Monday, October 15, 2007

Glossary of Forex Terms...=3

C -

Cable - A term used in the foreign exchange market for the US Dollar/British Pound rate.

Capital Risk - The risk arising from a bank having to pay to the counter party with out knowing whether the other party will or is able to meet its side of the bargain. see Herstatt.

Carry - The interest cost of financing securities or other financial instruments held.

Cash Delivery - Same day settlement.

Cash market - The market in the actual financial instrument on which a futures or options contract is based.

Cash - normally refers to an exchange transaction contracted for settlement on the day the deal is struck. This term is mainly used in the North American markets and those countries which rely for foreign exchange services on these markets because of time zone preference i.e. Latin America. In Europe and Asia, cash transactions are often referred to as value same day deals.

Cash and Carry - The buying of an asset today and selling a future contract on the asset. A reverse cash and carry is possible by selling an asset and buying a future.

Cash Settlement - A procedure for settling futures contract where the cash difference between the future and the market price is paid instead of physical delivery.

Central Bank - A bank which is responsible for controlling a countries monetary policy. It is normally the issuing bank and controls bank licensing, and any foreign exchange control regime.

Central Rate - Exchange rates against the ECU adopted for each currency within the EMS.Currencies have limited movement from the central rate according to the relevant band.

Chartist - An individual who studies graphs and charts of historic data to find trends and predict trend reversals which include the observance of certain patterns and characteristics of the charts to derive resistance levels, head and shoulders patterns, and double bottom or double top patterns which are thought to indicate trend reversals.

Clean float - An exchange rate that is not materially effected by official intervention.

Closed position - A transaction which leaves the trade with a zero net commitment to the market with respect to a particular currency.

Commission - The fee that a broker may charge clients for dealing on their behalf.

Confirmation - A memorandum to the other party describing all the relevant details of the transaction.

Contract - An agreement to buy or sell a specified amount of a particular currency or option for a specified month in the future (See Futures contract).

Conversion Account - A general ledger account representing the uncovered position in a particular currency. Such accounts are referred to as Position Accounts.

Conversion - The process by which an asset or liability denominated in one currency is exchanged for an asset or liability denominated in another currency.

Conversion arbitrage - A transaction where the asset is purchased and buys a put option and sells a call option on the asset purchased, each option having the same exercise price and expiry.

Convertible currency - A currency that can be freely exchanged for another currency (and or gold) without special authorization from the central bank.

Copey - Slang for the Danish krone.

Correspondent Bank - The foreign banks representative who regularly performs services for a bank which has no branch in the relevant centre, e.g. to facilitate the transfer of funds. In the US this often occurs domestically due to inter state banking restrictions.

Counterparty - The other organisation or party with whom the exchange deal is being transacted.

Countervalue - Where a person buys a currency against the dollar it is the dollar value of the transaction.

Country risk - The risk attached to a borrower by virtue of its location in a particular country. This involves examination of economic, political and geographical factors. Various organisations generate country risk tables.

Cover - (1) To take out a forward foreign exchange contract. (2) To close out a short position by buying currency or securities which have been sold.

Covered Arbitrage - Arbitrage between financial instruments denominated in different currencies, using forward cover to eliminate exchange risk.

Covered Margin - The interest rate margin between two instruments denominated in different currencies after taking account of the cost of forward cover.

Crawling peg - A method of exchange rate adjustment; the rate is fixed/ pegged, but adjusted at certain intervals in line with certain economic or market indicators.

Credit Risk - The risk that a debtor will not repay; more specifically the risk that the counterparty does not have the currency promised to be delivered.

Cross deal - A foreign exchange deal entered into involving two currencies, neither of which is the base currency.

Cross rates - Rates between two currencies, neither of which is the US Dollar.

Current Account - The net balance of a country's international payment arising from exports and imports together with unilateral transfers such as aid and migrant remittances. It excludes capital flows.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Types of insurance companies



Insurance companies may be classified as
Life insurance companies, which sell life insurance, annuities and pensions products.
Non-life or general insurance companies, which sell other types of insurance.

General insurance companies can be further divided into these sub categories.
Standard Lines
Excess Lines

In most countries, life and non-life insurers are subject to different regulatory regimes and different tax and accounting rules. The main reason for the distinction between the two types of company is that life, annuity, and pension business is very long-term in nature — coverage for life assurance or a pension can cover risks over many decades. By contrast, non-life insurance cover usually covers a shorter period, such as one year.

In the United States, standard line insurance companies are your "main stream" insurers. These are the companies that typically insure your auto, home or business. They use pattern or "cookie cutter" policies without variation from one person to the next. They usually have lower premiums than excess lines and can sell directly to individuals. They are regulated by state laws that can restrict the amount they can charge for insurance policies.

Excess line insurance companies (aka Excess and Surplus) typically insure risks not covered by the standard lines market. They are broadly referred as being all insurance placed with non-admitted insurers. Non-admitted insurers are not licensed in the states where the risks are located. These companies have more flexibility and can react faster than standard insurance companies because they don't have the same regulations as standard insurance companies. State laws generally require insurance placed with surplus line agents and brokers to not be available through standard licensed insurers.

Insurance companies are generally classified as either mutual or stock companies. This is more of a traditional distinction as true mutual companies are becoming rare. Mutual companies are owned by the policyholders, while stockholders (who may or may not own policies) own stock insurance companies. Other possible forms for an insurance company include reciprocals, in which policyholders 'reciprocate' in sharing risks, and lloyds organizations.

Insurance companies are rated by various agencies such as A.M. Best. The ratings include the company's financial strength, which measures its ability to pay claims. It also rates financial instruments issued by the insurance company, such as bonds, notes, and securitization products.

Reinsurance companies are insurance companies that sell policies to other insurance companies, allowing them to reduce their risks and protect themselves from very large losses. The reinsurance market is dominated by a few very large companies, with huge reserves. A reinsurer may also be a direct writer of insurance risks as well.

Captive insurance companies may be defined as limited-purpose insurance companies established with the specific objective of financing risks emanating from their parent group or groups. This definition can sometimes be extended to include some of the risks of the parent company's customers. In short, it is an in-house self-insurance vehicle. Captives may take the form of a "pure" entity (which is a 100 subsidiary of the self-insured parent company); of a "mutual" captive (which insures the collective risks of members of an industry); and of an "association" captive (which self-insures individual risks of the members of a professional, commercial or industrial association). Captives represent commercial, economic and tax advantages to their sponsors because of the reductions in costs they help create and for the ease of insurance risk management and the flexibility for cash flows they generate. Additionally, they may provide coverage of risks which is neither available nor offered in the traditional insurance market at reasonable prices.

The types of risk that a captive can underwrite for their parents include property damage, public and products liability, professional indemnity, employee benefits, employers liability, motor and medical aid expenses. The captive's exposure to such risks may be limited by the use of reinsurance.

Captives are becoming an increasingly important component of the risk management and risk financing strategy of their parent. This can be understood against the following background:
heavy and increasing premium costs in almost every line of coverage;
difficulties in insuring certain types of fortuitous risk;
differential coverage standards in various parts of the world;
rating structures which reflect market trends rather than individual loss experience;
insufficient credit for deductibles and/or loss control efforts.

There are also companies known as 'insurance consultants'. Like a mortgage broker, these companies are paid a fee by the customer to shop around for the best insurance policy amongst many companies .

Similar to an insurance consultant, an 'insurance broker' also shops around for the best insurance policy amongst many companies. However, with insurance brokers, the fee is usually paid in the form of commission from the insurer that is selected rather than directly from the client.

Neither insurance consultants nor insurance brokers are insurance companies and no risks are transferred to them in insurance transactions.

Third party administrators are companies that perform underwriting and sometimes claims handling services for insurance companies. These companies often have special expertise that the insurance companies do not have.

Principles of insurance



Commercially insurable risks typically share seven common characteristics.[1]
A large number of homogeneous exposure units. The vast majority of insurance policies are provided for individual members of very large classes. Automobile insurance, for example, covered about 175 million automobiles in the United States in 2004.[2] The existence of a large number of homogeneous exposure units allows insurers to benefit from the so-called “law of large numbers,” which in effect states that as the number of exposure units increases, the actual results are increasingly likely to become close to expected results. There are exceptions to this criterion. Lloyd's of London is famous for insuring the life or health of actors, actresses and sports figures. Satellite Launch insurance covers events that are infrequent. Large commercial property policies may insure exceptional properties for which there are no ‘homogeneous’ exposure units. Despite failing on this criterion, many exposures like these are generally considered to be insurable.
Definite Loss. The event that gives rise to the loss that is subject to insurance should, at least in principle, take place at a known time, in a known place, and from a known cause. The classic example is death of an insured on a life insurance policy. Fire, automobile accidents, and worker injuries may all easily meet this criterion. Other types of losses may only be definite in theory. Occupational disease, for instance, may involve prolonged exposure to injurious conditions where no specific time, place or cause is identifiable. Ideally, the time, place and cause of a loss should be clear enough that a reasonable person, with sufficient information, could objectively verify all three elements.
Accidental Loss. The event that constitutes the trigger of a claim should be fortuitous, or at least outside the control of the beneficiary of the insurance. The loss should be ‘pure,’ in the sense that it results from an event for which there is only the opportunity for cost. Events that contain speculative elements, such as ordinary business risks, are generally not considered insurable.
Large Loss. The size of the loss must be meaningful from the perspective of the insured. Insurance premiums need to cover both the expected cost of losses, plus the cost of issuing and administering the policy, adjusting losses, and supplying the capital needed to reasonably assure that the insurer will be able to pay claims. For small losses these latter costs may be several times the size of the expected cost of losses. There is little point in paying such costs unless the protection offered has real value to a buyer.
Affordable Premium. If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that anyone will buy insurance, even if on offer. Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards (See FAS 113 for example), the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer. If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance.
Calculable Loss. There are two elements that must be at least estimatable, if not formally calculable: the probability of loss, and the attendant cost. Probability of loss is generally an empirical exercise, while cost has more to do with the ability of a reasonable person in possession of a copy of the insurance policy and a proof of loss associated with a claim presented under that policy to make a reasonably definite and objective evaluation of the amount of the loss recoverable as a result of the claim.
Limited risk of catastrophically large losses. The essential risk is often aggregation. If the same event can cause losses to numerous policyholders of the same insurer, the ability of that insurer to issue policies becomes constrained, not by factors surrounding the individual characteristics of a given policyholder, but by the factors surrounding the sum of all policyholders so exposed. Typically, insurers prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base, on the order of 5 percent. Where the loss can be aggregated, or an individual policy could produce exceptionally large claims, the capital constraint will restrict an insurers appetite for additional policyholders. The classic example is earthquake insurance, where the ability of an underwriter to issue a new policy depends on the number and size of the policies that it has already underwritten. Wind insurance in hurricane zones, particularly along coast lines, is another example of this phenomenon. In extreme cases, the aggregation can affect the entire industry, since the combined capital of insurers and reinsurers can be small compared to the needs of potential policyholders in areas exposed to aggregation risk. In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer’s capital constraint. Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the reinsurance market.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

AMAZING LOVE QUOTES

Don't find love, let love find you. That's why it's
called falling in love, because you don't force
yourself to fall, you just fall.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Lucky is the man who is the first love of a woman,
but luckier is the woman who is the last love of a man.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

It takes a minute to have a crush on someone,
an hour to like someone, and an day to love someone...
but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

It breaks your heart to see the one you love is happy
with someone else, but it's more painful to know that
the one you love is unhappy with you.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

If love is the answer,
can you please repeat the question?

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Faith makes all things possible.
Love makes them easy.

~ Unknown

I believe that to truly Love, is the ultimate
expression of the will to live. A heart that
truly loves is forever young.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love makes life so confusing, but without love
would you really want to live?

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Do you love me because I am beautiful
or am I beautiful because I am loved?

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * *

Love me now, love me never,
but if you love me, love me forever.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Three things of life that are most valuable -
Love, self-confidence & friends.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

To the world you may be just one person,
but to one person you may be the world.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love is like heaven, but it can hurt like hell.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Who do you turn to when the only person
in the world that can stop you from crying,
is exactly the one making you cry?

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

He taught me how to love,
but not how to stop.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is the most fatal.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *



We come to love not by finding a perfect person,
but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Many a young lady does not realize just how strong
her love for a young man is until he fails to pass
the approval test with her parents.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Is it better for a woman to marry a man who loves her
than a man she loves.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Give her two red roses, each with a note. The first note says 'For the woman I love' and the second, 'For my best friend.'

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

A good marriage is like a casserole,
only those responsible for it really
know what goes in it.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

No one is perfect until you fall in love with them.

~ Unknown ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love, true love, is that which can give the most
without asking or demanding anything in return.

~ Mazie Hammond ~

* * * * * * * * *

Where there is love, there is God also.

~ Leo Tolstoy ~

* * * * * * * * *

All, everything that I understand,
I understand only because I love.

~ Leo Tolstoy ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love cures people -- both the ones who give it
and the ones who receive it.

~ Dr. Karl énage ~

* * * * * * * * *

One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love.

~ Sophocles ~

* * * * * * * * *

It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship
and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual
affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it
will not be created for years or even generations.

~ Khalil Gibran ~

* * * * * * * * *

When they asked me what I loved most about life,
I smiled and said you.

~ Tina ~

* * * * * * * * *

Just because you know someone doesn't mean you love them,
and just because you don't know people doesn't mean you can't
love them. You can fall in love with a complete stranger in a
heartbeat, if God planned that route for you. So open your heart
to strangers more often. You never know when God will throw
that pass at you.

~ Heather Grove ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love... What is love? Love is to love someone
for who they are, who they were, and who they will be.

~ Chris Moore ~

* * * * * * * * *

Why do you say you love me,
if you are only going to leave me?

~ Julia ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love is like a river, always changing,
but always finding you again somewhere
down the road.

~ Kelly Elaine ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love is a language spoken by everyone,
but understood only by a heart.

~ Shirley Rindani ~

* * * * * * * * *

People need love even when they don't deserve it.

~ Nikki Ledbetter ~

* * * * * * * * *

For every word you say,
another piece of my heart you take.

~ Tiara Johnson ~

* * * * * * * * *

Maybe God put a few bad people in your life,
so when the right one came along you'd be thankful.

~ Andrea Kiefer ~

* * * * * * * * *

Love the heart that hurts you,
But never hurt the heart that loves you.

* * * * * * * *

Love me for a reason,
let the reason be love.

* * * * * * * * *

It doesn't take a reason to love someone,
but it does to like someone. You don't love
someone because you want to, you love someone
because you are destined too. It's because you
fall in Love with them, that you then try to
find a reason, but you always come up with
the answer, No reason!

* * * * * * * * *

Love is the beginning of all the joy
which nature has store for us.

* * * * * * * * *

Never say goodbye when you still want to try.
Never give up when you still feel you can take it.
Never say you don't love a person when you can't let go.

~ Dons ~

* * * * * * * * *

Say I love you and mean it,
don't just say it cause you can.

'Top Ten' Favourite Love Quotes

 
Favorite Love Quotes #1
Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
Franklin P. Jones
Favorite Love Quotes #2
At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.
Plato
Favorite Love Quotes #3
Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
Robert Frost
Favorite Love Quotes #4
If you have it [Love], you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have.
Sir James M. Barrie
Favorite Love Quotes #5
Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
Henry Louis Mencken
Favorite Love Quotes #6
Love is a friendship set to music.
E. Joseph Cossman
Favorite Love Quotes #7
True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.
Erich Segal
Favorite Love Quotes #8
Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.
Voltaire
Favorite Love Quotes #9
They do not love that do not show their love. The course of true love never did run smooth. Love is a familiar. Love is a devil. There is no evil angel but Love.
William Shakespeare
Favorite Love Quotes #10
Like the measles, love is most dangerous when it comes late in life.
Lord Byron