What Is a Semiconductor? A semiconductor is a material product usually comprised of silicon, which conducts electricity more than an insulator, such as glass, but less than a pure conductor, such as copper or aluminum. Their conductivity and other properties can be altered with the introduction of impurities, called doping, to meet the specific needs of the
What Is Semi-Deviation? Semi-deviation is a method of measuring the below-mean fluctuations in the returns on investment. Semi-deviation will reveal the worst-case performance to be expected from a risky investment. Semi-deviation is an alternative measurement to standard deviation or variance. However, unlike those measures, semi-deviation looks only at negative price fluctuations. Thus, semi-deviation is most
A semi-secured, or partially secured, credit card requires you to back the card with a deposit before you receive credit. But in contrast to a secured credit card, the credit limit granted may exceed the required deposit. So the deposit helps to limit the card issuer’s risk but doesn’t eliminate it altogether. A semi-secured card can provide a credit line
What Is a Semi-Variable Cost? A semi-variable cost, also known as a semi-fixed cost or a mixed cost, is a cost composed of a mixture of both fixed and variable components. Costs are fixed for a set level of production or consumption, and they become variable after this production level is exceeded. If no production
What Is a Semivariance? Semivariance is a measurement of data that can be used to estimate the potential downside risk of an investment portfolio. Semivariance is calculated by measuring the dispersion of all observations that fall below the mean or target value of a set of data. Semivariance is an average of the squared deviations
What Is a Senior Bank Loan? A senior bank loan is a debt financing obligation issued to a company by a bank or similar financial institution and then repackaged and sold to investors. The repackaged debt obligation consists of multiple loans. Senior bank loans hold legal claim to the borrower’s assets above all other debt
What Is a Senior Convertible Note? A senior convertible note is a debt security that contains an option in which the note will be converted into a predefined amount of the issuer’s shares. A senior convertible note has priority over all other debt securities issued by the same organization. Just like any other debt investment
What Is Senior Debt? Senior debt is borrowed money that a company must repay first if it goes out of business. Each type of financing has a different priority level in being repaid if the company goes out of business. If a company goes bankrupt, the issuers of senior debt, which are often bondholders or
What Is a Senior Note? A senior note is a type of bond that takes precedence over other debts in the event that the company declares bankruptcy and is forced into liquidation. Because they carry a lower degree of risk, senior notes pay lower rates of interest than junior bonds. Key Takeaways Senior notes are
What is a Senior Stretch Loan? A senior stretch loan is a type of hybrid loan structure offered primarily to middle-market companies to finance leveraged buyouts (LBOs). Similar to “unitranche” financing, the senior stretch loan combines senior debt and junior (or subordinated debt) into one package, typically at a lower average cost to the borrower
