Achieving one's corporate or personal monetary goals takes strategy, discipline and dedication. In order to craft a robust gameplan designed for the long-haul, many people commission the help of an independent third party for guidance. Of these entities, there are two primary types: financial planners and financial advisors. There is no one-size-fits-all money management service. They come in various forms, each with specific qualifications and specialities. However, through the performance…

What Is Ant Group? Ant Group is a large Chinese financial services and technology company that is closely affiliated with Alibaba, the giant Chinese ecommerce site. Ant was founded in 2004 and then spun off as a separate company in 2014. Alibaba still owns a 33% stake in Ant. Ant is the parent company of Alipay, China's largest mobile payments platform, which was created largely to facilitate spending on Alibaba.…

Over the past several decades, China's international financial influence has expanded multifold. Featuring massive domestic consumption of US$6 trillion for 2020, a renowned export sector and dynamic "dual-circulation" strategy, China has evolved into a prominent global economic force. However, for a majority of the world's investment capital, the Chinese markets remain heavily restricted. With the late-2020 signing of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), China's isolationist policies are beginning…

Placing price action into a manageable context is an essential part of crafting strong trading decisions. To accomplish this task, many traders rely upon technical analysis. Through the study of past and present price action, technicians can build strategies designed to capitalise on favourable market conditions. Range trading is an exceedingly popular category of such strategies. Market structure comes in two basic forms: trending and range bound. Trending markets are…

What Are Fintechs? "Fintech," which is short for "financial technology," refers to companies that have infiltrated the financial services industry. Typically, they offer electronic banking, investments, payment and budgeting services and products to consumers and businesses through the internet and mobile phones, and not through traditional brick-and-mortar branches. Fintechs that offer banking products such as checking and savings accounts and debit and credit cards are also called "challenger" banks, particularly…

What Is A SPAC? A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a shell company that raises money in an initial public offering (IPO) with the purpose of eventually buying an as-yet-to-be-determined private company. Essentially, investors provide money to the sponsors of the SPAC so that they can quickly acquire a company they believe is a good investment. SPACs are often called "blank check" companies because investors really don't know what…

What Is A Zero Coupon Bond? Zero coupon bonds are bonds that pay no interest at regular intervals like traditional bonds do. Rather, zeros are sold at a deep discount to their maturity or face value. As the bonds get closer to their face value over time, they accumulate interest, and the investor receives the full face amount at maturity. For example, a zero coupon bond with a face value…

What Is A Write Down? A write down (also written as "writedown") is an accounting procedure in which a company reduces the value of an asset on its balance sheet to reflect its current, lower market value. A write down is also included on the company's income statement as an expense, which reduces its operating income. Write downs occur in all types of companies, although they may occur more often…

Major digital currency exchange Coinbase filed an S-1 registration statement in December 2020, a document that a company must submit before holding a direct listing or an initial public offering (IPO). If a company wants to offer securities under the Securities Act of 1933, it is required to file an S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Coinbase Global, Inc. filed this document confidentially, meaning that until the…

The Libra Association announced 1 December 2020 that it was going by the name the Diem Association, a move designed to help signify the project's evolution. The organisation stated that it was "reinforcing its organizational independence," but also confirmed that it would stick to its original mission of working toward "a safe, secure and compliant payment system that empowers people and businesses around the world." The new name, Diem, is…

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought the world a collection of unprecedented humanitarian and economic challenges. From the virus's initial onslaught in late-February to a November surge in infection rates, COVID-19 was a primary underpinning of 2020's global capital markets. Since the onset of the novel coronavirus, infectious disease experts have warned of a potentially devastating "second wave" of the virus sweeping the globe. As the fourth quarter of 2020 commenced,…