What Are Short-Term Bonds: Definition and Examples Sell-Off: Definition, Triggers, Example What Is a Sponsor? What Is a Stockbroker? What Is a Short-Term Investment? Benefits & How to Do It SEC Yield: Definition, Formula, Example What Is a Safety Deposit Box? Security and Uses Santa Cla...
Money market mutual funds are among the lowest-volatility types of investments. Income generated by a money market fund can be either taxable or tax-exempt, depending on the types of securities in which the fund invests. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations define 3 ...
ETFs are registered with and regulated by the SEC as investment companies, and they offer investors a way to pool their funds to invest in baskets of stocks, bonds or other assets. Over the past two decades, this asset class has exploded in popularity, rising from a mere 276 in 2003 to...
Over-the-counter (OTC) refers to how stocks are traded when they are not listed on a formal exchange. Other securities traded outside an exchange are also OTC — such as bonds, derivatives, and other complex instruments.
While stocks and bonds can expose you to both gains and risk, some annuities promise to get you closer to realizing the benefits of growth with limited losses—although with important caveats. Two common annuities that fall into this category are fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) and registered inde...
Commodities can be considered “alternative” investments that are supposed to be uncorrelated, or minimally correlated, with stocks and bonds. If stocks make a big move lower or higher, alternative assets may move the opposite way, or they might move in the same direction, but to a lesser ex...
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversees these agencies to ensure regulatory compliance through its Office of Credit Ratings. Ten agencies were registered as of December 2024, but most bonds are rated by three major ratings agencies: Fitch Ratings Moody’s Investors Service S&P Global ...
The term "securities" is commonly associated with stocks, bonds, and similar instruments but the U.S. Supreme Court gives it a much broader interpretation. The court found in the case of Howey vs. SEC (1946) that the plaintiff's sale of land and agricultural services constituted an "investm...
SECSecurities markets (stocks, bonds, etc.)Public companies, registered investment advisors, broker-dealersEnforces securities laws, aims to protect investors and provide transparency into the markets Post-Crisis Landscape The financial crisis of 2007 to 2008 was the SEC's most significant challenge s...
An ETF must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the United States, most ETFs are set up asopen-ended fundsand are subject to theInvestment Company Actof 1940, except where subsequent rules have modified their regulatory requirements.2Open-ended funds do not limit...