What Is the Invisible Hand? The invisible hand is a metaphor for the unseen forces that move the free market economy. Through individual self-interest and freedom of production and consumption, the best interest of society, as a whole, are fulfilled. The constant interplay of individual pressures on market supply and demand causes the natural movement of
What Is Invisible Supply? Invisible supply refers to an unknown amount of physical stock of a commodity that will eventually be available for delivery upon settlement of a futures contract. This amount of supply underlying a futures contract exists, but it hasn’t yet been gathered, stored, and set aside in identifiable physical facilities for delivery.
What Is an Invoice? An invoice is a time-stamped commercial document that itemizes and records a transaction between a buyer and a seller. If goods or services were purchased on credit, the invoice usually specifies the terms of the deal and provides information on the available methods of payment. Types of invoices may include a
What Is an Involuntary Bankruptcy? Involuntary bankruptcy is a legal proceeding through which creditors request that a person or business go into bankruptcy. Creditors can request involuntary bankruptcy if they think that they will not be paid if bankruptcy proceedings don’t take place. They must seek a legal requirement to force a debtor to pay
What Is an Indication of Interest (IOI)? An indication of interest (IOI) is an underwriting expression showing a conditional, non-binding interest in buying a security that is currently in registration—awaiting approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The investor’s broker is required to provide the investor with a preliminary prospectus. However, IOIs in the
What Are Interest Only Strips? Sometimes investment firms or dealers take a debt obligation or pool of obligations—mortgages, Treasury bonds, or other bonds—and after separating their principal and interest portions, sell them as distinct security products to investors, thus creating what’s known as a strip bond. An interest only strip is one of these separated
What Is IOTA? IOTA (MIOTA) is a distributed ledger designed to record and execute transactions between machines and devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. The ledger uses a cryptocurrency called MIOTA to account for transactions in its network. IOTA’s key innovation is Tangle, a system of nodes used for confirming transactions. IOTA claims
What Is Investing? Investing, broadly, is putting money to work for a period of time in some sort of project or undertaking in order to generate positive returns (i.e., profits that exceed the amount of the initial investment). It is the act of allocating resources, usually capital (i.e., money), with the expectation of generating an
What Is Investment Style? Investment style is the method and philosophy followed by an investor or money manager in selecting investments for a portfolio. Investment style is based on several factors and typically tends to be based on parameters such as risk preference, growth vs. value orientation, and/or market cap. The investment style of a
What Are Investing Fads? Investing fads are popular stocks or other investments that enjoy substantial short-term gains. Investing fads are normally characterized by a temporary excessive enthusiasm for a certain investment or style, which is by definition unsustainable over the long term. The dotcom bubble was an example of an investing fad in which investors
