Category: For What It’s Worth

By Joel Dresang I took a cue from a meme tweeted by the Internal Revenue Service. It encouraged taxpayers to prepare for the filing season by getting their “ducks in a row.” I am familiar with the expression, which means to get ready by arranging and organizing, by getting your facts straight. I wondered, though,…

For What It’s Worth is an occasional look at the meanings and origins of words and expressions investors may encounter. In this instance, we consider the preferred title for Janet Yellen, who’s seated at the head of the Federal Reserve. […]

As part of our occasional examination of words and expressions used in investing and finance, Joel Dresang considers the term nest egg. It is used a lot to refer broadly to a designated pot of money, but you really should consider it along the lines of those first couple of dollars a bartender puts in…

As part of an occasional series examining the origins of common financial expressions, we get a taste of the savory saying “salting away” as it refers to saving money for the long haul. […]

By Joel Dresang The notion of an annual summer sell-off is based on a sense that shareholders should get out of the market while stock traders leave Wall Street to summer in the Hamptons or on the Jersey Shore. As part of an occasional series exploring the origins of financial lingo, we look into the…

When President Obama referred to earning “some serious Tubmans,” he reminded us that we like to use slang when we’re talking money. […]

By Joel Dresang In common parlance, a loophole is a technicality – an often obscure window of opportunity – that allows someone to get around a requirement or to exploit a benefit. In the case of the Social Security file-and-suspend strategy, a loophole in administrative policies let married couples collect partial payments from a spouse’s…

Now that Canada is pitching its penny, its neighbors to the south can rekindle debates over whether it’s worthwhile making cents. (For What It’s Worth is an occasional look at the meanings and origins of words and expressions investors may encounter.) […]

For What It’s Worth is an occasional look at the meanings and origins of words and expressions investors may run into. By Joel Dresang What’s commonly called the Beige Book is formally known as the “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District.” And that’s a better description. The report, from the…

News of stock exchange mergers in Europe and between London and Toronto are further reminders of the global nature of finance. But as we reported in a Money Talk podcast in May 2010, the international influence on Wall Street is longstanding. By Joel Dresang Wall Street – sometimes just called “the street” – actually is…