Economic Forecasting

DefinitionEconomic forecasting is the process of making predictions about the economy. Forecasts can be carried out at a high level of aggregation—for example for GDP, inflation, unemployment or the fiscal deficit—or at a more disaggregated level, for specific sectors of the economy or even specific firms. Economic Forecasting What is 'Economic Forecasting' The process of attempting to...

Earnings Season

What is 'Earnings Season' Earnings season are the months of the year in which a majority of quarterly corporate earnings are released to the public. Earnings season is generally accepted as the months immediately following the quarter-ends of the year, which means that earnings seasons would fall in January, April, July and October. This is due to...

Earnings Announcement

What is 'Earnings Announcement' Earnings announcement is an official public statement of a company's profitability for a specific time period, typically a quarter or a year. An earnings announcement is typically made on a specific date during earnings season and is preceded by earnings estimates issued by equity analysts. When the company has been profitable leading up...

Economic Growth Rate

DefinitionEconomic growth is the increase in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP. Economic Growth Rate What is an 'Economic Growth Rate' An economic growth rate is a measure of economic...

Economic Derivative

What is an 'Economic Derivative' An economic derivative is a relatively new form of derivative contract (the first ones were traded in 2002) that is based on the future value of some national economic indicator, such as non-farm payrolls, the purchasing manager's index, retail sales levels and the gross domestic product. Most of these economic derivatives are...

Economic Depreciation

What is 'Economic Depreciation' Economic depreciation is a measure of the decrease in value of an asset over time. This form of depreciation usually pertains to real estate, which can lose value due to indirect causes such as the addition of new construction in close proximity to the property, road additions or closures, a decline in the...

Earmarking

What is 'Earmarking' Earmaking consists of funds (or capital) that are set aside to pay for a specific project or event. In some cases, the term is also synonymous with the word "flagged", or "marked", especially when used in certain congressional settings. Explaining 'Earmarking' Major financial institutions, as well as state or federal governments,...

Early Majority

What is 'Early Majority' The first sizable segment of a population to adopt an innovative technology. The early majority tends to be roughly 34% of the population, and will adopt a new product after seeing it used successfully by either "innovators" and "early adopters" that they know personally. People in this segment are less affluent and less...

Earnings Power Value (EPV)

What does 'Earnings Power Value - EPV' mean Earnings power value (EPV) is a technique for valuing stocks by making an assumption about the sustainability of current earnings and the cost of capital but assuming no further growth. Earnings power value (EPV) is a specific formula: Adjusted Earnings / Cost of Capital. While the formula is simple,...

Earning Potential

What is 'Earning Potential' The possible upside of the earnings that could be generated for each share outstanding of a particular stock. Earning potential reflects the largest possible profit that a corporation can make. It is often passed on to investors in the form of dividends. Greater earning potential drives up the price of a stock. ...