Articles

LAURA T. STARKS, LI YONG and LU ZHENG∗ THE JOURNAL OF FINANCE • VOL. LXI, NO. 6 • DECEMBER 2006 ABSTRACT This paper provides direct evidence supporting the tax-loss selling hypothesis as an explanation of the January effect. Examining turn-of-the-year return and volume patterns for municipal bond closed-end funds, which are held mostly by tax-sensitive … Read more

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) was created in 1970 as a non-profit, non-government, membership corporation, funded by member broker-dealers. Its primary role is to return funds and securities to investors if the broker-dealer holding these assets becomes insolvent. SIPC Membership SIPC coverage applies to current (and in some cases former) SIPC members. Virtually all … Read more

The twentieth century witnessed the rapid urbanization of the world’s population. The global proportion of urban population increased from a mere 13 per cent in 1900 to 29 per cent in 1950 and, according to the 2005 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects, reached 49 per cent in 2005. Since the world is projected to continue … Read more

Most investors by nature will “go long” when they buy stocks. Few investors naturally will short stocks (or bet on their decline) because they really don’t know what to look for. Some investors see the shorting process as somewhat counter-intuitive to the traditional investing process since many stocks do appreciate over time. That said, there … Read more

If your brokerage firm goes out of business and is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), then your cash and securities held by the brokerage firm may be protected up to $500,000, including a $250,000 limit for cash. Some firms obtain private insurance policies to provide protection beyond SIPC limits. When a … Read more

Corporate insiders – meaning a company’s officers and directors, and any beneficial owners of more than ten percent of a class of the company’s equity securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 – must file with the SEC a statement of ownership regarding those securities. On August 27, 2002, the … Read more

Brokerage firms, banks, transfer agents and corporations have procedures in place to help investors replace lost or stolen stock certificates. If your securities certificate is lost, accidentally destroyed, or stolen, you should immediately contact the transfer agent and request a “stop transfer” to prevent ownership of the securities from being transferred from your name to … Read more

Senior Companies Senior companies normally derive their income from mining or other business ventures (they need not be mining companies) rather than from the issue of treasury shares. Junior Companies The following criteria define a junior company: It is neither a producing company nor the recipient of significant income from production or from some other … Read more

Given recent turbulence in the financial services industry, you may be wondering what would happen to your securities account if your brokerage firm closed its doors. In virtually all cases, when a brokerage firm ceases to operate, customer assets are safe and typically are transferred in an orderly fashion to another registered brokerage firm. Multiple … Read more

As an individual investor, you have up to three choices when it comes to holding your securities: Physical Certificate — The security is registered in your name on the issuer’s books, and you receive an actual, hard copy stock or bond certificate representing your ownership of the security. “Street Name” Registration — The security is … Read more