might have bought the option when the difference between the strike price and the spot price was MORE than it is now. If it's expiring, you might as well exercise it because to not do so is just throwing money away. But it still could have been a loss for the investor.
PHIL: Sweet! My call options are back in the money. Now I'd better exercise them.

MIGUEL: You must be rolling in the cash, Holmes!

PHIL: Not even close. The forex rate for the UK pound nosedived and I got hosed pretty bad. It's not where it was when I bought these rat droppings, but I need to get out before they expire.

MIGUEL: You know, when you first told me about options they sounded like a sweet deal, but...

PHIL: Yeah... the guy who wrote the option always seems to know what's going down better than us dilettantes.
by Abu Yahya April 15, 2010
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closing bell

Te bell that rings to signal that trading has ended. An actual, literal moment of reckoning, when margin calls must be paid.
When the closing bell rang, he was ruined. All of his reserves were wiped out and he owed $6 million on margin.
by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010
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