Finance

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Finance is the science of funds management. The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance. Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated. It also deals with how money is spent and budgeted.

Finance works most basically through individuals and business organizations depositing money in a bank. The bank then lends the money out to other individuals or corporations for consumption or investment, and charges interest on the loans.

Loans have become increasingly packaged for resale, meaning that an investor buys the loan (debt) from a bank or directly from a corporation. Bonds are debt sold directly to investors from corporations, while that investor can then hold the debt and collect the interest or sell the debt on a secondary market. Banks are the main facilitators of funding through the provision of credit, although private equity, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other organizations have become important as they invest in various forms of debt. Financial assets, known as investments, are financially managed with careful attention to financial risk management to control financial risk. Financial instruments allow many forms of securitized assets to be traded on securities exchanges such as stock exchanges, including debt such as bonds as well as equity in publicly-traded corporations.[dubious – discuss]

Central banks act as lenders of last resort and control the money supply, which affects the interest rates charged. As money supply increases, interest rates decrease.

For more information about Finance, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with financial

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Financial instruments could be spiked with unfindable risks

Financial instruments could be spiked with unfindable risks

Other Sciences / Economics

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 28

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a result that may have implications for financial regulation, researchers from computer science and economics have revealed potentially impenetrable problems with the pricing of financial ...


3 Questions: Henry Jacoby on Copenhagen

3 Questions: Henry Jacoby on Copenhagen

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 2.4 / 5 (8) | comments 5

The co-director of MIT’s Global Change program discusses what to expect from the U.N. Climate Change Conference, and the effects of 'Climategate.'


Government delays new ban on Internet gambling

Technology / Internet

created Nov 27, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(AP) -- The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are giving U.S. financial institutions an additional six months to comply with regulations designed to ban Internet gambling.


Don't ignore your emotions at work, professor says

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- “There’s no crying in baseball!” So said Jimmy Dugan, the manager portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movie “A League of Their Own.” Not so fast, says Vince Waldron, an Arizona State University professor of communication ...


Cisco chief executive John Chambers

Cisco going from Internet plumber to platform

Technology / Business

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Cisco chief executive John Chambers said Tuesday that the computer switching colossus is changing from the Internet's "plumber" to a platform and provider of products for online work and leisure.


YouTube music label means all artists are with the bandwidth

Technology / Internet

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Craig Benzine had weathered almost 10 years with his band, Chicago-based indie rockers Driftless Pony Club -- self-releasing two albums along the way -- with no luck.


Don't bet newspapers will get rich shunning Google

Technology / Internet

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 5

(AP) -- There's an intriguing idea floating around the media: Microsoft Corp. wants to undercut Google so badly in Internet search that it might pay newspapers to withhold their content from Google. Just don't count on that ...


In search of the root causes of the 2008 crisis: New York Fed to hear new theory on financial meltdown

Other Sciences / Economics

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Anjan Thakor, finance professor at the Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, will present a new theory on the causes of the financial crisis to a meeting of the New York Federal Reserve ...


Soros: Climate financing dispute could wreck talks (AP)

Soros: Climate financing dispute could wreck talks (Update)

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 3

(AP) -- The $10 billion a year proposed by rich nations to help the poor adapt to climate change is "not sufficient" and the gap between what's offered and what's needed could wreck the Copenhagen climate ...


Banks and bailouts: Playing politics?

Other Sciences / Economics

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Banks with strong political connections were more likely to receive bailout money from the government—and more of it—in the past year than those with weaker ties, say University of Michigan researchers.


Medical 'pay for performance' programs help improve care -- but not always, study finds

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Like everybody, health care professionals enjoy a pay raise for a job well done. But in some instances, financial incentives for health care performance may actually backfire.


Holiday Web shopping looks brighter than last year

Technology / Internet

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Online retailers hope the convenience of the Web, plus discounts and deals, spur still-nervous shoppers to spend more online this holiday season - even as traditional retailers brace for mediocre sales.


A costly diagnosis: Alzheimer's disease takes toll on memories, and money too

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 27, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Alzheimer's disease takes a devastating emotional toll on families but it also is one of the most expensive conditions to treat because of its progressive nature, requiring increasing assistance with eating, bathing and other ...


Financial restructuring in fresh-start chapter 11 reorganizations

Other Sciences / Economics

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The effectiveness of the existing bankruptcy code has long been a source of vigorous debate. More and more lately, high-profile firms like General Motors, Enron, and K-Mart are seeking protection from creditors through Chapter ...


For low-income families with special needs kids, where you live matters (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In the United States, caring for a child with special health care needs usually means higher medical expenses for a family — particularly for low-income families, who spend a disproportionally large share of their income ...