Category: For What It’s Worth

  • For What It’s Worth: Bulls and Bears

    Bears and Bulls aren’t just the names of Chicago-based sports teams. They’re symbols of investor expectations. Since the 1700s, bears have been associated with investors anticipating prices will go down, while bulls believe prices are trending upward. As part of an occasional exploration of the origins of financial lingo, Joel Dresang hunts down how these…

  • For What It’s Worth: Ducks in a Row

    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: Chair

    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. […]

  • For What It’s Worth: Rule of Thumb

    A rule of thumb is a handy standard that broadly can apply to a situation without bothering with the details.

  • For What It’s Worth: Nest Egg

    Thinks of a nest egg along the lines of those first couple of bucks a bartender puts in the tip jar to attract more money.

  • For What It’s Worth: Salting Away

    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. […]

  • For What It’s Worth: Sell in May

    The idea of a summer sell-off comes from a sense that stockholders should vacate the market while traders are distracted.

  • For What It’s Worth: Bucks

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

  • For What It’s Worth: Loophole

    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…

  • For What It’s Worth: Penny

    Now that Canada is pitching its penny, its neighbors to the south can rekindle debates over whether it’s worthwhile making cents.