What Is the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)? The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) is an index created by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that tracks home sales where a contract is signed, but the transaction has not yet closed. The PHSI is a leading indicator of future existing home sales. It typically takes
What Is Penetration Pricing? Penetration pricing is a marketing strategy used by businesses to attract customers to a new product or service by offering a lower price during its initial offering. The lower price helps a new product or service penetrate the market and attract customers away from competitors. Market penetration pricing relies on the strategy of
What Is a Pennant? In technical analysis, a pennant is a type of continuation pattern formed when there is a large movement in a security, known as the flagpole, followed by a consolidation period with converging trend lines—the pennant—followed by a breakout movement in the same direction as the initial large movement, which represents the second
What Is a Penny Stock? A penny stock typically refers to the stock of a small company that trades for less than $5 per share. Though some penny stocks trade on large exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), most trade via over-the-counter (OTC) transactions through the electronic OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) or
What Is Pension Maximization? Pension maximization is a retirement strategy for couples that involves opting for the highest possible annuity payout for one spouse’s lifetime while obtaining life insurance to provide income for the surviving spouse. Pension maximization involves the use of two retirement income products: a life-only annuity, which will offer the highest cash
What Is a Pension Option? The term pension option refers to a series of choices that an employee must make to prepare for retirement. The decisions that an individual makes determine how they receive the money in their pension accounts. Employees can choose a single payment or having their pension stretched out to provide them
What Is a Pension Plan? A pension plan is an employee benefit that commits the employer to make regular contributions to a pool of money that is set aside in order to fund payments made to eligible employees after they retire. Traditional pension plans have become increasingly rare in the U.S. private section. They have
What Was the Pension Protection Act of 2006? The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) made significant reforms to U.S. pension plan laws and regulations. Signed into law by President George W. Bush on Aug. 17, 2006, the PPA sought to protect retirement accounts and hold companies that underfunded existing pension accounts accountable. The law
What Is a Payment Protection Plan? A payment protection plan is an optional service offered by some credit card companies and lenders that lets a customer stop making minimum monthly payments on a loan or credit card balance during a period of involuntary unemployment or disability. It may also cancel the balance owed if the
What Is a Payment Shock? A payment shock refers to a dramatic increase in an individual’s debts and liabilities that may cause them to default on their financial obligations. Put simply, payment shock occurs when, rather suddenly, someone is obligated to pay more in monthly debt than they can afford from their income. This concept
