Agency MBS ETFs purchase mortage-backed securities that are sponsored by government agencies like the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage (Freddie Mac). Agency MBS ETFs often purchase mortage-backed securities from banks, who sell a large percentage of their active mortgages on the secondary mortage market. Mortage-backed securities are often grouped into pools based on common features, a process known as securitization. Agency MBS ETFs make either semi-annual or monthly interest payments to investors.

Agency MBS ETFs

Broad sovereign bond ETFs invest in sovereign debt instruments, or debt instruments issued by national governments. Sovereign debt can either be issued in the government’s own domestic currency or a foreign currency—the less stable a currency denomination, the greater the risk to the debt-holder. The US dollar, British pound, Euro, Swiss franc, and Japanese yen currencies account for 97% of all global sovereign debt issuances while only 83% of global debt was issued by these countries. Sovereign bonds can be impacted by macroeconomic factors such as interest rates, inflation, and output.

Broad Sovereign Bond ETFs

In personal finance, a sinking fund holds savings (often in an interest-bearing account) you intend to spend on a designated future purchase. Many individuals set up sinking funds for larger or distant expenses like: 

*   Birthday and holiday gifts
*   Vacations
*   Home remodels
*   Annual insurance premium payments

Sinking funds let you set aside smaller dollar amounts on a regular basis. Using this strategy means you can prepare for the future without incurring a large, chunked expense against your monthly budget.  

Sinking funds differ from emergency funds in that emergency funds are designed for sudden, unknown expenses. By contrast, a sinking fund is the realization of planning ahead to cover intentional, specific expenses.

Sinking Fund (Personal Finance)

Alternative investments (also called alternative assets) don’t fit the “traditional” categories of stocks, fixed-income (bonds) and cash investments. Examples include real estate, commodities, cryptocurrencies and hedge funds. 

Alternative assets tend to have higher or different risk and return profiles than traditional securities. Many are also more complex and relatively illiquid, meaning it takes more time and effort to turn them into cash.

Alternative investment

An American Call Option is a contract that gives the buyer the right to buy 100 shares of an underlying equity at a predetermined price (the strike price) for a specific time period defined by the expiration date. The seller of a Call Option is obligated to sell the underlying security if the Call buyer exercises his or her right to buy on or before the option expiration date. For example, one contract of the XYZ May 21 60 Calls entitles the buyer to purchase 100 shares of XYZ common stock at $60 per share at any time prior to the option's expiration date of May 21.

American Call Option

There are various types of stocks in which to invest. Not all of them offer your portfolio the same.

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Types of Stocks

Stock futures are derivative financial contracts that require the buyer to buy and the seller to sell at a set date and price.

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What Are Stock Futures?

In the scientific world, semiconductors are materials that conduct current – partly (hence the name). They play a major role in tech for investors.

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What Are Semiconductors?

There are five basic ways to invest in commodities: commodity futures, commodity pools, ETFs and ETNs, stocks, and mutual funds.

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How to Invest in Commodities

Preferred stocks are hybrid investments that combine features of stocks and bonds.

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What are Preferred Stocks?

Performance disclosures don’t just cover a broker’s rear end – they provide investors with crucial information.

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What Are Performance Disclosures?

When you start investing, there are several types of fees to familiarize yourself with so as to not be caught off guard by the cost to invest.

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What Does It Cost to Invest?

Fractional shares are fractions of a single share of a company’s or ETF’s stock.

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What Are Fractional Shares?

A double-dip recession occurs when the economy starts to recover from one recession, then slides into another.

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What Is a Double-Dip Recession?

Have you cashed out on crypto gains? With new guidelines on taxable events, you have the tools you need to calculate your crypto tax bill.

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How to Calculate Crypto Tax

If you have to go into debt to get through school, subsidized loans are one of the cheapest options. But for students who don’t qualify, unsubsidized loans may still be cheaper than private, higher-rate loans.  

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What Are Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans?

Cost of living, or COL, refers to the amount of money required to cover living expenses in a set place or time.

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How Do You Calculate the Cost of Living?

Supply and demand works in the stock market, just as it does in the broader economy.

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How Does Supply and Demand Affect Investors?

Wondering what a fiduciary is and how to choose the right one? We have the tips you need to hear. Read this article to understand who is a fiduciary.

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What Is a Fiduciary?

The legal cannabis market is expected to be worth over $73 billion by 2027, providing plenty of opportunities for investors to get in on the ground floor.

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What Are Cannabis Stocks?

Looking for instructions for 1099-DIV? Learn what this IRS form is and what you need to know about it to file your taxes correctly.

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How Does a 1099-DIV Affect Taxes?

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3 Reasons Our AI Might Move Your Money to Cash

Investing and gambling appear to be similar activities on their faces. Essentially, you’re throwing money in a pot and praying that you see a return on your capital, risking your pocket change (or your life savings) for a chance at riches.

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What Is the Difference Between Investing and Gambling?

Investment risk is the potential that you’ll lose the money you invest. Want to avoid it? In this article, we teach you how.

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How to Reduce Investment Risk

Long-term investment strategies simply involve investing long-term.

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What is a Long-Term Investment Strategy?

Social Security is the catch-all term used to describe benefits paid out by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

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What Is Social Security?

Learning how to start investing under 18 can teach invaluable skills early. Take advantage of compound interest and find out how to get started here.

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How to Start Investing Young (Under 18)

Stock market sectors divide public companies into categories based on their line of business. As of January 2023, the Global Industry Classification Standard details 11 market sectors.

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What Are the Different Market Sectors?

Did you know there are technically four types of market losses? Learn with Q.ai as we identify them and teach you how to cope with market loss.

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How Should You Deal With Market Losses?

How much risk can you stomach? Risk tolerance is described as the degree of variability in investment returns that you’re willing to withstand.

What Is Risk Tolerance?

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