Equities

The stock of a business is divided into shares, the total of which must be stated at the time of business formation. Given the total amount of money invested in the business, a share has a certain declared face value, commonly known as the par value of a share. The par value is the de minimis (minimum) amount of money that a business may issue and sell shares for in many jurisdictions and it is the value represented as capital in the accounting of the business.

Options

The power of options lies in their versatility. They enable you to adapt or adjust your position according to any situation that arises. Options can be as speculative or as conservative as you want. This means you can do everything from protecting a position from a decline to outright betting on the movement of a market or index. This versatility, however, does not come without its costs. Options are complex securities and can be extremely risky.

Futures

A financial contract obligating the buyer to purchase an asset (or the seller to sell an asset), such as a physical commodity or a financial instrument, at a predetermined future date and price. Futures contracts detail the quality and quantity of the underlying asset; they are standardized to facilitate trading on a futures exchange. Some futures contracts may call for physical delivery of the asset, while others are settled in cash. The futures markets are characterized by the ability to use very high leverage relative to stock markets.

Warrants

Like options, the appeal of warrants is the potential upside if the stock prices moves favourably. Another advantage is that many warrants are usually issued for several years versus two years for the longest dated options. The longer the time, the greater chance for the warrant appreciate in value.

Forex

The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter financial market for the trading of currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The foreign exchange market determines the relative values of different currencies.

FOP's

A good financial operating plan will need to be amended and updated due to any extraordinary events relating to finances, as well as to see if it is still relevant to the current situation. If prepared and amended accordingly, an FOP can be a useful tool in creating and managing the budget, improving control of management operations and ultimately creating profitability.

ETFs

Conventional ETFs and ETCs invest in a portfolio of securities, which may include Australian shares, international shares, commodities, currencies, listed property trusts, or a combination of asset classes and can provide you with a diversified portfolio in the one transaction. ETFs and ETCs provide investors with the ability to establish a diversified portfolio easily and cost effectively through a single security. ETFs and ETCs can be used to create a diversified portfolio or to complement an existing portfolio.

SSF's

Behaving exactly like a futures contract, an SSFs give investors increased capabilities to leverage themselves within the market. Additionally, these products, unlike most options, can be traded on margin.

Bonds

In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest (the coupon) and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity. A bond is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals. Thus a bond is like a loan: the issuer is the borrower (debtor), the holder is the lender (creditor), and the coupon is the interest. Bonds provide the borrower with external funds to finance long-term investments, or, in the case of government bonds, to finance current expenditure. Certificates of deposit (CDs) or commercial paper are considered to be money market instruments and not bonds.Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that (capital) stockholders have an equity stake in the company (i.e., they are owners), whereas bondholders have a creditor stake in the company (i.e., they are lenders). Another difference is that bonds usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed, whereas stocks may be outstanding indefinitely. An exception is a consol bond, which is a perpetuity (i.e., bond with no maturity).