Category: Story of Interest

Written by Chadi Halahel  Option Pricer This article is meant to serve as a tutorial on how to access the Option Pricer on the Reuters Eikon software to graph potential options strategies. It is important to remember that security prices are always changing and therefore the potential payoff of these strategies is also changing. Furthermore, no live trading is permitted when using Reuters Eikon software. This is strictly an educational guide on how to better understand the various strategies one can create using options, along with how their payoffs theoretically look like. Lastly, this guide assumes you understand the basics of what equity options are. For those who would like to learn more about the basics of options please visit https://www.investopedia.com/options-basics-tutorial-4583012. Using the software is a great way to better understand the various types of options strategies and how options are priced.    How to access the Option Pricer: Step … Continue reading Story of Interest

Written By: Maria Francis   Canada’s Household Debt Problem Overview of the Debt Crisis Ray Dalio founder of Bridgewater associates explains debt as a double-edged sword. Debt can be beneficial because it can be used to make advances in life such as perusing an education, buying a house or car, however some are negative such as living beyond your means. However, debt can only be good to a certain extent because it makes us vulnerable during financial downturns. If you take on more debt thank you can pay back, you will put yourself in credit risk because you may not to be able to pay back your loan. Today, Canadians now owe over $2 trillion in debt. During a potential financial crisis, it is likely that there will be high rates of unemployment and debt defaults which can also be affected by high-interest rates. Mortgages     The Canadian debt level … Continue reading Story of Interest

Written By: Alexander Kamenskiy North American Companies to watch: 1. Uber On March 25, 2019, Uber Technologies Inc. announced that it will pay $1.4 billion in cash and $1.7 billion in convertible notes in its biggest deal that will grant it full ownership of leading Middle Eastern competitor Careem. This agreement comes after more than 9 months of gruelling negotiations that leave the Careem Brand, App and founding directors’ positions in-tact. This much-needed victory for Uber complements the company’s plans to IPO during the next month. The deal enables Uber to claim dominance in a region with a growing demand for ride-hailing services outside of the United States. This is crucial as the company has recently sold its Chinese, Russian and Southeast Asian operations after sustaining heavy losses and investors are beginning to question whether the company is truly a global competitor. The company hopes to leverage this claim when … Continue reading Story of Interest

  Written By: Karen Leung  Distressed Securities Securities are financial instruments that have financial value and are usually categorized as debt or equity. They are created when a company issues them as a way to raise money and can be purchased as an investment. In some cases, the issuer may be unable to meet the obligations agreed at the issuing time of the security and alternative arrangements are required. The most common case occurs when companies are at risk of bankruptcy and need to decide on next steps. This situation creates the distressed securities market, dominated by distressed debt. Options for Distressed Companies A distressed company must decide whether the best plan of action is to liquidate, restructure, or a combination of both. When a company liquidates, they are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy meaning it ceases operations and the remaining funds of the company are distributed to creditors based … Continue reading Story Of Interest

Written By Alex Ferracuti What is Technical Analysis? Technical analysis also known as charting, is used to price securities and attempt to forecast future price movements. This process usually uses price charts, trends, trading activity, and statistical methods to determine the direction of a stock. To differentiate between the two major methods, fundamental analysts seek to find the “intrinsic” or underlying value of a company, while technicians (technical analysts) use price charts and other tools to evaluate the strength of a stock’s price. Technicians believe that past trading activity and price changes are better indicators of a company’s value than intrinsic value. Technical analysis was created under the assumption of the Dow Theory, which says two major things: 1) Stock prices contain all available information discounted, and 2) Market movements are not random but move in predictable patterns. Generally, is it based on the basics of supply & demand of … Continue reading Does Technical Analysis still work?

Written By: Alex Ferracuti What are Cryptocurrencies? Anyone who follows the market these days has heard of the widely talked about group called cryptocurrencies. This past year cryptocurrencies (cryptos) have become a new global craze – many are calling “digital gold”. Cryptocurrencies allow for transactions to take place worldwide, with virtual no transaction costs and a system which is very easy to use. These past few years, almost every major bank, financial firm, and government has published research on the talked about “block chain” technology. In late 2008, the first of the cryptocurrencies to emerge was the popularized Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s creator, successfully created a digital, decentralized, form of cash system, which worked in a similar way as peer-to-peer file transfer. Very briefly, cryptocurrencies work by having a large decentralized network of peers who all maintain a spreadsheet of accounts and transactions which cannot be changed unless certain conditions are met … Continue reading The Rise of Cryptocurrencies