When you don’t have a big budget, marketing can be a challenge, but there’s plenty a small business owner can do to attract and maintain a customer base. The rise in digital marketing has made it easier for small business owners to find a way to create a presence and attract informed buyers. Before your

Oil and gas operations are very capital-intensive, yet most oil and gas companies carry relatively small amounts of debt, at least as a percentage of total financing. This can be seen in debt-to-equity (D/E) ratios. Keep in mind that not all oil companies are involved in the same operations. A company’s position along the supply chain influences

The never-ending reports of breaches and hacks prove that your sensitive financial and personal data isn’t necessarily safe, particularly when it comes to credit cards. One of the largest data breaches involved Capital One. The credit card company reported that personal information of 106 million of its customers had been compromised in July 2019. Data

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers (PCs), and portable digital music players. The company’s products and services include the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple Watch. All of Apple’s segments produced higher sales and operating income in 2018. The company manages its business by geographic area. Below,

Apple CEO Tim Cook presents the new iPhone 14 at an Apple event at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 7, 2022.  Carlos Barria | Reuters The market outlook is becoming increasingly uncertain, given unwieldy inflation and a slowing economy. Stocks ended Friday with losses. They were ultimately unable to bounce back from a

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 was years in the making. By the summer of 2007, financial markets around the world were showing signs that the reckoning was overdue for a years-long binge on cheap credit. Two Bear Stearns hedge funds had collapsed, BNP Paribas was warning investors that they might not be able to withdraw

Refinancing a mortgage means paying off an existing loan and replacing it with a new one. There are many reasons why homeowners refinance: To obtain a lower interest rate To shorten the term of their mortgage To convert from an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) to a fixed-rate mortgage, or vice versa To tap into home equity

Natural resources are commodities, the raw inputs used to make everything we use, from intermediate goods to finished products. These resources are found in the earth among reserves yet to be extracted. Renewable resources are those with supply not diminished by use, including solar power, wind power and hydroelectric energy. Nonrenewable resources like fossil fuels

If you’re looking to invest in S&P 500 stocks, but don’t have the temperament to sift through and analyze the financial fundamentals of 500 individual companies, an S&P 500 Index fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) can help you gain exposure to all those stocks—without the grueling analysis. The S&P 500 Index tracks the largest and

Money, whether it’s represented by a shell, a metal coin, a piece of paper, or a string of code electronically mined by computer, doesn’t always have value. Its value—currently estimated at around $420 trillion—depends on the importance that people place on it as a medium of exchange, a unit of measurement, and a storehouse for

Home Equity Loan vs. HELOC: An Overview Home equity loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) are loans that are secured by a borrower’s home. A borrower can take out an equity loan or credit line if they have equity in their home. Equity is the difference between what is owed on the mortgage loan and the

One of the biggest perks of homeownership is the ability to build equity over time. You can use that equity to secure low-cost funds in the form of a second mortgage—either a one-time loan or a home equity line of credit (HELOC). There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these forms of credit, so

For consumers, inflation means higher prices on goods and services, and a loss of purchasing power if their income fails to keep up. For investors, it means moving some of their money to assets that benefit from inflation or at least keep up with its pace. The following investments tend to fare well during periods

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. filed for its initial public offering (IPO) in early May of 2018. The Beijing-based company, headed by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun, generates revenue through four primary business segments: smartphones, Internet of Things (IoT) and lifestyle products, internet services, and miscellaneous additional services and products. The company ambitiously anticipated an enterprise value of as much as $100

For people of a certain persuasion, it’s fun to make fun of Microsoft (MSFT). It’s outdated and occasionally bloated software. An operating system version so despised that most users refused to upgrade from its predecessor and instead waited for its replacement. A browser that once held 95% of world market share, no longer leads in