Industry WIKI

Federal grants in the United States are a form of economic aid issued by the government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States.

An FHA insured loan is a government-backed loan designed to help a broader range of Americans—particularly first-time homebuyers—achieve homeownership with more flexible credit, income, and down payment requirements than conventional loans. Offered through FHA-approved lenders and insured by the Federal Housing Administration, these loans are widely used today as a practical and accessib

Fictitious capital (German: fiktives Kapital) is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. It is introduced in chapter 25 of the third volume of Capital. Fictitious capital contrasts with what Marx calls "real capital", which is capital actually invested in physical means of production and workers, and "money capital", which is actual funds being held. The market

The concept of fictitious commodities (or false commodities) originated in Karl Polanyi's 1944 book The Great Transformation and refers to anything treated as market commodity that is not created for the market, specifically land, labor, and money.

Financial crime is any illegal activity involving money, finance or financial systems committed to secure personal or organizational gain. It includes crimes committed against property, involving the unlawful conversion of the ownership of property to one's own personal use and benefit. Financial crime covers a wide spectrum of illicit acts.

Financial fragility is the vulnerability of a financial system to a financial crisis. Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale define financial fragility as the degree to which "...small shocks have disproportionately large effects." Roger Lagunoff and Stacey Schreft write, "In macroeconomics, the term "financial fragility" is used...to refer to a financial system's susceptibility to large-scale

Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC) is an American monoline bond insurer established in 1983. It faced significant financial difficulties in 2008 which affected its ability to write new business.

Financial inclusion is the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services. It refers to processes by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and services—which include banking, loan, equity, and insurance products. It provides paths to enhance inclusiveness in economic growth by enabling the unbanked po

Financial services in China refers to the services provided in China by the finance industry: banks, investment banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, consumer finance companies, government sponsored enterprises, and stock brokerages.

A financial regulatory authority or financial supervisory authority, alternatively financial regulator or financial supervisor, is a public authority whose role is to ensure the proper implementation of financial regulation within its scope of responsibility. Some, though not all, such authorities also set financial rules of their own.

The Australian financial system consists of the arrangements covering the borrowing and lending of funds and the transfer of ownership of financial claims in Australia, comprising:

A financial transaction tax (FTT) is a levy on a specific type of financial transaction for a particular purpose. The tax has been most commonly associated with the financial sector for transactions involving intangible property rather than real property. It is not usually considered to include consumption taxes paid by consumers.

Finite difference methods for option pricing are numerical methods used in mathematical finance for the valuation of options. Finite difference methods were first applied to option pricing by Eduardo Schwartz in 1977.

Fixed-income arbitrage is a group of market-neutral-investment strategies that are designed to take advantage of differences in interest rates between varying fixed-income securities or contracts (Jefferson, 2007). Arbitrage in terms of investment strategy, involves buying securities on one market for immediate resale on another market in order to profit from a price discrepancy.

In finance, flipping is purchasing an asset to quickly resell (or "flip") it for profit. Within the real estate industry, the term is used by investors to describe the process of buying, rehabilitating, and selling properties for profit. In 2017, 207,088 houses or condos were flipped in the US, an 11-year high. That number represents 5.9 percent of all single-family properties sold durin

In finance, a floating charge is a security interest over a fund of changing assets of a company or other legal person. Unlike a fixed charge, which is created over ascertained and definite property, a floating charge is created over property of an ambulatory and shifting nature, such as receivables and stock.

Flyposting (also known as bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters (also known as flyers) are put up in public view. In the United States, the technique is commonly referred to as wheatpasting, because wheatpaste is often used to adhere the posters. Posters are often adhered to construction site barricades, building façades and in alleyways.

Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.

Foreclosure rescue in the United States is where a mortgage that is in arrears and where the lender is at the stage of foreclosing on the loan agrees to stop the foreclosure in exchange for funds received through loan modification or from a government grant. It may also refer to funds that allow the homeowner to repurchase the property at or after foreclosure.

A foreclosure rescue scheme is a scam that targets those whose house is facing potential foreclosure. The scheme preys on desperate homeowners whose mortgages are in default by offering to prevent foreclosure. There are various ways in which foreclosure rescue schemes work, causing different types of harm to the homeowners, but all ultimately with the likely end result of the owner being

Foreclosure stripping is the process in which the owners of a foreclosed property will remove fixtures and fittings from the property in an attempt to salvage some of their investment. Malicious foreclosure stripping is done by home owners who render damage throughout the property to significantly decrease its value and cause the foreclosing bank to accept a lower price when it is resold

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a 2010 U.S. federal law requiring all non-U.S. foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to search their records for customers with indicators of a connection to the U.S., including records of birth or prior residency in the U.S., and to report such assets and identities of such persons to the United States Department of the Treasury. FATCA a

A foreign exchange derivative is a financial contract whose value changes depending on currency exchange rates.

In finance, a foreign exchange option (commonly shortened to just FX option or currency option) is a derivative financial instrument that gives the right but not the obligation to exchange money denominated in one currency into another currency at a pre-agreed exchange rate on a specified date. See Foreign exchange derivative.

A foreign exchange spot transaction (FX spot) is an agreement between two parties to buy one currency against selling another currency at an agreed price for settlement on the spot date. The exchange rate at which the transaction is done is called the spot exchange rate. As of 2010, the average daily turnover of global FX spot transactions reached nearly US$1.5 trillion, counting 37.4% o

In finance, a foreign exchange swap, forex swap, or FX swap is a simultaneous purchase and sale of identical amounts of one currency for another with two different value dates (normally spot to forward) and may use foreign exchange derivatives. An FX swap allows sums of a certain currency to be used to fund charges designated in another currency without acquiring foreign exchange risk. I

The Foreign Investment Law is a law of the People's Republic of China governing foreign direct investment in China. The law was adopted by the National People's Congress on March 15, 2019, and came into effect on January 1, 2020. It replaces the Law of the People's Republic of China on Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Wholly Foreign-owned E

Foreign ownership refers to the ownership of a portion of a country's assets (businesses, natural resources, property, bonds, equity, etc.) by individuals who are not citizens of that country or by companies whose headquarters are not in that country.

Fortunoff is a New York–based retailer of outdoor furniture and jewelry.

In finance, a forward contract, or simply a forward, is a non-standardized contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified future time at a price agreed on in the contract, making it a type of derivative instrument. The party agreeing to buy the underlying asset in the future assumes a long position, and the party agreeing to sell the asset in the future assumes a sh

The forward price (or sometimes forward rate) is the agreed upon price of an asset in a forward contract. Using the rational pricing assumption, for a forward contract on an underlying asset that is tradeable, the forward price can be expressed in terms of the spot price and any dividends. For forwards on non-tradeables, pricing the forward may be a complex task.

In finance, a forward rate agreement (FRA) is an interest rate derivative (IRD). In particular, it is a linear IRD with strong associations with interest rate swaps (IRSs).

The term Foundation IRB or F-IRB is an abbreviation of foundation internal ratings-based approach, and it refers to a set of credit risk measurement techniques proposed under Basel II capital adequacy rules for banking institutions.

The four pillars policy is an Australian Government policy to maintain the separation of the four largest banks in Australia by rejecting any merger or acquisition between the four major banks. The policy, rather than formal regulation, first articulated in 1990, reflects the competitive concerns of more concentration as well as the broad political unpopularity of further bank mergers. A

A fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer is the transfer of property to another party to prevent, hinder, or delay the collection of a debt owed by or incumbent on the party making the transfer, sometimes by rendering the transferring party insolvent. It is generally treated as a civil cause of action that arises in debtor/creditor relations, typically brought by creditors or by ba

The Frazier–Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act was an Act of Congress passed in the United States in 1934 that restricted the ability of banks to repossess farms.

A free price system or free price mechanism (informally called the price system or the price mechanism) is a mechanism of resource allocation that relies upon prices set by the interchange of supply and demand. The resulting price signals communicated between producers and consumers determine the production and distribution of resources. Therefore the free price system rations supplies,

The Freedman's Bank Building, previously known as the Treasury Annex, is a historic office building located on the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It sits on the east side of Lafayette Square, a public park on the north side of the White House, and across from the Treasury Building. The adjoining properties include the Howard T. Markey National Cour

In marketing and advertising, frequency refers to the number of times a target audience is exposed to a particular message or advertisement within a given time frame. This concept is a fundamental element of marketing communication strategies, aiming to enhance brand recall, create awareness, and influence consumer behavior through repeated exposure.

The Friedman rule is a monetary policy rule proposed by Milton Friedman. Friedman advocated monetary policy that would result in the nominal interest rate being at or very near zero. His rationale was that the opportunity cost of holding money faced by private agents should equal the social cost of creating additional fiat money. Assuming that the marginal cost of creating additional mon

The FTSE MTIRS Indices are designed to accurately move in direct correlation to OTC Interest Rate Swaps market with a total of 45 indices covering the USD curve from 2 years to 30 years including spreads and butterflies. FTSE MTIRS Indices account for changes to both fixed and floating rates and are rebalanced daily.

The FTSE/Athex Large Cap is the stock index of the twenty-five largest companies on the Athens Stock Exchange.

A fund derivative (see also derivative) is a financial structured product related to a fund, normally using the underlying fund to determine the payoff. This may be a private equity fund, mutual fund or hedge fund. Purchasers obtain exposure to the underlying fund (or funds) whilst improving their risk profile over a direct investment.

Gauweiler and Others v Deutscher Bundestag (2015) C-62/14 is an EU law case relevant for banking law which approved outright monetary transactions that were needed to save the Eurozone from financial turmoil.

Gender in advertising refers to the images and concepts in advertising that depict and reinforce stereotypical gender roles. Advertisements containing subliminal or direct messages about physical attractiveness and beauty have been of particular interest regarding their impact on men, women, and youth. Gendered advertisements have and continue to shape what is expected of a distinct gend

A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products, services, or actions, usually against the intentions of the trademark's owner.

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) is a United States federal law that aims to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that are backed by assets considered to be reliable such as a national currency or a commodity. Stablecoins are typically used to transfer funds between diff

Genpact Ltd. is an American information technology services, consulting, and outsourcing company headquartered in New York City, New York. Founded in Gurgaon, India, and legally domiciled in Bermuda, Genpact employs more than 125,000 people and provides services to clients in over 30 countries worldwide. Genpact is listed on the NYSE and generated revenues of US$5.08 billion in 2025.

Global macro trading is an investment strategy that leverages macroeconomic and geopolitical data to analyze and predict moves in financial markets. Large-scale or "macro" political and economic events can disproportionately impact certain sectors, such as the energy, commodity, and currency markets, over others. The strategy typically employs forecasts and analysis of interest rate tren

Global marketing is defined as "marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking global operational differences, similarities and opportunities to reach global objectives".

Following is a glossary of stock market terms.

Gold repatriation is the process by which governments and central banks relocate sovereign gold reserves from foreign vaults back to domestic storage. Historically driven by bilateral trade reallocations or immediate security concerns, modern gold repatriation has evolved into an accelerating global trend. According to annual surveys by the World Gold Council, the proportion of central b

The Greater Manchester congestion charge was part of a bid to the government's Transport Innovation Fund for a £3-billion package of transport funding and the introduction of a road congestion charge for Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. In 2008, two cordons were proposed—the outer encircling the main urban core of the Greater Manchester Urban Area and the

In mathematical finance, the Greeks are the quantities (known in calculus as partial derivatives; first-order or higher) representing the sensitivity of the price of a derivative instrument, such as an option or future, to changes in one or more underlying parameters on which the value of an instrument or portfolio of financial instruments is dependent. The name is used because the most

Green marketing refers to the marketing of products that are considered environmentally safe. It encompasses a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, sustainable packaging, and modifications to advertising. However, defining green marketing is not a simple task. Other terms that are often used interchangeably are environmental market

A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term "parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorised by the original manufacturer or trademark proprietor. Grey market products (grey goods) are products traded outside the manufacturer's authorised channel.

The gross rent multiplier (GRM) is a real estate valuation metric defined as the ratio of a property's purchase price to its annual gross rental income, before deducting expenses such as property tax, insurance, and utilities. It represents the number of years of gross rent required to recover the full purchase price of the property. For a prospective investor, a lower GRM indicates a re

As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of land is sold on a long lease or leases. The ground rent provides an income for the landowner. In economics, ground rent is a form of economic r

Global Trading Systems, which uses the trade name GTS, is an American proprietary trading and market making firm headquartered in New York. The firm accounts for 3 to 5 percent of the daily turnover of US equities and has handled over 250 IPO listings since 2013.

Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is a type of publicity. The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson's 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing.

The Hayes-Wheelwright Matrix, also known as the product-process matrix, is a tool used to analyze the fit between a chosen product positioning and the appropriate manufacturing process. It was developed by, and named for, Robert H. Hayes and Steven C. Wheelwright, who published articles entitled "Link Manufacturing Process and Product Life Cycles" and "The Dynamics of Process-Product Lif

Helicopter money is a proposed monetary policy for inflation targeting, sometimes suggested as an alternative to quantitative easing (QE) when the economy is in a liquidity trap (when interest rates near zero and the economy remains in recession). Although the original idea of helicopter money describes central banks making payments directly to individuals, economists have used the term

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the company is now led by Christopher J. Nassetta. Hilton is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, United States.

A hire purchase (HP), also known as an installment plan, is an arrangement whereby a customer agrees to a contract to acquire an asset by paying an initial installment (e.g., 40% of the total) and repaying the balance of the price of the asset plus interest over a period of time. Other analogous practices are described as closed-end leasing or rent-to-own.

HireRight is a global family of background screening companies based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, and registered in Delaware. In 2012, its HireRight Solutions Inc. entity was the first employment background screening firm the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ever charged with violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

The history of insurance traces the development of the modern business of insurance against risks, especially regarding cargo, property, death, automobile accidents, and medical treatment.

Philadelphia financier Jay Cooke established the first modern American investment bank during the Civil War era. However, private banks had been providing investment banking functions since the beginning of the 19th century and many of these evolved into investment banks in the post-bellum era. However, the evolution of firms into investment banks did not follow a single trajectory. Fo

The history of monetary policy in China involves the evolution of the Chinese government's monetary policies from different imperial dynasties to the modern reforms created and employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). China's monetary system changed significantly during the imperial period, moving from bronze coins to paper currency long before Europe did. In ancient times, variou

Hithink RoyalFlush Information Network (Hithink; Chinese: 同花顺; pinyin: Tónghuāshùn) is a Chinese financial data and software company headquartered in Hangzhou.

His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly known as HMRC) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of state support, the administration of other regulatory regimes including the national minimum wage, and the issuance of national insurance numbers.

Home equity is the homeowner's financial interest in their property, calculated as the difference between the property's current market value and the total outstanding balances of all loans secured by the home.

Home equity investments (HEI) are financial products that allow homeowners to access their home equity as a lump sum without incurring monthly payments. They first emerged around 2015 and function by enabling investors to purchase a minority stake in a homeowner's property for a predetermined duration. In return, investors receive either a percentage of the home's future market value or

A home equity line of credit (HELOC; /ˈhe̞ːˌlɒk/ HEE-lok) is a revolving type of secured loan in which the lender agrees to lend a maximum amount within an agreed period (called a term), where the collateral is the borrower's property (akin to a second mortgage). Because a home often is a consumer's most valuable asset, many homeowners use their HELOC for major purchases or projects, suc

A home equity loan is a type of loan in which the borrowers use the equity of their home as collateral. The loan amount is determined by the value of the property, and the value of the property is determined by an appraiser from the lending institution.

Home price protection is an agreement that pays the homeowner if a particular home price index declines in value over a period of time after the protection is purchased. The protection is for a new or existing homeowner that wishes to protect the value of their home from future market declines.

A home warranty is a contract that agrees to provide a homeowner with discounted repair and replacement services. However, the words "home warranty" are not always used explicitly to mean a legal warranty is being conveyed. In many cases, at least in the United States, a home warranty is not a warranty at all, but rather a home service contract that covers the repair and/or replacement

The Hope Now Alliance is a cooperative effort between the US government, counselors, investors, and lenders to help homeowners who may not be able to pay their mortgages. Created in 2007 in response to the subprime mortgage crisis, the alliance claims to have helped over 1 million homeowners avoid foreclosure through January 2008. Critics of the alliance contend that the assistance pro

Horizontal integration is the process of a company increasing production of goods or services at the same level of the value chain, in the same industry. A company may do this via internal expansion or through mergers and acquisitions.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company (HMH)

The House Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the House of Representatives in Nigeria. The committee is responsible for overseeing financial matters in the country, including revenue generation, budget planning, and fiscal policies.

Housing stress describes a situation where the cost of housing (either as rental, or as a mortgage) is high relative to household income. It may also be used to describe inadequate housing for a proportion of the population.

The Hudson's Bay Company (abbreviated HBC and colloquially Hudson's Bay or The Bay) was a Canadian holding company of department stores and commercial property. It was the oldest corporation in North America, founded in 1670 and liquidated in 2025. It was headquartered at the Simpson Tower in Toronto. Today, it serves as an Intellectual Property and brand of Canadian Tire for its iconi

Hype in marketing is a strategy of using extreme publicity. Hype as a modern marketing strategy is closely associated with social media.

In finance, economics, and decision theory, hyperbolic absolute risk aversion (HARA) refers to a type of risk aversion that is particularly convenient to model mathematically and to obtain empirical predictions from. It refers specifically to a property of von Neumann–Morgenstern utility functions, which are typically functions of final wealth (or some related variable), and which des

Hypothec (; from Lat. hypotheca, from Gk. ὑποθήκη: hypothēkē), sometimes tacit hypothec, is a term used in civil law systems (e.g. the law of most of Continental Europe) to refer to a registered real security of a creditor over real estate, but under some jurisdictions it may additionally cover ships only (ship hypothec), as opposed to other collaterals, including corporeal movables othe

Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an alignment of an investor's beliefs and values with the allocation of capital to address social and/or environmental issues.

The impact of microcredit is the study of microcredit and its impact on poverty reduction which is a subject of much controversy. Proponents state that it reduces poverty through higher employment and higher incomes. This is expected to lead to improved nutrition and improved education of the borrowers' children. Some argue that microcredit empowers women. In the US and Canada, it is arg

The implied level of government service is the value of government benefits and services provided a person, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity over a given period of time, including the proportional value of general governmental expenses and social welfare costs.

Imputed rent is the estimated rental price that an individual would pay for an asset they own. This concept applies broadly to capital goods but is most frequently used in housing markets to measure the rent homeowners would pay for a housing unit equivalent to their own. Imputing housing rent is essential for accurately measuring economic activity in national accounts, as asset owners d

In-game advertising (IGA) is advertising in electronic games. IGA differs from advergames, which refers to games specifically made to advertise a product. The IGA industry is large and growing.

This aims to be a complete list of the articles on real estate.

Inertial inflation is a situation in which all prices in an economy are continuously adjusted with relation to a price index by force of contracts.

Infinity Group is a private equity fund backed by China Development Bank and Clal Industries. The head of Infinity Group is Amir Gal-Or. Infinity Group manages RMB 10 billion and 100 portfolio companies, through 17 local RMB funds throughout China.

In finance, inflation derivative (or inflation-indexed derivatives) refers to an over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivative that is used to transfer inflation risk from one counterparty to another. See Exotic derivative.

An inflation swap is an over-the-counter derivative in which one party pays a fixed inflation rate and the other pays the realised change in a price index such as CPI, RPI or HICP. Markets trade two main structures: the zero-coupon inflation swap, which settles once at maturity, and the year-on-year inflation swap, which pays periodic coupons. Users include pension funds, insurers and ot

Influencer marketing (also known as influence marketing) is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, individuals and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field. Influencers are people (or something) with the power to affect the buying habits or quantifiable actions of others by up

An infomercial is a form of television advertisement that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV), they are often program‑length commercials (long-form infomercials), and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) was, between 2016 and April 2025, the United Kingdom government's centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects. The IPA reported to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. The core teams included experts in infrastructure, project delivery and project finance who worked with government departments and industry.

Innovia Films, a division of CCL Industries, is an international manufacturer and supplier of biaxially-oriented polypropylene films for speciality packaging, labelling, tobacco overwrap and industrial products. It was once known as UCB Films.

In United States income tax law, an installment sale is generally a "disposition of property where at least 1 loan payment is to be received after the close of the taxable year in which the disposition occurs." The term "installment sale" does not include, however, a "dealer disposition" (as defined in the statute) or, generally, a sale of inventory. The installment method of accounting