- 主题发起人 逆水行舟
- 发布时间 2012-01-28
22.Products and brands
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Word combinations with 'product'[/FONT]
product catalogue(BrE)、catalog(AmE)、mix、portfolio: a company's products, as a group
product line、product range: a company's products of a particular type
product lifecycle: the stages in the life of a product, and the number of people who buy it at each stage
product positioning: how a company would like a product to be seen in relation to its other products, or to competing products
product placement: when a company pays for its products to be seen in films and TV programmes（原来植入广告是翻译过来的，呵呵）
B. Goods
Goods can refer to the materials and components used to make products, or the products that are made.
Here are some examples of these different types of goods:
Consumer goods that last a long time, such as cars and washing machines, are consumer durables.
Consumer goods such as food products that sell quickly are fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG.
C. Brands and branding
A brand is a name a company gives to its products so they can be easily recognized. This may be the name of the company itself: the make of the product. For products like cars, you refer to the make and model, the particular type of car, for example, the Ford(make) Ka(model).
Brand awareness or brand recognition is how much people recognize a brand. The ideas people have about a brand is its brand image. Many companies have a brand manager.
Branding is creating brands and keeping them in customer's minds through advertising, packaging, etc. A brand should have a clear brand identity so that people think of it in a particular way in relation to other brands.
A product with the retailer's own name on it is an own-brand prodcut(BrE) or own-label product(AmE).
Products that are not branded, those that do not have a brand name, are generic products or generics.
Over to you
Have you seen any examples of product placement?
Do you know any products with strong brand images?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of brand name products, own brands and generics? Which do you prefer to buy?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Word combinations with 'product'[/FONT]
product catalogue(BrE)、catalog(AmE)、mix、portfolio: a company's products, as a group
product line、product range: a company's products of a particular type
product lifecycle: the stages in the life of a product, and the number of people who buy it at each stage
product positioning: how a company would like a product to be seen in relation to its other products, or to competing products
product placement: when a company pays for its products to be seen in films and TV programmes（原来植入广告是翻译过来的，呵呵）
B. Goods
Goods can refer to the materials and components used to make products, or the products that are made.
Here are some examples of these different types of goods:
Consumer goods that last a long time, such as cars and washing machines, are consumer durables.
Consumer goods such as food products that sell quickly are fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG.
C. Brands and branding
A brand is a name a company gives to its products so they can be easily recognized. This may be the name of the company itself: the make of the product. For products like cars, you refer to the make and model, the particular type of car, for example, the Ford(make) Ka(model).
Brand awareness or brand recognition is how much people recognize a brand. The ideas people have about a brand is its brand image. Many companies have a brand manager.
Branding is creating brands and keeping them in customer's minds through advertising, packaging, etc. A brand should have a clear brand identity so that people think of it in a particular way in relation to other brands.
A product with the retailer's own name on it is an own-brand prodcut(BrE) or own-label product(AmE).
Products that are not branded, those that do not have a brand name, are generic products or generics.
Over to you
Have you seen any examples of product placement?
Do you know any products with strong brand images?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of brand name products, own brands and generics? Which do you prefer to buy?
23. Price
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Pricing[/FONT]
Our goods are low-priced. Permanently low pricing means we charge low prices all the time.
You mean cheap: your goods are poor quality. Our goods are high-priced, but we give customer service. And a lot of our goods are mid-priced: not cheap and not expensive.
Your goods are expensive. Customers don't need service.
You must be selling some goods at cost (what you pay for them) or at a loss (even less).
Yes. We have loss leaders - cheap items to attract customers in. But it's all below the 'official' list price or recommended retail price. We have a policy of discounting, selling at a dicount to the list price.
If he goes on undercutting us, we can't stay in business.
B. Word combinations with 'price'
price boom: a good period for sellers, when prices are rising quickly
price controls: government efforts to limit price increases
price cut: a reduction in price
price hike: an increase in price
price war: when competing companies reduce prices in response to each other
price leader: a company that is first to reduce or increase prices
price tag: label attached to goods, showing the price; also means 'price'
C. Upmarket and downmarket
Products, for example skis, exist in different models. Some are basic, some more sophisticated. The cheapest skis are low-end or bottom-end. The most expensive ones are high-end or top-end products, designed for experienced users (or people with a lot of money.) The cheapest entry-level skis are for beginners who have never bought skis before. Those in between are mid-range. If you buy sophisticated skis to replace basic ones, you trade up and move upmarket. If you buy cheaper skis after buying more expensive ones, you trade down and move downmarket.
Downmarket can show dispproval. If a publisher takes a newspaper downmarket, they make it more popular, but less cultural, to increase sales.
D. Mass markets and niches
Mass market describes goods that sell in large quantities and the people who buy them. For example, family cars are a mass market product. A niche or niche market is a small group of buyers with special needs, which may be profitable to sell to. For example, sports cars are a niche in the car industry.
Over to you
What is the range of products or services offered by your company or one you admire?
How are they priced?
Are there price wars or government price controls in your country?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Pricing[/FONT]
Our goods are low-priced. Permanently low pricing means we charge low prices all the time.
You mean cheap: your goods are poor quality. Our goods are high-priced, but we give customer service. And a lot of our goods are mid-priced: not cheap and not expensive.
Your goods are expensive. Customers don't need service.
You must be selling some goods at cost (what you pay for them) or at a loss (even less).
Yes. We have loss leaders - cheap items to attract customers in. But it's all below the 'official' list price or recommended retail price. We have a policy of discounting, selling at a dicount to the list price.
If he goes on undercutting us, we can't stay in business.
B. Word combinations with 'price'
price boom: a good period for sellers, when prices are rising quickly
price controls: government efforts to limit price increases
price cut: a reduction in price
price hike: an increase in price
price war: when competing companies reduce prices in response to each other
price leader: a company that is first to reduce or increase prices
price tag: label attached to goods, showing the price; also means 'price'
C. Upmarket and downmarket
Products, for example skis, exist in different models. Some are basic, some more sophisticated. The cheapest skis are low-end or bottom-end. The most expensive ones are high-end or top-end products, designed for experienced users (or people with a lot of money.) The cheapest entry-level skis are for beginners who have never bought skis before. Those in between are mid-range. If you buy sophisticated skis to replace basic ones, you trade up and move upmarket. If you buy cheaper skis after buying more expensive ones, you trade down and move downmarket.
Downmarket can show dispproval. If a publisher takes a newspaper downmarket, they make it more popular, but less cultural, to increase sales.
D. Mass markets and niches
Mass market describes goods that sell in large quantities and the people who buy them. For example, family cars are a mass market product. A niche or niche market is a small group of buyers with special needs, which may be profitable to sell to. For example, sports cars are a niche in the car industry.
Over to you
What is the range of products or services offered by your company or one you admire?
How are they priced?
Are there price wars or government price controls in your country?
24. Place
[FONT=微软雅黑][/FONT]
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Distribution: wholesalers, retailers and customers[/FONT]
A wholesaler or shop selling a particular product, such as cars, is a dealer. A reseller sells computers. Wholesalers and retailers are distributors. Wholesalers are sometimes disapprovingly called middlemen.
B. Shops
A shop (BrE) or store (AmE) is where people buy things. Companies may call it a retail outlet or sales outlet. Here are some types of shop:
chain store: part of a group of shops, all with the same name.
convenience store: small shop in a residential area and open long hours.
deep discounter: a supermarket with very low prices.
department store: very large shop with a wide variety of goods, usually in a town centre.
drugstore: shop in a town centre in the US which sells medicines; you can also have coffee and meals there.
hypermarket: very large shop with a wide variety of goods, usually outside a town.
supermarket: very large shop, selling mainly food.
In Britain, a shopping centre or shopping precinct is a purpose-built area or building in a town centre wiht a number of shops. Outside towns, there are shopping malls, where it is easy to park. Franchises are owned by the people that run them (franchisees), but they only sell the goods of one company. That company (the franchisor) provides goods, organizes advertising, and offers help and support. In return it takes a percentage of the profits of each franchisee. Many restaurants are also run like this.
C. Direct marketing
Hi, I'm Beatrice and I work in a direct marketing company in Brussels. We organize mailings for many different products and services. This is direct mail but people often call it junk mail. We target our mailing lists very carefully: for example, we don't sent mailshots for garden tools to people who live in a apartments!
We also do telemarketing, selling by telephone, including cold calls to people who have dad no contact with us before. People are often rude to the workers in our call centres when they do this.
Over to you
Which types of shops do you use to buy different things? Why?
Do you like getting direct mail? Have you ever bought anything this way?
Do you receive cold calls? How do you react?
[FONT=微软雅黑][/FONT]
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Distribution: wholesalers, retailers and customers[/FONT]
A wholesaler or shop selling a particular product, such as cars, is a dealer. A reseller sells computers. Wholesalers and retailers are distributors. Wholesalers are sometimes disapprovingly called middlemen.
B. Shops
A shop (BrE) or store (AmE) is where people buy things. Companies may call it a retail outlet or sales outlet. Here are some types of shop:
chain store: part of a group of shops, all with the same name.
convenience store: small shop in a residential area and open long hours.
deep discounter: a supermarket with very low prices.
department store: very large shop with a wide variety of goods, usually in a town centre.
drugstore: shop in a town centre in the US which sells medicines; you can also have coffee and meals there.
hypermarket: very large shop with a wide variety of goods, usually outside a town.
supermarket: very large shop, selling mainly food.
In Britain, a shopping centre or shopping precinct is a purpose-built area or building in a town centre wiht a number of shops. Outside towns, there are shopping malls, where it is easy to park. Franchises are owned by the people that run them (franchisees), but they only sell the goods of one company. That company (the franchisor) provides goods, organizes advertising, and offers help and support. In return it takes a percentage of the profits of each franchisee. Many restaurants are also run like this.
C. Direct marketing
Hi, I'm Beatrice and I work in a direct marketing company in Brussels. We organize mailings for many different products and services. This is direct mail but people often call it junk mail. We target our mailing lists very carefully: for example, we don't sent mailshots for garden tools to people who live in a apartments!
We also do telemarketing, selling by telephone, including cold calls to people who have dad no contact with us before. People are often rude to the workers in our call centres when they do this.
Over to you
Which types of shops do you use to buy different things? Why?
Do you like getting direct mail? Have you ever bought anything this way?
Do you receive cold calls? How do you react?
25.Promotion
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Advertising[/FONT]
Different advertising mediums are as follows:
Classified advertisements;
Open air boardings (BrE)/ Billboards(AmE);
Neon signs;
Display advertisements;
TV commercial;
Special display;
The Internet is a new advertising medium.
Product endorsements are when famous people recommend a product.
A serious of advertisements for a particular company or product is an advertising campaign.
A person or business that advertises is an advertiser. An organization that designs and managers advertising campaigns is an advertising agency.
Sponsorship is where companies sponsor (pay some of the costs of ) events like concerts and sports events.
Note:
BrE: ad, advert, advertisement
AmE: ad, advertisement
B. The sales force
A company's salepeople (its salesmen and saleswomen) visit customers and persuade them to buy its products. Each member of this salesforce may be responsible for a particular region: his or her sales area or sales territory.
The head of the sales force is the sales manager.
C. Promotional activities
Promotion (uncountable) is all the activities supporting the sale of a product, including advertising. A promotion (countable) describes:
a special offer such as a discount or reduced price (See Unit 23)
a free gift: given with the product
a free sample: a small amount of the product to try or taste
competitions with prizes
Supermarkets and airlines give loyalty cards to customers: the more you spend, the more points you get, and you can exchange these points for free goods or flights.
Cross-promotion is where you buy one product, and you are recommended to buy another product that may go with it.
Over to you
What advertisements and promotional activities does your company or school use?
What advertising campaigns are famous in your country?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Advertising[/FONT]
Different advertising mediums are as follows:
Classified advertisements;
Open air boardings (BrE)/ Billboards(AmE);
Neon signs;
Display advertisements;
TV commercial;
Special display;
The Internet is a new advertising medium.
Product endorsements are when famous people recommend a product.
A serious of advertisements for a particular company or product is an advertising campaign.
A person or business that advertises is an advertiser. An organization that designs and managers advertising campaigns is an advertising agency.
Sponsorship is where companies sponsor (pay some of the costs of ) events like concerts and sports events.
Note:
BrE: ad, advert, advertisement
AmE: ad, advertisement
B. The sales force
A company's salepeople (its salesmen and saleswomen) visit customers and persuade them to buy its products. Each member of this salesforce may be responsible for a particular region: his or her sales area or sales territory.
The head of the sales force is the sales manager.
C. Promotional activities
Promotion (uncountable) is all the activities supporting the sale of a product, including advertising. A promotion (countable) describes:
a special offer such as a discount or reduced price (See Unit 23)
a free gift: given with the product
a free sample: a small amount of the product to try or taste
competitions with prizes
Supermarkets and airlines give loyalty cards to customers: the more you spend, the more points you get, and you can exchange these points for free goods or flights.
Cross-promotion is where you buy one product, and you are recommended to buy another product that may go with it.
Over to you
What advertisements and promotional activities does your company or school use?
What advertising campaigns are famous in your country?
26.The Internet and e-commerce
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. The Internet[/FONT]
The Internet service provider or ISP is the organization that provides you with Internet access.
You register and open an account, then they give you an email address so that you can communicate by email with other users. Some ISPs have their own content - news, information and so on - but many do not. After you log on by entering your user name and password ( a secret word that only you know), you can surf to any site on the World Wide Web. If you're looking for a site about a particular subject, you can use a search engine like Google or Yahoo. When you've finished, remember to log off for security reasons.
B. Clicks- and- mortar
My name's John, and I own a chain of sports shops. Last year, I started an e-commerce operation, selling goods over the Internet. We've done well. Visitors don't have trouble finding what they want, adding items to their shopping cart and paying for them securely by credit card. Last year we had two million unique users (different individual visitors) who generated 35 million hits or page views. That means our web pages were viewed a total of 35 million times!
E-commerce or e-tailing has even acted as a form of advertising and increases levels of business in our traditional bricks-and-mortar shops! Pure Internet commerce operations are very difficult. To succeed, I think you need a combination of traditional retailing and e-commerce: clicks-and-mortar. In our case, this has also helped us solve the last mile problem, the physical delivery of goods to Internet customers: we just deliver from our local stores!
C. B2B, B2C and B2G
Selling to the public on the Internet is business-to-consumer or B2C e-commerce. Some experts think that the real future of e-commerce is going to be business-to-business or B2B, with firms ordering from suppliers over the Internet. This is e-procurement.
Businesses can also use the Internet to communicate with government departments, apply for government contracts and pay taxes: business-to-government or B2G.
Over to you
Do you use email? Do you surf the Internet?
Do you shop on the Internet? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Do you have any experience of B2B o B2G?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. The Internet[/FONT]
The Internet service provider or ISP is the organization that provides you with Internet access.
You register and open an account, then they give you an email address so that you can communicate by email with other users. Some ISPs have their own content - news, information and so on - but many do not. After you log on by entering your user name and password ( a secret word that only you know), you can surf to any site on the World Wide Web. If you're looking for a site about a particular subject, you can use a search engine like Google or Yahoo. When you've finished, remember to log off for security reasons.
B. Clicks- and- mortar
My name's John, and I own a chain of sports shops. Last year, I started an e-commerce operation, selling goods over the Internet. We've done well. Visitors don't have trouble finding what they want, adding items to their shopping cart and paying for them securely by credit card. Last year we had two million unique users (different individual visitors) who generated 35 million hits or page views. That means our web pages were viewed a total of 35 million times!
E-commerce or e-tailing has even acted as a form of advertising and increases levels of business in our traditional bricks-and-mortar shops! Pure Internet commerce operations are very difficult. To succeed, I think you need a combination of traditional retailing and e-commerce: clicks-and-mortar. In our case, this has also helped us solve the last mile problem, the physical delivery of goods to Internet customers: we just deliver from our local stores!
C. B2B, B2C and B2G
Selling to the public on the Internet is business-to-consumer or B2C e-commerce. Some experts think that the real future of e-commerce is going to be business-to-business or B2B, with firms ordering from suppliers over the Internet. This is e-procurement.
Businesses can also use the Internet to communicate with government departments, apply for government contracts and pay taxes: business-to-government or B2G.
Over to you
Do you use email? Do you surf the Internet?
Do you shop on the Internet? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Do you have any experience of B2B o B2G?
27.Sales and costs
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Sales 1[/FONT]
Sales describes what a business sells and the money it receives for it. Denise van Beek of Nordsee Marine is having a sales meeting with her sales team:
'Our sales figures and turnover (money received from sales) in the last year are good, with revenue (money from sales) of 14.5 million euros, on volume of 49 boats. This is above our target of 13 million euros. We estimate our sales growth next year at ten per cent, as the world economy looks good and there is demand for our products, so my sales forecast is nearly 16 million euros for next year. I'm relying on you!"
B. Sales 2
Here are some more uses of the word 'sale':
a. make a sale: sell something
b. be on sale: be available to buy
c. unit sales: the number of things sold
d. Sales: a company department
e. A sale: a period when a shop is charging less than usual for goods
f. The sales: a period when a lot of shops are having a sale
C. Costs
The money that a business spends are its costs:
a. direct costs are directly related to providing the product (e.g. salaries).
b. fixed costs do not change when production goes up or down (e.g. rent, heating, etc)
c. variable costs change when production goes up or down (e.g. materials)
d. cost of goods sold (COGS): the variable costs in making particular goods(e.g. materials and salaries)
e. indirect costs, overhead costs or overheads are not directly related to production(e.g. adminstration).
Some costs, especially indirect ones, are also called expenses.
Costing is the activity of calculating costs. Amounts calculated for particular things are costings.
D. Margins and mark-ups
Here are the calculations for one of Nordsee's boats:
a. selling price = 50,000 euros
b. direct production costs = 35,000 euros
c. selling price minus direct production costs = gross margin =15,000 euros
d. total costs = 40,000 euros
e. selling price minus total costs = net margin, profit margin or mark-up = 10,000 euros
The net margin or profit margin is usually given as a percentage of the selling price, in this case 20 percent.
The mark-up is usually given as a percentage of the total costs, in this case 25 percent.
Over to you
Think of the company you work for or one you would like to work for. Which of its products or services has the highest sales? What are its biggest costs?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Sales 1[/FONT]
Sales describes what a business sells and the money it receives for it. Denise van Beek of Nordsee Marine is having a sales meeting with her sales team:
'Our sales figures and turnover (money received from sales) in the last year are good, with revenue (money from sales) of 14.5 million euros, on volume of 49 boats. This is above our target of 13 million euros. We estimate our sales growth next year at ten per cent, as the world economy looks good and there is demand for our products, so my sales forecast is nearly 16 million euros for next year. I'm relying on you!"
B. Sales 2
Here are some more uses of the word 'sale':
a. make a sale: sell something
b. be on sale: be available to buy
c. unit sales: the number of things sold
d. Sales: a company department
e. A sale: a period when a shop is charging less than usual for goods
f. The sales: a period when a lot of shops are having a sale
C. Costs
The money that a business spends are its costs:
a. direct costs are directly related to providing the product (e.g. salaries).
b. fixed costs do not change when production goes up or down (e.g. rent, heating, etc)
c. variable costs change when production goes up or down (e.g. materials)
d. cost of goods sold (COGS): the variable costs in making particular goods(e.g. materials and salaries)
e. indirect costs, overhead costs or overheads are not directly related to production(e.g. adminstration).
Some costs, especially indirect ones, are also called expenses.
Costing is the activity of calculating costs. Amounts calculated for particular things are costings.
D. Margins and mark-ups
Here are the calculations for one of Nordsee's boats:
a. selling price = 50,000 euros
b. direct production costs = 35,000 euros
c. selling price minus direct production costs = gross margin =15,000 euros
d. total costs = 40,000 euros
e. selling price minus total costs = net margin, profit margin or mark-up = 10,000 euros
The net margin or profit margin is usually given as a percentage of the selling price, in this case 20 percent.
The mark-up is usually given as a percentage of the total costs, in this case 25 percent.
Over to you
Think of the company you work for or one you would like to work for. Which of its products or services has the highest sales? What are its biggest costs?
28.Profitability and unprofitability
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Profitable and unprofitable products[/FONT]
A supermarket manager talks about the costs and prices for some of its products.
a. We make a profit: the product is profitable or profit-making.
b. We break even: we reach break-even point.
c. We make a loss. The product is loss-making, but we use Product C as a loss leader to attract people to the store, as we know they will then also buy profitable products.
d. Product D is very profitable and we sell a lot of it. It's one of our money-spinners or cash cows, products that have very good profitability.
B. Budgets and expenditure
Like all companies, Nordsee and Vaclav have to budget for, or plan, their costs, and have a budget. Look at the graphs comparing their planned budgets with their actual expenditure (what they actually spent0.
a. Nordsee went over budget and overspent by 200,000 euros.
b. Vaclav underspent by 50,000 euros, He was under budget.
c. On advertising, Vaclav's spend was only 200,000 euros, while Nordsee's advertising spend was 700,000.
Note: Spend is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun, as in advertising spend.
C. Economies of scale and the learning curve
Ford is one of the biggest car companies in the world. It benefits from economies of scale. For example, the costs of developing a new car are enoumous, but the company can spread them over a large number of cars produced and sold. In dealing with suppliers, it can obtain lower prices, because it buys in such large quantities.
The company also benefits from the experience curve or learning curve: as it produces more, it learns how to do things more and more quickly and efficiently. This brings down the cost of each thing produced, and the more they produce, the cheaper it gets.
Over to you
Does your company, or one you would like to work for, have a cash cow or a loss leader?
Does your company, or one you would like to work for, benefit from economies of scale?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Profitable and unprofitable products[/FONT]
A supermarket manager talks about the costs and prices for some of its products.
a. We make a profit: the product is profitable or profit-making.
b. We break even: we reach break-even point.
c. We make a loss. The product is loss-making, but we use Product C as a loss leader to attract people to the store, as we know they will then also buy profitable products.
d. Product D is very profitable and we sell a lot of it. It's one of our money-spinners or cash cows, products that have very good profitability.
B. Budgets and expenditure
Like all companies, Nordsee and Vaclav have to budget for, or plan, their costs, and have a budget. Look at the graphs comparing their planned budgets with their actual expenditure (what they actually spent0.
a. Nordsee went over budget and overspent by 200,000 euros.
b. Vaclav underspent by 50,000 euros, He was under budget.
c. On advertising, Vaclav's spend was only 200,000 euros, while Nordsee's advertising spend was 700,000.
Note: Spend is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun, as in advertising spend.
C. Economies of scale and the learning curve
Ford is one of the biggest car companies in the world. It benefits from economies of scale. For example, the costs of developing a new car are enoumous, but the company can spread them over a large number of cars produced and sold. In dealing with suppliers, it can obtain lower prices, because it buys in such large quantities.
The company also benefits from the experience curve or learning curve: as it produces more, it learns how to do things more and more quickly and efficiently. This brings down the cost of each thing produced, and the more they produce, the cheaper it gets.
Over to you
Does your company, or one you would like to work for, have a cash cow or a loss leader?
Does your company, or one you would like to work for, benefit from economies of scale?
29.Getting paid
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Shipping and billing[/FONT]
When you ask to buy something, you order it, or place an order for it. When the goods are ready, they are dispached or shipped to you.
An invoice is a document asking for payment and showing the amount to pay.
The activity of producing and sending invoices is invoicing or billing.
B. Trade credit
Vaclav is talking about his furniture business:
'Of course, we don't expect our business customers to pay immediately. They are given trade credit, a period of time before they have to pay, usually 30 or 60 days. If a customer orders a large quantity or pays within a particular time, we give them a discount, a reduction in the amount they have to pay.
But with some customers, especially ones we haven't dealt with before, we ask them to pay upfront, before they receive the goods.
Like all businesses, we have a credit policy, with payment terms: rules on when and how customers should pay. This is part of controlling cash flow, the timing of payments coming into and going out of a business.'
C. Accounts
Jennifer and Kathleen are businesswomen. Jennifer has her own company in Britain and Kathleen owns one in the US.
a.I'm waiting to be paid by some of my customers. These are my debtors. They owe me money.
b.The people and organizations we sell to are our customers or accounts. The most important ones are key accounts.
c.The customers that I'm waiting to be paid by are my accounts receivable or receivables.
d.The suppliers and other organizations that I owe money to are my creditors. I must remember to pay tax to the Inland Revenue on time!
e.The suppilers and other organizations that I owe money to are my accounts payable or payables. I must remember to pay tax to the Inland Revernue on time.
f.The are some companies that owe me money, but I get the feeling I'm never going to get paid: they're bad debts and I've written them off.
Over to you
What are the normal payment terms in your company or the company you are interested in?
Do small companies have problems getting paid in your country? Do some businesses offer discounts to the public?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Shipping and billing[/FONT]
When you ask to buy something, you order it, or place an order for it. When the goods are ready, they are dispached or shipped to you.
An invoice is a document asking for payment and showing the amount to pay.
The activity of producing and sending invoices is invoicing or billing.
B. Trade credit
Vaclav is talking about his furniture business:
'Of course, we don't expect our business customers to pay immediately. They are given trade credit, a period of time before they have to pay, usually 30 or 60 days. If a customer orders a large quantity or pays within a particular time, we give them a discount, a reduction in the amount they have to pay.
But with some customers, especially ones we haven't dealt with before, we ask them to pay upfront, before they receive the goods.
Like all businesses, we have a credit policy, with payment terms: rules on when and how customers should pay. This is part of controlling cash flow, the timing of payments coming into and going out of a business.'
C. Accounts
Jennifer and Kathleen are businesswomen. Jennifer has her own company in Britain and Kathleen owns one in the US.
a.I'm waiting to be paid by some of my customers. These are my debtors. They owe me money.
b.The people and organizations we sell to are our customers or accounts. The most important ones are key accounts.
c.The customers that I'm waiting to be paid by are my accounts receivable or receivables.
d.The suppliers and other organizations that I owe money to are my creditors. I must remember to pay tax to the Inland Revenue on time!
e.The suppilers and other organizations that I owe money to are my accounts payable or payables. I must remember to pay tax to the Inland Revernue on time.
f.The are some companies that owe me money, but I get the feeling I'm never going to get paid: they're bad debts and I've written them off.
Over to you
What are the normal payment terms in your company or the company you are interested in?
Do small companies have problems getting paid in your country? Do some businesses offer discounts to the public?
30. Assets, liabilities and the balance sheet
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Assets[/FONT]
An asset is something that has value, or the power to earn money. These include:
a. current assets: money in the bank, investments that can easily be turned into money, money that customers owe, stocks of goods that are going to be sold.
b. fixed assets: equipment, machinery, buildings and land.
c. Intangible assets: things which you cannot see. For example, goodwill: a company's good reputation with existing customers, and brands: established brands have the power to earn money.
If a company is sold as a going concern, it has value as a profit-making operation, or one that could make a profit
B. Depreciation
Joanna Cassidy is head of IT(Information Technology) in a publishing company:
'Assets such as machinery and equipment lose value over time because they wear out, or are no longer up-to-date. This is called depreciation or amortization. For example, when we buy new computers, we depreciate them or amortize them over a very short perid, usually three years, and a charge for this is shown in the financial records: the value of the epuipment is written down each year and written off completely at the end.
The value of an asset at any one time is its book value. This isn't necessarily the amount that it could be sold for at that time. For example, land or buildings may by worth more than shown in the accounts, because they have increased in value. But computers could only be sold for less than book value.
C. Liabilities
Liabilities are a company's debts to suppliers, lenders, the tax authorities, etc. Debts that have to be paid within a year are current liabilities, and those payable in more than a year are long-term liabilities, for example bank loans.
D. Balance sheet
A company's balance sheet gives a picture of its assets and liabilities at the end of a particular period, usually the 12-month period of its financial year. This is not necessarily January to December.
Over to you
Obtain a copy of your company's balance sheet, or a copy of the balance sheet of a company that you are interested in. What are its main assets and liabilities?
You can find this information for companies all over the world at www.carol.co.uk(Company Annual Reports Online).
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Assets[/FONT]
An asset is something that has value, or the power to earn money. These include:
a. current assets: money in the bank, investments that can easily be turned into money, money that customers owe, stocks of goods that are going to be sold.
b. fixed assets: equipment, machinery, buildings and land.
c. Intangible assets: things which you cannot see. For example, goodwill: a company's good reputation with existing customers, and brands: established brands have the power to earn money.
If a company is sold as a going concern, it has value as a profit-making operation, or one that could make a profit
B. Depreciation
Joanna Cassidy is head of IT(Information Technology) in a publishing company:
'Assets such as machinery and equipment lose value over time because they wear out, or are no longer up-to-date. This is called depreciation or amortization. For example, when we buy new computers, we depreciate them or amortize them over a very short perid, usually three years, and a charge for this is shown in the financial records: the value of the epuipment is written down each year and written off completely at the end.
The value of an asset at any one time is its book value. This isn't necessarily the amount that it could be sold for at that time. For example, land or buildings may by worth more than shown in the accounts, because they have increased in value. But computers could only be sold for less than book value.
C. Liabilities
Liabilities are a company's debts to suppliers, lenders, the tax authorities, etc. Debts that have to be paid within a year are current liabilities, and those payable in more than a year are long-term liabilities, for example bank loans.
D. Balance sheet
A company's balance sheet gives a picture of its assets and liabilities at the end of a particular period, usually the 12-month period of its financial year. This is not necessarily January to December.
Over to you
Obtain a copy of your company's balance sheet, or a copy of the balance sheet of a company that you are interested in. What are its main assets and liabilities?
You can find this information for companies all over the world at www.carol.co.uk(Company Annual Reports Online).
31.The bottom line
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Accounts[/FONT]
Hi, I'm Fiona and I'm an accountant. I work in Edinburgh for one of the big accountancy firms. We look at the financial records or accounts of a lot of companies. We work with the accountants of those companies, and the people who work under them: the bookkeepers. I like my profession: accountancy.
Sometimes we act as auditors: specialist outside accountants who audit a company's accounts, that is, we check them at the end of a particular period to see if they give a true and fair view (an accurate and complete picture). An audit can take several days, even for a fairly small company.
When a company's results are presented in a way that makes them look better than they really are, even if it follows the rules, it may be accused of creative accounting or window dressing. Of course, I never do this!
Notes: The professor is called accountancy (BrE) or accounting(AmE). The activity is called accounting(BrE and AmE).
B. Results
'A firm reports its performance in a particular period in its results. Results for a particular year are shown in the company's annual report. This contains, among other things, a profit and loss account.
In theory, if a company makes more money than it spends, it makes a profit. If not, it makes a loss. But it's possible for a company to show a profit for a particular period because of the way it presents its activities under the accounting standards or accounting rules of one country, and a loss under the rules of another. My firm operates in many countries and we are very aware of this!
A pre-tax profit or a pre-tax loss is one before tax is calculated. An exceptional profit or loss is for something that is not normally repeated, for example the sale of a subsidiary company or the costs of restructuring. A company's gross profit is before charges like these are taken away; its net profit is afterwards.
The final figure for profit or loss is what people call informally the bottom line. This is what they really worry about!
If a company is making a loss, commentators may say that it is in the red. They may also use expressions with red ink, saying, for example, that a company is bleeding red ink or haemorrhaging red ink.'
Over to you
Obtain a copy of your company's annual report, or the annual report of a company that you are interested in. Look at its profit and loss account (or income statement).
What is the bottom line?
You can find this information for companies all over the world at www.carol.co.uk
(Company Annual Reports Online).
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Accounts[/FONT]
Hi, I'm Fiona and I'm an accountant. I work in Edinburgh for one of the big accountancy firms. We look at the financial records or accounts of a lot of companies. We work with the accountants of those companies, and the people who work under them: the bookkeepers. I like my profession: accountancy.
Sometimes we act as auditors: specialist outside accountants who audit a company's accounts, that is, we check them at the end of a particular period to see if they give a true and fair view (an accurate and complete picture). An audit can take several days, even for a fairly small company.
When a company's results are presented in a way that makes them look better than they really are, even if it follows the rules, it may be accused of creative accounting or window dressing. Of course, I never do this!
Notes: The professor is called accountancy (BrE) or accounting(AmE). The activity is called accounting(BrE and AmE).
B. Results
'A firm reports its performance in a particular period in its results. Results for a particular year are shown in the company's annual report. This contains, among other things, a profit and loss account.
In theory, if a company makes more money than it spends, it makes a profit. If not, it makes a loss. But it's possible for a company to show a profit for a particular period because of the way it presents its activities under the accounting standards or accounting rules of one country, and a loss under the rules of another. My firm operates in many countries and we are very aware of this!
A pre-tax profit or a pre-tax loss is one before tax is calculated. An exceptional profit or loss is for something that is not normally repeated, for example the sale of a subsidiary company or the costs of restructuring. A company's gross profit is before charges like these are taken away; its net profit is afterwards.
The final figure for profit or loss is what people call informally the bottom line. This is what they really worry about!
If a company is making a loss, commentators may say that it is in the red. They may also use expressions with red ink, saying, for example, that a company is bleeding red ink or haemorrhaging red ink.'
Over to you
Obtain a copy of your company's annual report, or the annual report of a company that you are interested in. Look at its profit and loss account (or income statement).
What is the bottom line?
You can find this information for companies all over the world at www.carol.co.uk
(Company Annual Reports Online).
32.Share capital and debt
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Capital[/FONT]
Capital is the money that a company uses to operate and develop. There are two main ways in which a company can raise capital, that is find money it needs: it can use share capital or loan capital, from investors.
These are people or organizations who invest in the company; they put money in hoping to make more money.
B. Share capital
Share capital is contributed by shareholders who put up money and hold shares in the company. Each share represents ownership of a small proporation of the company.
Shareholders receive periodic payments called dividends, usually based on the company's profit during the relevant period. Capital in the form of shares is also called equity.
A venture capitalist is someone who puts up money for a lot of new companies.
C. Loan capital
Investors can also lend money, but then they do not own a small part of the company. This is loan capital, and an investor or a financial institution lending money in this way is a lender. The company borrowing it is the borrower and may refer to the money as borrowing or bebt. The total amount of debt that a company has is its indebtedness.
The sum of money borrowed is the pricinpal. The company has to pay interest, a percentage of the principal, to the borrower, whether it has made a profit in the relevant period or not.
D. Security
Lending to companies is often in the form of bonds or debentures, loans with special conditions. One condition is that the borrower must have collateral or security: that is, if the borrower cannot repay the loan, the lender can take equipment or property, and sell it in order to get their money back. This may be an asset which was bought with the loan.
E. Leverage
Many companies have both loan and share capital. The amount of loan capital that a company has in the relation to its share capital is its leverage. Leverage is also called gearing in BrE. A company with a lot of borrowing in relation to its share capital is highly leveraged or highly geared. A company that has difficulty in making payments on its debt is overleveraged.
Over to you
Would you like to start a business? What sort? Where would you get the capital?
Where do people in your country normally get capital? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Capital[/FONT]
Capital is the money that a company uses to operate and develop. There are two main ways in which a company can raise capital, that is find money it needs: it can use share capital or loan capital, from investors.
These are people or organizations who invest in the company; they put money in hoping to make more money.
B. Share capital
Share capital is contributed by shareholders who put up money and hold shares in the company. Each share represents ownership of a small proporation of the company.
Shareholders receive periodic payments called dividends, usually based on the company's profit during the relevant period. Capital in the form of shares is also called equity.
A venture capitalist is someone who puts up money for a lot of new companies.
C. Loan capital
Investors can also lend money, but then they do not own a small part of the company. This is loan capital, and an investor or a financial institution lending money in this way is a lender. The company borrowing it is the borrower and may refer to the money as borrowing or bebt. The total amount of debt that a company has is its indebtedness.
The sum of money borrowed is the pricinpal. The company has to pay interest, a percentage of the principal, to the borrower, whether it has made a profit in the relevant period or not.
D. Security
Lending to companies is often in the form of bonds or debentures, loans with special conditions. One condition is that the borrower must have collateral or security: that is, if the borrower cannot repay the loan, the lender can take equipment or property, and sell it in order to get their money back. This may be an asset which was bought with the loan.
E. Leverage
Many companies have both loan and share capital. The amount of loan capital that a company has in the relation to its share capital is its leverage. Leverage is also called gearing in BrE. A company with a lot of borrowing in relation to its share capital is highly leveraged or highly geared. A company that has difficulty in making payments on its debt is overleveraged.
Over to you
Would you like to start a business? What sort? Where would you get the capital?
Where do people in your country normally get capital? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods?
33.Success and failure
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Cash mountains and surpluses[/FONT]
Predaco is a successful company. Over the years, it has distributed some profits or earnings to shareholders, but it has also kept profits in the form of retained earnings and built up its cash reserves; it is sitting on a cash pile or cash mountain. These reserves may be used for investment or to make acquisitions: to buy other companies.
B. Debt and debt problems
Here are some expressions that can be used to talk about a company's debts, or a country's foreign debts:
debt repayment(servicing): when a company repays its debt and/or interest on it; 'debt repayment' describes a particular amount repaid
debt burden: a company's debt, especially when considered as a problem
debt crisis: when a company has serious difficulty repaying its debt
debt rescheduling( debt restructring): when a company persuades lenders to change repayment dates and terms
debt default: when a company fails to make a debt repayment
Note:
to reschedule (restructure) a debt
to repay (default on; service) a debt
C. Turnarounds and bailouts
Doomco is in financial trouble and it is being described as sick, ailing and troubled. They've called in a company doctor, Susan James, an expect in turning round companies. There may be a turnaround and Doomco may recover. But if there is no recovery, the company may collapse completely. Ms James is currently looking for another company to bail out Doomco by buying it. This would be a bailout.
D. Bankruptcy
If a company is in serious financial difficulty, it has to take certain legal steps.
In the US, it may ask a court to give it time to reorganize by filling for bankruptcy protection from creditors, the people it owes money to.
In Britain, a company that is insolvent, i.e. unable to pay its debts, may go into administration, under the management of an outside specialist called an administrator.
If the company cannot be saved, it goes into liquidation or into receivership. Receivers are specialists who sell the company's assets and pay out what they can to creditors.
When this happens, a company is wound up, and it ceases trading.
A company in difficulty that cannot be saved goes bankrupt.
Over to you
Do you think the government should bail out loss-making companies to avoid making people unemployed?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Cash mountains and surpluses[/FONT]
Predaco is a successful company. Over the years, it has distributed some profits or earnings to shareholders, but it has also kept profits in the form of retained earnings and built up its cash reserves; it is sitting on a cash pile or cash mountain. These reserves may be used for investment or to make acquisitions: to buy other companies.
B. Debt and debt problems
Here are some expressions that can be used to talk about a company's debts, or a country's foreign debts:
debt repayment(servicing): when a company repays its debt and/or interest on it; 'debt repayment' describes a particular amount repaid
debt burden: a company's debt, especially when considered as a problem
debt crisis: when a company has serious difficulty repaying its debt
debt rescheduling( debt restructring): when a company persuades lenders to change repayment dates and terms
debt default: when a company fails to make a debt repayment
Note:
to reschedule (restructure) a debt
to repay (default on; service) a debt
C. Turnarounds and bailouts
Doomco is in financial trouble and it is being described as sick, ailing and troubled. They've called in a company doctor, Susan James, an expect in turning round companies. There may be a turnaround and Doomco may recover. But if there is no recovery, the company may collapse completely. Ms James is currently looking for another company to bail out Doomco by buying it. This would be a bailout.
D. Bankruptcy
If a company is in serious financial difficulty, it has to take certain legal steps.
In the US, it may ask a court to give it time to reorganize by filling for bankruptcy protection from creditors, the people it owes money to.
In Britain, a company that is insolvent, i.e. unable to pay its debts, may go into administration, under the management of an outside specialist called an administrator.
If the company cannot be saved, it goes into liquidation or into receivership. Receivers are specialists who sell the company's assets and pay out what they can to creditors.
When this happens, a company is wound up, and it ceases trading.
A company in difficulty that cannot be saved goes bankrupt.
Over to you
Do you think the government should bail out loss-making companies to avoid making people unemployed?
34.Mergers, takeovers and sell-offs
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Stakes and joint ventures[/FONT]
a stake (an interest/ a holding) in a company: the shares that one investor has in a company
a majority stake (interest/holding) when more than 50 percent of the shares of a company are owned by one investor, giving them control over how it is run
a minority stake (interest/holding) when an investor owns less than 50 percent of the shares of a company
Two companies may work together in a particular area by forming an alliance or joint venture; they may remain separate companies, or form a new company in which they both have a stake.
B. Mergers and takeovers
General Oil and PP have announced they are going to merge. It will be the biggest ever merger in the oil industry.
Blighty Telecom is to split into two, and demerge its fixed -line and mobile businesses as part of on-going restructuring. The aim of the demerger is to cut debt by $10 billion.
Ciments de France, the French building group, is to acquire Red Square Industries of the UK for 3.1 billion euros. This is a friendly bid, as RSI are likely to welcome in and agree to it. But the takeover comes only a year after RSI rejected a hostile bid, an unwanted one.
Abbot Bank is doing badly, and may become the victim of a predator.（掠夺者） There were rumours of a possible takeover by Bullion, but it says it won't play the white knight for Abbot by coming to its defence. This leaves Abbot exposes to acquisition, and it may be prey to a big international bank. Abbot does have a poison pill however, in the form of a special class of shares that will be very expensive for a predator to buy.
C. Conglomerates(综合性大企业）
Cotton makes a series of acquisitions of retail and non-retail businesses, and becomes the parent company in a conglomerate or combine, with the other businesses as its subsidiaries.
Low-price general retail Cotton Stores acquires Bestco supermarkets and diversifies into food retailing.
Shareholders complain that Cotton Group is unfocused. They demand that its CEO should dispose of non-retail companies, which they describe as non-core assets, and reinvest the money in its main, core activity: retailing. They say that this divestment and restructuring is necessary for future growth and profitability.
Over to you
Are mergers and takeovers common in your country?
Think of a famous merger or takeover that you found interesting. Was it successful?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Stakes and joint ventures[/FONT]
a stake (an interest/ a holding) in a company: the shares that one investor has in a company
a majority stake (interest/holding) when more than 50 percent of the shares of a company are owned by one investor, giving them control over how it is run
a minority stake (interest/holding) when an investor owns less than 50 percent of the shares of a company
Two companies may work together in a particular area by forming an alliance or joint venture; they may remain separate companies, or form a new company in which they both have a stake.
B. Mergers and takeovers
General Oil and PP have announced they are going to merge. It will be the biggest ever merger in the oil industry.
Blighty Telecom is to split into two, and demerge its fixed -line and mobile businesses as part of on-going restructuring. The aim of the demerger is to cut debt by $10 billion.
Ciments de France, the French building group, is to acquire Red Square Industries of the UK for 3.1 billion euros. This is a friendly bid, as RSI are likely to welcome in and agree to it. But the takeover comes only a year after RSI rejected a hostile bid, an unwanted one.
Abbot Bank is doing badly, and may become the victim of a predator.（掠夺者） There were rumours of a possible takeover by Bullion, but it says it won't play the white knight for Abbot by coming to its defence. This leaves Abbot exposes to acquisition, and it may be prey to a big international bank. Abbot does have a poison pill however, in the form of a special class of shares that will be very expensive for a predator to buy.
C. Conglomerates(综合性大企业）
Cotton makes a series of acquisitions of retail and non-retail businesses, and becomes the parent company in a conglomerate or combine, with the other businesses as its subsidiaries.
Low-price general retail Cotton Stores acquires Bestco supermarkets and diversifies into food retailing.
Shareholders complain that Cotton Group is unfocused. They demand that its CEO should dispose of non-retail companies, which they describe as non-core assets, and reinvest the money in its main, core activity: retailing. They say that this divestment and restructuring is necessary for future growth and profitability.
Over to you
Are mergers and takeovers common in your country?
Think of a famous merger or takeover that you found interesting. Was it successful?
最后编辑: 2012-08-02
35.Personal finance
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Traditional banking[/FONT]
'I'm Lisa. I have an account at my local branch of one of the big high-street banks. I have a current account for writing cheques, paying by debit card and paying bills. It's a joint account with my husband. Normally, we're in the black, but sometimes we spend more money than we have in the account and we go into the red. This overdraft is agreed by the bank up to a maximum of 500$, but we pay quite a high interest rate on it.
I also have a deposit account or savings account for keeping money longer term. This account pays us interest (but not very much, especially after tax!)
We have a credit card with the same bank too. Buying with plastic is very convenient. We pay off what we spend each month, so we don't pay interest. The interest rate is even higher than for overdrafts!
Like many British people, we have a mortgage, a loan to buy our house.'
BrE: current account, cheque account
AmE: checking account
B. New ways of banking
'My name's Kevin. I wasn't happy with my bank. There was always a queue, and on the bank statement that they sent each month they took money out of my account for banking charges that they never explained. So I moved to a bank that offers telephone banking. I can phone them any time to check my account balance( the amount I have in my account), transfer money to other accounts and pay bills.
Now they also offer Internet banking. I can manage my account sitting at my computer at home.'
C. Personal investing
Lisa again:
' We have a savings account at a building society which is going to be demutualized and turned into a bank with shareholders. All the members will get a windfall, a special once-only payment of some of the society's assets to its members.
We have some unit trusts, shares in investment companies that put money from small investors like me into different companies. My cousin in the US calls unit trusts mutual funds.
I also pay contributions into a private pension, which will give me a regular income when I stop working. I've never joined a company pension scheme and the government state pension is very small.
Over to you
What type of bank accounts and personal investments do you prefer?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different types?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Traditional banking[/FONT]
'I'm Lisa. I have an account at my local branch of one of the big high-street banks. I have a current account for writing cheques, paying by debit card and paying bills. It's a joint account with my husband. Normally, we're in the black, but sometimes we spend more money than we have in the account and we go into the red. This overdraft is agreed by the bank up to a maximum of 500$, but we pay quite a high interest rate on it.
I also have a deposit account or savings account for keeping money longer term. This account pays us interest (but not very much, especially after tax!)
We have a credit card with the same bank too. Buying with plastic is very convenient. We pay off what we spend each month, so we don't pay interest. The interest rate is even higher than for overdrafts!
Like many British people, we have a mortgage, a loan to buy our house.'
BrE: current account, cheque account
AmE: checking account
B. New ways of banking
'My name's Kevin. I wasn't happy with my bank. There was always a queue, and on the bank statement that they sent each month they took money out of my account for banking charges that they never explained. So I moved to a bank that offers telephone banking. I can phone them any time to check my account balance( the amount I have in my account), transfer money to other accounts and pay bills.
Now they also offer Internet banking. I can manage my account sitting at my computer at home.'
C. Personal investing
Lisa again:
' We have a savings account at a building society which is going to be demutualized and turned into a bank with shareholders. All the members will get a windfall, a special once-only payment of some of the society's assets to its members.
We have some unit trusts, shares in investment companies that put money from small investors like me into different companies. My cousin in the US calls unit trusts mutual funds.
I also pay contributions into a private pension, which will give me a regular income when I stop working. I've never joined a company pension scheme and the government state pension is very small.
Over to you
What type of bank accounts and personal investments do you prefer?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different types?
36.Financial centres
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Financial centres[/FONT]
Financial centres are places where there are many banks and other financial institutions. London as a financial centre is called the City or the Square Mile, and New York is Wall Street.
Financial centres bring together investors and the businesses that need their investment. A speculator is an investor who wants to make a quick profit, rather than invest over a longer period of time.
Brokers, dealers and traders buy and sell for investors and in some cases, for themselves or the organizations they work for.
B. Stock markets
Heather Macdonald of Advanced Components:
'We needed more capital to expand, so we decided to float the company (sell shares for the first time) in a flotation. Our shares were issued, and listed (BrE and AmE) or quoted (BrE only) for the first time on the stock market. Because we are a UK-based company, we are listed on the London stock exchange.
Stock markets in other countries are also called bourses. Maybe when our company is really big, we'll issue more shares on one of the European bourses!'
Note: You can write stock market or stockmarket;
BrE: shares/stocks (countable) and shares
AmE: stock (uncountable)
C. Other financial markets
Other financial products include:
commercial paper: short-term lending to businesses
bonds: longer-term lending to businesses and the government
currencies( foreign exchange or forex): buying and selling the money of particular countries
commodities: metals and farm products
These are traded directly between dealers by phone and computer. Commodities are also trades in a commodities exchange. Shares, bonds and commercial paper are securities, and the financial institutions that deal in them are securities houses.
D. Derivatives(衍生物）
A future contract is an agreement giving an obligation to sell a fixed amount of a security or commodity at a particular price on a particular future date.
An options contract is an agreement giving the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a security or commodity at a particular price at a particular future time, or in a period of future time.
These contracts are derivatives. Dealers guess how the price of the underlying security or commodity will change in the future, and use derivatives to try to buy them more cheaply.
Over to you
What is your country's main financial centre? Is it in the capital or another city?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of different securities and commodities, and ways of dealing?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Financial centres[/FONT]
Financial centres are places where there are many banks and other financial institutions. London as a financial centre is called the City or the Square Mile, and New York is Wall Street.
Financial centres bring together investors and the businesses that need their investment. A speculator is an investor who wants to make a quick profit, rather than invest over a longer period of time.
Brokers, dealers and traders buy and sell for investors and in some cases, for themselves or the organizations they work for.
B. Stock markets
Heather Macdonald of Advanced Components:
'We needed more capital to expand, so we decided to float the company (sell shares for the first time) in a flotation. Our shares were issued, and listed (BrE and AmE) or quoted (BrE only) for the first time on the stock market. Because we are a UK-based company, we are listed on the London stock exchange.
Stock markets in other countries are also called bourses. Maybe when our company is really big, we'll issue more shares on one of the European bourses!'
Note: You can write stock market or stockmarket;
BrE: shares/stocks (countable) and shares
AmE: stock (uncountable)
C. Other financial markets
Other financial products include:
commercial paper: short-term lending to businesses
bonds: longer-term lending to businesses and the government
currencies( foreign exchange or forex): buying and selling the money of particular countries
commodities: metals and farm products
These are traded directly between dealers by phone and computer. Commodities are also trades in a commodities exchange. Shares, bonds and commercial paper are securities, and the financial institutions that deal in them are securities houses.
D. Derivatives(衍生物）
A future contract is an agreement giving an obligation to sell a fixed amount of a security or commodity at a particular price on a particular future date.
An options contract is an agreement giving the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a security or commodity at a particular price at a particular future time, or in a period of future time.
These contracts are derivatives. Dealers guess how the price of the underlying security or commodity will change in the future, and use derivatives to try to buy them more cheaply.
Over to you
What is your country's main financial centre? Is it in the capital or another city?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of different securities and commodities, and ways of dealing?
37.Trading
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Market indexes[/FONT]
If there is demand for shares in a company, for example because it is doing well, its share price goes up. If not, its prices goes down. The overall value of shares traded on a stock market is shown by an index (plural: indexes or indices). Some of the main ones are:
1. London: FTSE(pronounce'Footsie'): the Financial Times Stock Exchange index.
2. New York: the Dow Jones Industrial Average ('the Dow'). Especially long-established ' old economy' companies.
3. New York: NASDAQ. Especially hi-tech 'new economy' companies.
4. Paris: CAC40
5. Frankfurt: DAX
6. Hongkong: Hang Seng
7. Tokyo: Nikkei
B. Market activity: good times---
Trading has been heavy on the New York Stock Exchange, with very high turnover of one and a half billion shares changing hands.（换手） We've seen spectacular gains, especially among blue chips.（蓝筹股）
This bull market （牛市） seems set to continue, after yesterday's record high at the close(收盘）. Dealers seem bullish and expect the Dow to go through the 15,000 barrier soon.
C. ---and bad times
There was panic selling （恐慌性抛盘） on the New York stock Exchange today as prices fell to new five-year lows. We've seen some spectacular declines, with billions of dollars wiped off the value of some of America's best-known companies, and more than 10 percent of total market capitalization.
The best market continues , with prices set to fall further in the next few days. Dealers are bearish, with many saying there is no sign of a rally. If prices continue to fall, there may be another stock market collapse or crash, like the ones in 1929 and 1987.
Over to you
Is it usual in your country for ordinary people to own shares? Do people follow the stock market closely?
[FONT=微软雅黑]A. Market indexes[/FONT]
If there is demand for shares in a company, for example because it is doing well, its share price goes up. If not, its prices goes down. The overall value of shares traded on a stock market is shown by an index (plural: indexes or indices). Some of the main ones are:
1. London: FTSE(pronounce'Footsie'): the Financial Times Stock Exchange index.
2. New York: the Dow Jones Industrial Average ('the Dow'). Especially long-established ' old economy' companies.
3. New York: NASDAQ. Especially hi-tech 'new economy' companies.
4. Paris: CAC40
5. Frankfurt: DAX
6. Hongkong: Hang Seng
7. Tokyo: Nikkei
B. Market activity: good times---
Trading has been heavy on the New York Stock Exchange, with very high turnover of one and a half billion shares changing hands.（换手） We've seen spectacular gains, especially among blue chips.（蓝筹股）
This bull market （牛市） seems set to continue, after yesterday's record high at the close(收盘）. Dealers seem bullish and expect the Dow to go through the 15,000 barrier soon.
C. ---and bad times
There was panic selling （恐慌性抛盘） on the New York stock Exchange today as prices fell to new five-year lows. We've seen some spectacular declines, with billions of dollars wiped off the value of some of America's best-known companies, and more than 10 percent of total market capitalization.
The best market continues , with prices set to fall further in the next few days. Dealers are bearish, with many saying there is no sign of a rally. If prices continue to fall, there may be another stock market collapse or crash, like the ones in 1929 and 1987.
Over to you
Is it usual in your country for ordinary people to own shares? Do people follow the stock market closely?
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