Section outline

  • General

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  • 投资战略和金融资产

    Investment Strategies & Financial Assets
    ::投资战略和金融资产

    Firms often make decisions that involve spending money in the present and expecting to earn profits in the future. Examples include when a firm buys a machine that will last 10 years, or builds a new plant that will last for 30 years, or starts a research and development project.  Firms can raise the financial capital they need to pay for such projects in four main ways:
    ::企业经常做出涉及目前花费资金并期望在未来赚取利润的决策。 例如,当公司购买机器,机器将持续10年,或者建造新工厂,工厂将持续30年,或者启动研发项目时。 公司可以以四种主要方式筹集它们需要为这些项目支付的金融资本:

    1. early-stage investors;
    ::1. 早期投资者;

    2. by reinvesting profits;
    ::2. 利润再投资;

    3. borrowing through banks or bonds; and
    ::3. 通过银行或债券借款;以及

    4. selling stock.
    ::4. 销售股票。

    When owners of a business choose sources of financial capital, they also choose how to pay for them.

    Universal Generalizations
    ::普遍化

    • It is important to consider several factors when you invest in financial assets.
      ::在对金融资产进行投资时,必须考虑到若干因素。
    • To invest wisely, investors must identify their goals and analyze the risk and return involved.
      ::为了明智地投资,投资者必须确定其目标,分析所涉风险和回报。
    • When the government or corporations need to borrow funds for a long period of time, they often issue bonds.
      ::当政府或公司需要长期借款时,往往发行债券。
    • Investors often refer to markets according to the characteristics of the financial assets traded in them.
      ::投资者往往根据所交易的金融资产的特点来参考市场。

    Guiding Questions
    ::问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问

    1. How does a 401(k) plan work?
      ::401(k)计划如何运作?
    2. Explain how current yields are computed.
      ::解释目前的产量是如何计算的。
    3. Analyze the risk involved in different types of financial assets.
      ::分析不同类型的金融资产所涉及的风险。
    4. What considerations are important to investors in the financial market?
      ::哪些因素对金融市场投资者十分重要?

    Early Stage Financial Capital
    ::金融资本

    Firms that are just beginning often have an idea or a prototype for a product or service to sell, but few customers, or even no customers at all, and thus are not earning profits. Such firms face a difficult problem when it comes to raising financial capital: How can a firm that has not yet demonstrated any ability to earn profits pay a rate of return to financial investors?
    ::刚刚刚刚开始的公司往往有一个想法或一个产品或服务出售的原型,但很少有客户,甚至根本没有客户,因此根本就没有利润。 这些公司在筹集金融资本时面临着一个困难的问题:一个尚未表现出任何盈利能力的公司怎么能向金融投资者支付回报率呢?

    For many small businesses, the original source of money is the owner of the business. Someone who decides to start a restaurant or a gas station, for instance, might cover the startup costs by dipping into his or her own bank account, or by borrowing money (perhaps using a home as collateral). Alternatively, many cities have a network of well-to-do individuals, known as “angel investors,” who will put their own money into small new companies at an early stage of development in exchange for owning some portion of the firm.
    ::对于许多小企业来说,资金的原始来源是企业的所有人。 比如,决定开一家餐馆或加油站的人可以通过冲入自己的银行账户或借钱(也许用家庭作抵押 ) 来支付启动成本。 或者,许多城市都拥有一个叫作“天使投资者”的善行个人网络,他们将自己的钱投给处于早期开发阶段的小型新公司,以换取拥有公司的某些部分。

    Venture capital firms make financial investments in new companies that are still relatively small in size, but that have potential to grow substantially. These firms gather money from a variety of individual or institutional investors, including banks, institutions like college endowments, insurance companies that hold financial reserves, and corporate pension funds. Venture capital firms do more than just supply money to small startups. They also provide advice on potential products, customers, and key employees. Typically, a venture capital fund invests in a number of firms, and then investors in that fund receive returns according to how the fund as a whole performs.
    ::风险资本公司对新的公司进行金融投资,这些公司的规模仍然相对较小,但有大幅增长的潜力。 这些公司从各种个人或机构投资者那里筹集资金,包括银行、大学捐赠机构、持有金融储备的保险公司和公司养老基金。 风险资本公司不仅仅向小创业企业提供资金,还就潜在产品、客户和关键雇员提供咨询。 典型的情况是,风险资本基金投资于一些公司,然后,该基金的投资者根据整个基金的业绩获得回报。

    The amount of money invested in venture capital fluctuates substantially from year to year: as an example, venture capital firms invested more than $27 billion in 2012, according to the National Venture Capital Association. All early-stage investors realize that the majority of small startup businesses will never hit it big; indeed, many of them will go out of business within a few months or years. They also know that getting in on the ground floor of a few huge successes like a Netflix or an Amazon.com can make up for a lot of failures. Early-stage investors are therefore willing to take large risks in order to be in a position to gain substantial returns on their investment.
    ::风险资本投资金额逐年大幅波动:举例来说,根据国家风险资本协会的数据,风险资本公司在2012年投资了270亿美元以上。 所有早期投资者都意识到大多数小创业企业永远不会大打出头;事实上,许多小创业企业将在几个月或几年内停业。 他们还知道,像Netflix或Amazon.com这样的几大成功进入底层可以弥补许多失败。 因此,早期投资者愿意承担大风险,以便能够获得大量投资回报。

    Profits as a Source of Financial Capital
    ::作为金融资本来源的利润

    If firms are earning profits (their revenues are greater than costs), they can choose to reinvest some of these profits in equipment, structures, and research and development. For many established companies, reinvesting their own profits is one primary source of financial capital. Companies and firms just getting started may have numerous attractive investment opportunities, but few current profits to invest. Even large firms can experience a year or two of earning low profits or even suffering losses.  Unless the firm can find a steady and reliable source of financial capital so that it can continue making real investments in tough times, the firm may not survive until better times arrive. Firms often need to find sources of financial capital other than profits.
    ::如果公司赚取利润(其收入高于成本),它们可以选择将这些利润中的部分再投资于设备、结构以及研究与开发。 对于许多已成立的公司来说,利润再投资是金融资本的主要来源之一。 刚开始投资的公司和公司可能有很多吸引投资的机会,但现在投资的利润却很少。 即使是大公司也能够经历一年或两年的低利润,甚至遭受损失。 除非公司能够找到稳定可靠的金融资本来源,从而能够在艰难时期继续进行真正的投资,否则公司可能无法生存到更好的时期。 公司往往需要找到利润以外的金融资本来源。

    Borrowing: Banks and Bonds
    ::借款:银行和债券

    When a firm has a record of at least earning significant revenues, and better still of earning profits, the firm can make a credible promise to pay interest, and so it becomes possible for the firm to borrow money. Firms have two main methods of borrowing: banks and bonds.
    ::当公司有至少赚取大量收入和更好的盈利记录时,公司可以作出可信的支付利息承诺,这样公司就有可能借钱。 公司有两种主要借贷方法:银行和债券。

    A bank loan for a firm works in much the same way as a loan for an individual who is buying a car or a house. The firm borrows an amount of money and then promises to repay it, including some rate of interest, over a predetermined period of time. If the firm fails to make its loan payments, the bank (or banks) can often take the firm to court and require it to sell its buildings or equipment to make the loan payments.
    ::为公司提供的银行贷款与为购买汽车或房屋的个人提供的贷款基本相同。 公司借了一笔钱,然后承诺在预定的期限内偿还,包括一定利率。 如果公司不支付贷款,银行(或银行)往往可以将公司告上法庭,要求它出售建筑物或设备,以支付贷款。

    Another source of financial capital is a bond. A bond is a financial contract: a borrower agrees to repay the amount that was borrowed and also a rate of interest over a period of time in the future. A corporate bond is issued by firms, but bonds are also issued by various levels of government. For example, a municipal bond is issued by cities, a state bond by U.S. states, and a Treasury bond by the federal government through the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A bond specifies an amount that will be borrowed, the interest rate that will be paid, and the time until repayment.
    ::另一金融资本来源是债券。 债券是金融合同:借款人同意偿还借款额和今后一段时期的利率。公司债券由公司发行,但债券也由各级政府发行。例如,城市发行市政债券,美国各州发行州债券,联邦政府通过美国财政部发行国库债券。债券具体规定了借款额、利率和还款期限。

    For example, a  large company might issue bonds for $10 million; the firm promises to make interest payments at an annual rate of 8%, or $800,000 per year and then, after 10 years, will repay the $10 million it originally borrowed. When a firm issues bonds, the total amount that is borrowed is divided up. If a firm seeks to borrow $50 million by issuing bonds, it might actually issue 10,000 bonds of $5,000 each. In this way, an individual investor could, in effect, loan the firm $5,000, or any multiple of that amount. Anyone who owns a bond and receives the interest payments is called a bondholder. If a firm issues bonds and fails to make the promised interest payments, the bondholders can take the firm to court and require it to pay, even if the firm needs to raise the money by selling buildings or equipment. However, there is no guarantee the firm will have sufficient assets to pay off the bonds. The bondholders may get back only a portion of what they loaned the firm.
    ::例如,大公司可能发行1 000万美元的债券;公司承诺每年以8%的年利率支付利息,或每年800 000美元,然后在10年后将偿还最初借款的1 000万美元。当公司发行债券时,借款的总额是分开的。如果公司通过发行债券来借款5 000万美元,它实际上可能每人发行1 000万美元的10 000美元的债券。这样,个人投资者实际上可以借给公司5 000美元,或上述数额的任何倍。拥有债券并接受利息付款的任何人被称为债券持有人。如果公司发行债券并未能支付所承诺的利息,债券持有人可以将公司告上法庭并要求它支付,即使公司需要通过出售建筑物或设备来筹集资金。然而,公司没有保证有足够的资产来支付债券。债券持有人只能收回他们借给公司的贷款的一部分。

    Bank borrowing is more customized than issuing bonds, so it often works better for relatively small firms. The bank can get to know the firm extremely well—often because the bank can monitor sales and expenses quite accurately by looking at deposits and withdrawals. Relatively large and well-known firms often issue bonds instead. They use bonds to raise new financial capital that pays for investments or to raise capital to pay off old bonds, or to buy other firms. However, the idea that banks are usually used for relatively smaller loans and bonds for larger loans is not an ironclad rule: sometimes groups of banks make large loans and sometimes relatively small and lesser-known firms issue bonds.
    ::银行借款比发行债券更具有定制性,因此对相对较小的公司来说往往效果更好。银行可以非常经常地了解这家公司,因为银行可以通过查看存款和提款对销售和开支进行非常准确的监测。相对大和知名的公司往往发行债券。它们利用债券来筹集新的金融资本来支付投资,或筹集资本来偿还旧债券,或购买其他公司。然而,银行通常用于相对较小的贷款和较大贷款的债券的想法并不是一种铁定规则:有时是银行集团提供大额贷款,有时是规模较小和不太知名的公司发行债券。

    Corporate Stock and Public Firms
    ::公司股份和公营公司

    A corporation is a business that “incorporates”—that is owned by shareholders that have limited liability for the debt of the company but share in its profits (and losses). Corporations may be private or public, and they may or may not have stock that is publicly traded. They may raise funds to finance their operations or new investments by raising capital through the sale of stock or the issuance of bonds.
    ::“公司”是股东拥有的“公司”企业,股东对公司的债务负有有限责任,但分享其利润(和损失),公司可以是私营的,也可以是公营的,它们可能拥有或可能没有公开交易的股票,它们可以通过出售股票或发行债券筹集资本,为业务或新投资筹集资金。

    Those who buy the stock become the owners, or shareholders, of the firm. Stock represents ownership of a firm; that is, a person who owns 100% of a company’s stock, by definition, owns the entire company. The stock of a company is divided into shares. Corporate giants like IBM, AT&T, Ford, General Electric, Microsoft, Merck, and Exxon all have millions of shares of stock. In most large and well-known firms, no individual owns a majority of the shares of the stock. Instead, large numbers of shareholders—even those who hold thousands of shares—each have only a small slice of the overall ownership of the firm.
    ::购买股票的人成为公司的所有者或股东。 股票代表着公司的所有权,也就是说,按照定义,拥有公司100%股票的人拥有整个公司。 公司股票分为股份。 IBM、AT&T、福特、通用电气、微软、默克和埃克森等公司巨头都拥有数百万股。 在大多数大公司和知名公司中,没有个人拥有大部分股票。 相反,大量股东 — — 甚至持有数千股的股东 — — 都只有公司总股权的一小部分。

    When a company is owned by a large number of shareholders, there are three questions to ask: How and when does the company get money from the sale of its stock? What rate of return does the company promise to pay when it sells stock? Who makes decisions in a company owned by a large number of shareholders?
    ::当一家公司由大批股东拥有时,有三个问题需要问:公司如何以及何时从出售其股票中获得资金?公司出售股票时承诺支付什么回报率?谁在一家拥有大量股东的公司中作决定?

    First, a firm receives money from the sale of its stock only when the company sells its own stock to the public (the public includes individuals, mutual funds, insurance companies, and pension funds). A firm’s first sale of stock to the public is called an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO is important for two reasons. For one, the IPO and any stock issued thereafter, such as stock held as treasury stock (shares that a company keeps in their own treasury) or new stock issued later as a secondary offering, provides the funds to repay the early-stage investors, like the angel investors and the venture capital firms. A venture capital firm may have a 40% ownership in the firm. When the firm sells stock, the venture capital firm sells its part ownership of the firm to the public. A second reason for the importance of the IPO is that it provides the established company with financial capital for a substantial expansion of its operations.
    ::首先,公司只有在将自己的股票出售给公众(公众包括个人、共同基金、保险公司和养老基金)时才能从出售其股票中获得资金。 公司首次向公众出售股票被称为首次公开发行(IPO ) 。 IPO之所以重要有两个原因。 首先,IPO及其后发行的任何股票,例如作为国库股票(公司在自己的国库中持有的份额)持有的股票,或后来作为二次出价发行的新股票,为早期投资者(如天使投资者和风险资本公司)提供偿还资金。 风险资本公司可能在公司拥有40%的股权。 当公司出售股票时,风险资本公司将公司的部分所有权出售给公众。 IPO之所以重要的另一个原因是,它为已经成立的公司提供了财政资本,以大幅扩展其业务。

    Most of the time when a corporate stock is bought and sold, however, the firm receives no financial return at all. If you buy shares of stock in General Motors, you almost certainly buy them from the current owner of those shares, and General Motors does not receive any of your money. This pattern should not seem particularly odd. After all, if you buy a house, the current owner gets your money, not the original builder of the house. Similarly, when you buy shares of stock, you are buying a small slice of ownership of the firm from the existing owner—and the firm that originally issued the stock is not a part of this transaction.
    ::然而,在公司股票买卖的大部分时间,公司根本得不到任何经济回报。如果你在通用汽车公司购买股票股份,你几乎可以肯定地从这些股票的当前所有人那里购买这些股票,而通用汽车公司没有收到任何你的钱。这种模式似乎并不特别奇怪。毕竟,如果买房子,目前的所有人就会得到你的钱,而不是房子的原始建设者。同样,当你购买股票股份时,你正在从现有所有人那里购买一小部分公司的所有权,而原先发行股票的公司不是这笔交易的一部分。

    Second, when a firm decides to issue stock, it must recognize that investors will expect to receive a rate of return. That rate of return can come in two forms. A firm can make a direct payment to its shareholders, called a dividend. Alternatively, a financial investor might buy a share of stock in Wal-Mart for $45 and then later sell that share of stock to someone else for $60, for a gain of $15. The increase in the value of the stock (or of any asset) between when it is bought and when it is sold is called a capital gain.
    ::其次,当一家公司决定发行股票时,它必须认识到投资者预期会获得回报率。 回报率可以分为两种形式。 公司可以直接向其股东支付股息,称为股息。 或者,金融投资者可以购买沃尔玛股票的45美元份额,然后再将股价份额出售给其他人,60美元,收益为15美元。 股价(或任何资产)在购买时和出售时之间增加的价值被称为资本收益。

    Third: Who makes the decisions about when a firm will issue stock, or pay dividends, or re-invest profits? To understand the answers to these questions, it is useful to separate firms into two groups: private and public.
    ::第三:由谁来决定公司何时发行股票,或支付股息,或再投资利润?为了了解这些问题的答案,将公司分为两类是有用的:私营和公营。

    A private company is owned by the people who run it on a day-to-day basis. A private company can be run by individuals, in which case it is called a sole proprietorship, or it can be run by a group, in which case it is a partnership. A private company can also be a corporation, but with no publicly issued stock. A small law firm run by one person, even if it employs some other lawyers, would be a sole proprietorship. A larger law firm may be owned jointly by its partners. Most private companies are relatively small, but there are some large private corporations, with tens of billions of dollars in annual sales, that do not have publicly issued stock, such as farm products dealer Cargill, the Mars candy company, and the Bechtel engineering and construction firm.
    ::私人公司由日常经营公司的人拥有,私人公司可以由个人经营,在这种情况下,私人公司可以被称为独资企业,也可以由集团经营,在这种情况下,私人公司也可以是合伙企业。私人公司也可以是一家公司,但是没有公开发行的股票。一个人经营的小律师事务所,即使雇用了其他律师,也可以是独资企业。大型律师事务所可能由合伙人共同拥有。大多数私人公司规模相对较小,但有一些大型私营公司,年销售额达数百亿美元,没有公开发行股票,如农产品经销商卡吉尔、火星糖果公司、Bechtel工程和建筑公司。

    When a firm decides to sell stock, which in turn can be bought and sold by financial investors, it is called a public company. Shareholders own a public company. Since the shareholders are a very broad group, often consisting of thousands or even millions of investors, the shareholders' vote for a board of directors, who in turn hire top executives to run the firm on a day-to-day basis. The more shares of stock a shareholder owns, the more votes that shareholder is entitled to cast for the company’s board of directors.
    ::当一家公司决定出售股票,而股票反过来又可以由金融投资者买卖时,它就被称为公营公司。 股东拥有一家公营公司。 由于股东是一个非常广泛的集团,通常由数千甚至数百万投资者组成,股东投票给董事会,而董事会反过来又雇用高级执行官管理公司日常业务。 股东拥有的股票份额越多,股东就越有权投给公司董事会的选票。

    In theory, the board of directors helps to ensure that the firm is run in the interests of the true owners—the shareholders. However, the top executives who run the firm have a strong voice in choosing the candidates who will be on their board of directors. After all, few shareholders are knowledgeable enough or have enough of a personal incentive to spend energy and money nominating alternative members of the board.
    ::从理论上讲,董事会有助于确保公司的运作符合真正的所有者 — — 股东的利益,然而,管理公司的最高主管在选择董事会成员候选人方面拥有强烈的发言权。 毕竟,很少有股东具备足够的知识或者有足够的个人激励来花费精力和提名董事会候补成员的资金。

    How Firms Choose between Sources of Financial Capital
    ::公司如何在金融资本来源之间作出选择

    There are clear patterns in how businesses raise financial capital. These patterns can be explained in terms of imperfect information, a situation where buyers and sellers in a market do not both have full and equal information. Those who are actually running a firm will almost always have more information about whether the firm is likely to earn profits in the future than outside investors who provide financial capital.
    ::在企业如何筹集金融资本方面有明确的模式。 这些模式可以用不完善的信息来解释,即市场买主和卖主都不具备充分和平等的信息。 实际经营公司的人几乎总是比提供金融资本的外部投资者更了解公司未来能否盈利。

    Any young startup firm is a risk; indeed, some startup firms are only a little more than an idea on paper. The firm’s founders inevitably have better information about how hard they are willing to work, and whether the firm is likely to succeed, than anyone else. When the founders put their own money into the firm, they demonstrate a belief in its prospects. At this early stage, angel investors and venture capitalists try to overcome the imperfect information, at least in part, by knowing the managers and their business plan personally and by giving them advice.
    ::任何年轻的创业公司都存在风险;事实上,一些创业公司只不过是纸面上的想法而已。 企业的创始人不可避免地比任何人都更了解他们愿意工作有多难,以及公司能否成功。 当创始人将自己的钱投入企业时,他们就表现出了对其前景的信念。 在这一早期阶段,天使投资者和风险资本家试图克服不完善的信息,至少部分地通过亲自了解经理及其业务计划并向他们提供建议。

        How did Lack of Corporate Governance Lead to the Lehman Brothers Failure?
    ::缺乏公司治理是如何导致雷曼兄弟失败的?

    In 2008, Lehman Brothers were the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, with 25,000 employees. The firm had been in business for 164 years. On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. There are many causes of the Lehman Brothers failure. One area of apparent failure was the lack of oversight by the Board of Directors to keep managers from undertaking excessive risk. Part of the oversight failure, according to Tim Geithner’s April 10, 2010, testimony to Congress, can be attributed to the Executive Compensation Committee’s emphasis on short-term gains without enough consideration of the risks. In addition, according to the court examiner’s report, the Lehman Brother’s Board of Directors paid too little attention to the details of the operations of Lehman Brothers and also had limited financial service experience.
    ::2008年,雷曼兄弟是美国第四大投资银行,有25 000名员工。该公司已经开业164年了。 2008年9月15日,雷曼兄弟公司申请第11章破产保护。雷曼兄弟公司失败的原因很多。 很显然,失败的一个方面是董事会缺乏监督,不让管理人员承担过度风险。 根据蒂姆·盖特纳2010年4月10日向国会提供的证词,部分监督失败可以归因于执行委员会在不充分考虑风险的情况下强调短期收益。 此外,根据法院审查员的报告,雷曼兄弟公司董事会对雷曼兄弟公司业务细节的注意太少,而且金融服务经验也有限。

    The board of directors, elected by the shareholders, is supposed to be the first line of corporate governance and oversight for top executives. The second institution of corporate governance is the auditing firm hired to go over the financial records of the company and certify that everything looks reasonable. The third institution of corporate governance is outside investors, especially large shareholders like those who invest large mutual funds or pension funds. In the case of Lehman Brothers, corporate governance failed to provide investors with accurate financial information about the firm’s operations.
    ::由股东选出的董事会应该是公司治理和监督高层执行官的第一线。 第二套公司治理制度是聘请审计公司审查公司的财务记录并证明一切合理。 第三套公司治理制度是外部投资者,特别是大型股东,如投资大型共同基金或养老基金的股东。 在雷曼兄弟公司(Lehman Brothers)一案中,公司治理制度未能向投资者提供关于公司业务的准确财务信息。

    As a firm becomes at least somewhat established and its strategy appears likely to lead to profits in the near future, knowing the individual managers and their business plans on a personal basis becomes less important because information has become more widely available regarding the company’s products, revenues, costs, and profits. As a result, other outside investors who do not know the managers personally, like bondholders and shareholders, are more willing to provide financial capital to the firm.
    ::随着一家公司至少在某种程度上建立起来,其战略似乎有可能在不久的将来带来利润,了解个人经理及其个人经营计划就变得不那么重要了,因为有关公司产品、收入、成本和利润的信息已经越来越普遍。 结果,其他不认识个人经理的外部投资者,如债券持有人和股东,更愿意向公司提供金融资本。

    At this point, a firm must often choose how to access financial capital. It may choose to borrow from a bank, issue bonds, or issue stock. The great disadvantage of borrowing money from a bank or issuing bonds is that the firm commits to scheduled interest payments, whether or not it has sufficient income. The great advantage of borrowing money is that the firm maintains control of its operations and is not subject to shareholders. Issuing stock involves selling off ownership of the company to the public and becoming responsible to a board of directors and the shareholders.
    ::目前,公司必须经常选择如何获得金融资本,可以选择从银行借款、发行债券或发行股票,从银行借款或发行债券的最大缺点是公司承诺按期支付利息,不论是否有足够的收入,借款的最大好处是公司对其业务保持控制,不受股东支配,发行股票涉及向公众出售公司所有权,对董事会和股东负责。

    The benefit of issuing stock is that a small and growing firm increases its visibility in the financial markets and can access large amounts of financial capital for expansion, without worrying about paying this money back. If the firm is successful and profitable, the board of directors will need to decide upon a dividend payout or how to reinvest profits to further grow the company. Issuing and placing stock is expensive, requires the expertise of investment bankers and attorneys, and entails compliance with reporting requirements to shareholders and government agencies, such as the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
    ::发行股票的好处是,一家规模小且不断增长的公司提高了其在金融市场的能见度,并且可以获取大量金融资本用于扩张,而不必担心还钱。 如果公司成功且有利可图,董事会就需要决定股息的支付或如何再投资利润以进一步发展公司。 发行股票的成本昂贵,需要投资银行家和律师的专业知识,并需要遵守对股东和政府机构(如联邦证券交易委员会)的报告要求。

    How Households Supply Financial Capital
    ::家庭如何提供金融资本

    The ways in which firms would prefer to raise funds are only half the story of financial markets. The other half is what those households and individuals who supply funds desire, and how they perceive the available choices. The focus of our discussion now shifts from firms on the demand side of financial capital markets to households on the supply side of those markets. The mechanisms for saving available to households can be divided into several categories: deposits in bank accounts; bonds; stocks; money market mutual funds; stock and bond mutual funds; and housing and other tangible assets like owning gold. Each of these investments needs to be analyzed in terms of three factors: (1) the expected rate of return it will pay; (2) the risk that the return will be much lower or higher than expected; and (3) the liquidity of the investment, which refers to how easily money or financial assets can be exchanged for a good or service. We will do this analysis as we discuss each of these investments in the sections below. First, however, we need to understand the difference between the expected rate of return, risk, and the actual rate of return.
    ::另一半是那些提供资金的家庭和个人的愿望,以及他们如何看待现有选择。我们现在的讨论焦点从金融资本市场需求方的公司转向这些市场供应方的家庭。家庭可动用的储蓄机制可以分为几类:银行账户存款;债券;股票;股票;金融市场共同基金;股票和债券共同基金;以及住房和其他有形资产,如拥有黄金。这些投资的每一项需要从三个因素加以分析sad1)预期回报率将支付;(2)回报率将大大低于或高于预期的风险;(3)投资流动性,即货币或金融资产如何容易地交换以获得好处或服务。我们将在下文各节讨论这些投资的每一项时进行这种分析。但首先,我们需要了解预期回报率、风险和实际回报率之间的差别。

    Expected Rate of Return, Risk, and Actual Rate of Return
    ::预期返回率、风险和实际返回率

    The expected rate of return refers to how much a project or an investment is expected to return to the investor, either in future interest payments, capital gains, or increased profitability. It is usually the average return over a period of time, usually in years or even decades. Risk measures the uncertainty of that project’s profitability. There are several types of risk, including default risk and interest rate risk. Default risk, as its name suggests, is the risk that the borrower fails to pay back the bond. Interest rate risk is the danger that you might buy a long term bond at a 6% interest rate right before market rates suddenly raise, so had you waited, you could have gotten a similar bond that paid 9%. A high-risk investment is one for which a wide range of potential payoffs is reasonably probable. A low-risk investment will have actual returns that are fairly close to its expected rate of return year after year. A high-risk investment will have actual returns that are much higher than the expected rate of return in some months or years and much lower in other months or years. The actual rate of return refers to the total rate of return, including capital gains and interest paid on an investment at the end of a period of time.
    ::期望回报率指的是项目或投资预期回报投资者的数额,或者在未来的利息支付、资本收益或者增加利润率方面。通常是在一定时期内的平均回报率,通常在几年甚至几十年里。风险衡量项目盈利的不确定性。有几种风险,包括违约风险和利率风险。 默认风险是指借款人没有偿还债券的风险。利率风险是,在市场利率突然上涨之前,你可能会以6%的利率购买长期债券,这样,如果等待,你本可以得到类似的9 % 的债券。高风险投资是一种可能性很大的投资。 低风险投资的实际回报率将相当接近年复一年的预期回报率。 高风险投资的实际回报率将大大高于某些月或年的预期回报率,在其他月或年的回报率要低得多。 实际回报率指的是总回报率,包括投资结束时的资本收益率和利息。

    Bank Accounts
    ::银行账户

    An intermediary is one who stands between two other parties; for example, a person who arranges a blind date between two other people is one kind of intermediary. In financial capital markets, banks are an example of a financial intermediary—that is, an institution that operates between a saver who deposits funds in a bank and a borrower who receives a loan from that bank. When a bank serves as a financial intermediary, unlike the situation with a couple on a blind date, the saver and the borrower never meet. In fact, it is not even possible to make direct connections between those who deposit funds in banks and those who borrow from banks, because all funds deposited end up in one big pool, which is then loaned out.
    ::中介是介于另外两个当事人之间的中间人;例如,安排另外两个人之间的盲日的人是一类中间人。 在金融资本市场上,银行是金融中介的一个例子 — — 也就是说,银行是在银行存款的储蓄者与从银行获得贷款的借款人之间运作的机构。 当银行充当金融中介时,与盲日夫妇的情况不同,储蓄者和借款人从未见面。 事实上,在银行存款者与银行借款者之间甚至不可能建立直接联系,因为所有存款最终都集中在一个大池中,然后放出贷款。

    1 illustrates the position of banks as a financial intermediary, with a pattern of deposits flowing into a bank and loans flowing out, and then repayment of the loans flowing back to the bank, with interest payments for the original savers.
    ::1 说明银行作为金融中介的地位,银行存款和贷款流入银行,然后偿还回银行的贷款,向原始储蓄者支付利息。

                 Banks as Financial Intermediaries
    ::作为金融中介的银行

    The illustration shows the circular transactions between savers, banks, and borrowers. Savers give deposits to banks, and the bank provides them with withdrawals and interest payments. Borrowers give repayment of loans and interest payments to banks, and the banks provide them with loans.

     

    Banks are a financial intermediary because they stand between savers and borrowers. Savers place deposits with banks, and then receive interest payments and withdraw money. Borrowers receive loans from banks and repay the loans with interest.
    ::银行是金融中介,因为它们在储蓄者和借款人之间。 储蓄者将存款存入银行,然后接受利息付款和提款。 借款人接受银行贷款,并以利息偿还贷款。

    Banks offer a range of accounts to serve different needs. A checking account typically pays little or no interest, but it facilitates transactions by giving you easy access to your money, either by writing a check or by using a debit card (that is, a card which works like a credit card, except that purchases are immediately deducted from your checking account rather than being billed separately through a credit card company). A savings account typically pays some interest rate, but getting the money typically requires you to make a trip to the bank or an automatic teller machine (or you can access the funds electronically). The lines between checking and savings accounts have blurred in the last couple of decades, as many banks offer checking accounts that will pay an interest rate similar to a savings account if you keep a certain minimum amount in the account, or conversely, offer savings accounts that allow you to write at least a few checks per month.
    ::银行提供各种账户以满足不同的需要。 支票账户通常支付很少或没有利息,但它通过开支票或使用借记卡(即像信用卡一样的卡,但购买从你的支票账户中立即扣除,而不是通过信用卡公司单独开出帐单),方便了交易。 储蓄账户通常支付一定的利率,但拿到钱通常需要你去银行旅行或自动出纳机(或者可以以电子方式存取资金 ) 。 支票账户与储蓄账户之间的界限在过去几十年里变得模糊了,因为许多银行提供支票账户支付类似储蓄账户的利率,如果你在账户中保留一定的最低金额,或者反过来提供储蓄账户,允许你每月至少写几张支票。

    Another way to deposit savings at a bank is to use a certificate of deposit (CD). With a CD, as it is commonly called, you agree to deposit a certain amount of money, often measured in thousands of dollars, in the account for a stated period of time, typically ranging from a few months to several years. In exchange, the bank agrees to pay a higher interest rate than for a regular savings account. While you can withdraw the money before the allotted time, as the advertisements for CDs always warn, there is “a substantial penalty for early withdrawal.”
    ::将储蓄存入银行的另一种方法是使用存款证明(CD ) 。 CD通常被称作CD,你同意将一定数额的资金(通常以千美元计)存入账户,期限通常为几个月到几年不等。 作为交换,银行同意支付比正常储蓄账户更高的利率。 尽管你可以在分配时间之前收回这笔钱,但CD广告总是警告说,“提前提款将受到重罚 ” 。

      2 shows the annual rate of interest paid on a six-month, one-year, and five-year CD since 1984, as reported by Bankrate.com. The interest rates paid by savings accounts are typically a little lower than the CD rate, because financial investors need to receive a slightly higher rate of interest as compensation for promising to leave deposits untouched for a period of time in a CD, and thus giving up some liquidity.
    ::2显示了Bankrate.com报告的1984年以来6个月、1年和5年的CD年利率。 储蓄账户支付的利率通常略低于CD利率,因为金融投资者需要获得略高的利率,作为对保证在CD上留出一段时间未动用存款的补偿,从而放弃一些流动性。

                    Interest Rates on Six-Month, One-Year, and Five-Year Certificates of Deposit
    ::6月、1年和5年存款证明的利率

     

     

    The interest rates on certificates of deposit have fluctuated over time. The high interest rates of the early 1980s are indicative of the relatively high inflation rate in the United States at that time. Interest rates fluctuate with the business cycle, typically increasing during expansions and decreasing during a recession. Note the steep decline in CD rates since 2008, the beginning of the Great Recession.
    ::存款单利率随时间而波动,1980年代初的高利率表明当时美国的通货膨胀率相对较高,利率随着商业周期而波动,通常在扩张期间增加,在衰退期间下降,注意到2008年大衰退开始以来CD利率急剧下降。

    The great advantages of bank accounts are that financial investors have very easy access to their money.  Also, money in bank accounts is extremely safe. In part, this safety arises because a bank account offers more security than keeping a few thousand dollars in the toe of a sock in your underwear drawer. In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects the savings of the average person. Every bank is required by law to pay a fee to the FDIC, based on the size of its deposits.  If a bank happens to go bankrupt and is unable to repay depositors, the FDIC guarantees that all customers will receive their deposits back up to $250,000.
    ::银行账户的巨大优势在于金融投资者能够非常容易地获得资金。 此外,银行账户中的钱款非常安全。 部分地,这种安全性之所以产生,是因为银行账户比在你的内衣抽屉内用袜子把几千美元放在袜子的脚趾更有保障。 此外,联邦存款保险公司(FDIC)保护普通人的储蓄。 法律要求每家银行根据其存款规模向FDIC支付一笔费用。 如果银行破产,无法偿还存款人,FDIC保证所有客户都能收到高达25万美元的存款。

    The bottom line on bank accounts looks like this: low risk means low rate of return but high liquidity.
    ::银行账户的底线看起来是这样:低风险意味着低回报率,但流动性高。

    Bonds
    ::债券债券债券

    An investor who buys a bond expects to receive a rate of return. However, bonds vary in the rates of return that they offer, according to the riskiness of the borrower. An interest rate can always be divided up into three components: compensation for delaying consumption, an adjustment for an inflationary rise in the overall level of prices, and a risk premium that takes the borrower’s riskiness into account.
    ::购买债券的投资者预期会获得回报率。 但是,债券的回报率根据借款人的风险程度而有所不同。 利率总是可以分为三个部分:对推迟消费的补偿、对总价格通胀性上涨的调整,以及考虑到借款人风险风险的风险溢价。

    The U.S. government is considered an extremely safe borrower, so when the U.S. government issues Treasury bonds, it can pay a relatively low rate of interest. Firms that appear to be safe borrowers, perhaps because of their sheer size or because they have consistently earned profits over time, will still pay a higher interest rate than the U.S. government. Firms that appear to be riskier borrowers, perhaps because they are still growing or their businesses appear shaky, will pay the highest interest rates when they issue bonds. Bonds that offer high interest rates to compensate for their relatively high chance of default are called high yield bonds or junk bonds. A number of today’s well-known firms issued junk bonds in the 1980s when they were starting to grow, including Turner Broadcasting and Microsoft.
    ::美国政府被视为极为安全的借款人,因此当美国政府发行国库债券时,它可以支付相对较低的利率。 看上去是安全借款人的公司,或许由于其规模庞大或者由于长期的利润而始终赢利,仍然会支付比美国政府更高的利率。 看上去风险较大的借款人,也许因为他们仍在增长或者他们的企业看上去不稳,在发行债券时会支付最高利率。 高利率以补偿其相对较高的违约机会的债券被称为高收益率债券或废品债券。 今天的著名公司在1980年代开始增长时发行了垃圾债券,包括特纳广播公司和微软公司。

    A bond issued by the U.S. government or a large corporation may seem to be relatively low risk: after all, the issuer of the bond has promised to make certain payments over time, and except for rare cases of bankruptcy, these payments will be made. If the issuer of a corporate bond fails to make the payments that it owes to its bondholders, the bondholders can require that the company declare bankruptcy, sell off its assets, and pay them as much as it can. Even in the case of junk bonds, a wise investor can reduce the risk by purchasing bonds from a wide range of different companies since, even if a few firms go broke and do not pay, they are not all likely to go bankrupt.
    ::由美国政府或大公司发行的债券似乎风险相对较低:毕竟,债券发行人承诺在一段时间内支付某些款项,除罕见的破产情况外,这些付款将会支付。 如果公司债券发行人未能支付其欠债券持有人的款项,债券持有人可以要求公司宣布破产,出售其资产并尽可能多地支付。 即使是垃圾债券,明智的投资者也可以通过从各种各样的不同公司购买债券来降低风险,因为即使几家公司破产而不支付,也不可能全部破产。

    As we noted before, bonds carry an interest rate risk. For example, imagine you decide to buy a 10-year bond that would pay an annual interest rate of 8%. Soon after you buy the bond, interest rates on bonds rise, so now similar companies are paying an annual rate of 12%. Anyone who buys a bond now can receive annual payments of $120 per year, but since your bond was issued at an interest rate of 8%, you have tied up $1,000 and receive payments of only $80 per year. In the meaningful sense of opportunity cost, you are missing out on the higher payments that you could have received. Furthermore, the amount you should be willing to pay now for future payments can be calculated. To place a present discounted value on a future payment, decide what you would need in the present to equal a certain amount in the future. This calculation will require an interest rate. For example, if the interest rate is 25%, then a payment of $125 a year from now will have a present discounted value of $100—that is, you could take $100 in the present and have $125 in the future.
    ::正如我们以前指出的,债券带有利率风险。例如,想象你决定购买10年债券,支付年利率8%。在购买债券后不久,债券利率就会上升,因此类似的公司现在支付年利率为12%。现在,购买债券的任何人都可以每年获得120美元的付款,但自从你的债券以8%的利率发行以来,你已经捆绑了1 000美元,每年只收到80美元的付款。从有意义的机会成本角度讲,你可能收到的更高数额的付款已经错过了。此外,你现在应该愿意为未来付款支付的数额可以计算出来。要将目前贴现的贴现价值放在将来的付款上,决定你目前需要的贴现价值等于一定数额。这个计算需要利率。例如,如果利率是25%,那么从现在起每年支付125美元就会有100美元的现时贴现折扣价值,也就是说,你现在可以拿100美元,而将来有125美元。

    In financial terms, a bond has several parts. A bond is basically an “I owe you” note that is given to an investor in exchange for capital (money). The bond has a face value. This is the amount the borrower agrees to pay the investor at maturity. The bond has a coupon rate or interest rate, which is usually semi-annual, but can be paid at different times throughout the year. (Bonds used to be paper documents with coupons that were clipped and turned in to the bank to receive interest.) The bond has a maturity date when the borrower will pay back its face value as well as its last interest payment. Combining the bond’s face value, interest rate, and maturity date, and market interest rates, allows a buyer to compute a bond’s present value, which is the most that a buyer would be willing to pay for a given bond. This may or may not be the same as the face value.
    ::从财务角度看,债券有几个部分。 债券基本上是给投资者的“我欠你的”票据,以换取资本(金钱 ) 。 债券有面值。 这是借款人同意在到期时支付投资者的数额。 债券有优惠利率或利率,通常为半年制,但全年可以在不同时间支付。 (债券过去是纸质文件,有折叠的优惠券,并转到银行收取利息。 )债券的到期日期是借款人偿还面值和最后一笔利息的到期日。 将债券面值、利率和到期日以及市场利率合并在一起,允许买方计算债券的现值,这是买主愿意支付给定债券的最多时间。 这可能与面值相同,也可能与面值不同。

    The bond yield measures the rate of return a bond is expected to pay over time. Bonds are bought not only when they are issued; they are also bought and sold during their lifetimes. When buying a bond that has been around for a few years, investors should know that the interest rate printed on a bond is often not the same as the bond yield, even on new bonds.
    ::债券收益率衡量债券的回报率预期会随着时间推移而支付。 债券不仅在发行时购买,而且还在一生中买卖。 在购买已经存在几年的债券时,投资者应该知道,债券上打印的利率往往与债券收益率不同,甚至与新债券的利率不同。

    3 shows bond yield for two kinds of bonds: 10-year Treasury bonds (which are officially called “notes”) and corporate bonds issued by firms that have been given an AAA rating as relatively safe borrowers by Moody’s, an independent firm that publishes such ratings. Even though corporate bonds pay a higher interest rate, because firms are riskier borrowers than the federal government, the rates tend to rise and fall together. Treasury bonds typically pay more than bank accounts, and corporate bonds typically pay a higher interest rate than Treasury bonds.
    ::3中显示了两种债券的债券收益率:10年期国债(官方称之为“注 ” ) , 以及被穆迪公司评级为相对安全的借款人的公司发行的公司债券。 穆迪公司是一家出版这类评级的独立公司。 尽管公司债券的利率较高,因为公司比联邦政府风险更大的借款人,但利率往往会同时上升和下降。 国债通常比银行账户还多,公司债券的利率通常高于国债。

                      Interest Rates for Corporate Bonds and Ten-Year U.S. Treasury Bonds
    ::公司债券和10年美国国库债券利率

     

    The interest rates for corporate bonds and U.S. Treasury bonds (officially “notes”) rise and fall together, depending on conditions for borrowers and lenders in financial markets for borrowing. The corporate bonds always pay a higher interest rate, to make up for the higher risk they have of defaulting compared with the U.S. government.
    ::公司债券和美国国库债券的利率(官方“注 ” ) 上升和下降,这取决于金融市场借款人和贷款人借款的条件。 公司债券总是支付更高的利率,以弥补其违约风险高于美国政府的风险。

    The bottom line for bonds: rate of return—low to moderate, depending on the risk of the borrower; risk—low to moderate, depending on whether interest rates in the economy change substantially after the bond is issued; liquidity—moderate, because the bond needs to be sold before the investor regains the cash.
    ::债券的底线:收益率低至中度,视借款人的风险而定;风险低至中度,视发行债券后经济利率是否发生重大变化而定;流动性中度,因为债券需要在投资者收回现金之前出售。

    To read more about bond ratings and investing click on the link to the  .
    ::更多了解债券评级,

    Treasury Notes, Bonds & Bills

    ::国库票据、债券和账单

    When the federal government borrows money for longer than 1 year, it can issue either a Treasury note or a Treasury bond. The T-notes are for those notes that have a maturity date of anywhere from 2-10 years. The T-bills have a maturity date of more than 10 years up to 30 years. Denominations of  T-Notes and T-Bonds vary from $1,000 to $5,000.  Another type of federal asset is a Treasury bill or a T-Bill. This asset is a short term loan with a maturity of 13, 26, or 52 weeks and a minimum denomination of $10,000. These financial assets are very popular because they are considered the safest of all financial assets. The only collateral the government needs is the faith and credit that people have in the United States government.
    ::当联邦政府借钱超过一年时,它可以发行国库债券或国库债券。这些票据的到期日期为2-10年,到期日期在任何地方。T-Bill的到期日期在10年以上,最长30年。T-Notes和T-Bonds的到期日期从1 000美元到5 000美元不等。另一种联邦资产是国库债券或T-Bill。这一资产是短期贷款,到期日期为13、26或52周,最低价值为10 000美元。这些金融资产非常受欢迎,因为它们被认为是所有金融资产中最安全的。政府需要的唯一抵押品是人们对美国政府的信念和信用。

    Video: What is an IRA?
    ::录像:什么是爱尔兰共和军?

    An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is a  long-term, tax-sheltered time deposit. Anyone can set up an IRA on their own, or as part of an employer-sponsored account. A traditional IRA that allows individuals to direct pretax income, up to specific annual limits, toward investments that can grow tax-deferred (no capital gains or dividend income is taxed). While a Roth IRA is one where contributions are made after taxes so that no taxes are taken out at maturity. Roth IRAs are for those who plan to retire while in a high tax bracket. Tax laws change year to year. Currently, an individual can contribute up to For 2014 and 2015, your total contributions to all of your traditional and Roth IRAs cannot be more than $5500 ($6500 if you're age 50 or older).
    ::个人退休账户(IRA)是长期的、有税收保障的定期存款。 任何人都可以自己或作为雇主赞助的账户的一部分设立IRA。 传统的IRA允许个人将税前收入,但不超过特定年限,用于可以增加减税的投资(没有资本收益或股息收入的税 ) 。 虽然罗斯IRA是一种在纳税后缴纳会费,从而不在到期时缴税。 Roth IRAs是计划退休的人在高税等级下退休的。 税法年复一年。 目前,个人可以向2014年和2015年缴纳总额不超过5500美元(50岁或50岁以上者,6500美元)。

    Markets for Financial Assets
    ::金融资产市场

    Capital Markets are markets where money is loaned for more than one year. These loans can be in the form of corporate bonds, government bonds, or long-term certificates of deposit. Money markets make it possible for investors to loan money for less than 1 year.
    ::资本市场是货币贷款超过一年的市场。 这些贷款可以采取公司债券、政府债券或长期存款单的形式。 货币市场使得投资者有可能贷款不到一年。

     

    Money Market (less than 1 year)
    ::货币市场(不到1年)

    Capital Market (more than 1 year)
    ::资本市场(一年以上)

    Primary Market
    ::初级市场

    Money Market
    ::货币市场

    Mutual Funds
    ::互助基金

    Small CDs
    ::小 CD

    Government Savings Bonds
    ::政府储蓄债券

    IRAs
    ::IRAs 地区

    Money Market Mutual Funds
    ::货币市场互助基金

    Small CDs
    ::小 CD

     

    Secondary Market
    ::二级市场

    Jumbo CDs
    ::Jumbo CD

    Treasury Bills
    ::国库债券

    Corporate Bonds
    ::公司债券

    International Bonds
    ::国际债券

    Jumbo CDs
    ::Jumbo CD

    Municipal Bonds
    ::市债券

    Treasury Bonds
    ::国库债券

    Treasury Notes
    ::财务处附注 

    *If the length of the maturity is important the market is sometimes called a money market or capital market. If the ability to sell the asset to someone other than the original issuer the market may be described as either a primary market or secondary market.


    Primary & Secondary Markets
    ::初级和二级市场

    Financial markets are also categorized based on the concept of liquidity, or how the asset can be redeemed. A primary market allows only the original issuer to redeem or purchase the asset when it is sold. Government bonds and IRAs are examples of assets that are non-transferable. Small CDs are also in this category since they can be cashed in early prior to the maturity date.
    ::金融市场也根据流动性概念或资产如何赎回的概念进行分类,初级市场只允许原始发行人赎回或出售资产时购买资产,政府债券和独立监管机构是不可转让资产的例子,小型光盘也属于这一类别,因为它们可以在到期日之前提前兑现。

    Secondary markets allow the asset to be sold back to either the original issuer or to another person or group. The most important aspect of this market is the liquidity of the assets. These investments, if strong enough, can be quickly sold to others without a significant penalty for liquidation. 
    ::二级市场允许将资产回售给原发行人或另一人或集团,该市场最重要的方面是资产的流动性,这些投资如果足够强大,可以迅速出售给其他人,而无需重大清算处罚。

     

     

    Answer the self check questions below to monitor your understanding of the concepts in this section.
    ::回答下面的自我核对问题,以监测你对本节概念的理解。

    Self Check Questions
    ::自查问题

    1. Define the term "risk."
    ::1. 界定 " 风险 " 一词的定义。

    2. What are the four basic investment considerations?
    ::2. 四项基本投资考虑是什么?

    3. Define the term "bond." What is a corporate bond? A municipal bond? A savings bond?
    ::3. 定义“债券”一词。什么是公司债券?市政债券?储蓄债券?

    4. What is the difference between a Treasury note and a Treasury bond?
    ::4. 国库券和国库债券有什么区别?

    5. What is a Treasury bill?
    ::5. 什么是国库券?

    6. Define the term Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
    ::6. 界定个人退休账户。

    7. What is a capital market? A money market?
    ::7. 什么是资本市场?货币市场?

    8. What is a primary market? A secondary market?
    ::8. 什么是初级市场?二级市场?