What Is the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BRC)? The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) is a ratio used in a cost-benefit analysis to summarize the overall relationship between the relative costs and benefits of a proposed project. BCR can be expressed in monetary or qualitative terms. If a project has a BCR greater than 1.0, the project is expected
What Is Barrels Per Day (B/D)? Barrels per day (B/D) is a measure of oil output, represented by the number of barrels of oil produced in a single day. For example, you might hear “country ABC has the potential to produce five million barrels per day.” The abbreviation “bbl/d” can also be used to represent
What Is a Business Development Company (BDC)? A business development company (BDC) is an organization that invests in small- and medium-sized companies as well as distressed companies. A BDC helps these firms grow in the initial stages of their development. With distressed businesses, the BDC helps the companies regain sound financial footing. Similar to closed-end
What Is a Bear? A bear is an investor who believes that a particular security, or the broader market is headed downward and may attempt to profit from a decline in stock prices. Bears are typically pessimistic about the state of a given market or underlying economy. For example, if an investor were bearish on the
What Is a Bear Fund? A bear fund is a mutual fund that investors use to provide higher returns amid market downturns. Bear funds can be actively managed or designed to follow an index. In the example of an index bear fund, the fund tracks the inverse of the index. Bear funds tend to be
What Is a Bear Hug? In business, a bear hug is an offer to buy a publicly listed company at a significant premium to the market price of its shares, designed to appeal to the target company’s shareholders. It’s an acquisition strategy used to pressure a reluctant company board to accept the bid or risk
What is a Bearish Engulfing Pattern? A bearish engulfing pattern is a technical chart pattern that signals lower prices to come. The pattern consists of an up (white or green) candlestick followed by a large down (black or red) candlestick that eclipses or “engulfs” the smaller up candle. The pattern can be important because it shows sellers
Investopedia / Daniel Fishel What Is a Bear Market? A bear market is when a market experiences prolonged price declines. It typically describes a condition in which securities prices fall 20% or more from recent highs amid widespread pessimism and negative investor sentiment. Bear markets are often associated with declines in an overall market or
What Is a Bear Market Rally? Bear market rally refers to a sharp, short-term rebound in share prices amid a longer-term bear market decline. Bear market rallies are treacherous for investors who mistakenly come to believe they mark the end of an extended downturn. As the primary bearish trend reasserts itself, the disappointment of those who
What Is a Bear Put Spread? A bear put spread is a type of options strategy where an investor or trader expects a moderate-to-large decline in the price of a security or asset and wants to reduce the cost of holding the option trade. A bear put spread is achieved by purchasing put options while
