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What is the Efficient Markets Theory? The Efficient Markets Theory says that stocks trade at their fair value all of the time, assuming all informa...

What is a Fund of Funds? A fund of funds is a mutual fund strategy that invests in other funds rather than investing in stocks or bonds. The underl...

The Russell Index is a series of indices that tracks the progress of stocks in a given basket. Aw. We were hoping it tracked adorable Jack Russell...

The Investment Company Act of 1940 regulated and ensured fair dealings in the mutual fund industry.

What do you need to retire? Retirement - think: 401k, pension fund, IRA, roth IRA, etc. All of these savings socked away while you worked hard are...

There’s an old saying on Wall Street: People who want to make a lot of money buy stocks. People who have a lot of money buy bonds. The amount of...

What is suspended trading? It has nothing to do with suspenders, which is a bummer...we love suspenders. They're so jaunty.

What are T-Notes, T-Bonds, and TIPS? T-Notes are debt securities (like bonds) that are issued by the government and mature within one to 10 years....

What is After Tax Yield? After tax yield is simply how much an investment makes (or yields) after taxes have been paid. This term refers to bond yi...

A liquid market is a market featuring high trading volumes, i.e. investors actually want to put their cash to work.

What is a Country Basket (Index Fund)? Investing internationally can be a challenge, as foreign exchange, different accounting rules, time zones an...

What is a Day Trade? A day trade is a trade done in the public markets where the buy and the sell are both done on the same day, thus marking the n...

Term to maturity is kind of the life cycle of a bond, but luckily for the bond, it gets to skip puberty.

What is a Commingled Fund? Commingled funds are similar to mutual funds but contain different assets and possible asset classes. They are blended t...

What is Yield to Maturity? When calculating bond yields, the yield to maturity is the interest rate that an investor would ultimately accumulate if...

Investment objectives and styles vary from investor to investor. Some are in it for the long haul. Others, um... don't look at "Ponzi" as a dirty w...

What is the S&P 500? It's Standard & Poor's 500 generally largest companies, with a U.S. domestic bias. The S&P 500 is usually what investors think...

What is a Back End Load? A back end load is a sales fee that is paid on a mutual fund after it’s sold (on the back end). Sometimes it’s a set a...

What is a Contingent Deferred Sales Charge? A Contingent Deferred Sales Charge is a fancy name for a back load fee for mutual fund B shares. Basica...

What is a Family of Funds? A family of funds refers to all of the funds managed by an investment firm. These firms offer investors the ability to i...