Pulse Loan

A "pulse loan" is a loan given to anyone with a pulse. It's sometimes said that banks so dearly wanted to make mortgages (and collect mortgage fees) that the banks would give a loan…

Pyramid Scheme

A "financial pyramid" is one where there are many people/investors at the bottom of the pyramid, but few at the top. A "pyramid scheme" pays off the oldest investors by getting…

Quarterly Capitalism

"Quarterly capitalism" means the same thing as "short-termism" -- overreliance on quarterly reports and quarterly profits rather than long term planning. "Capitalism, for…

Rags to Riches

"Rags to riches" is an expression to describe someone who was poor (wearing "rags") and who has become rich. "Rags to riches" has been cited in print in 1875 amd 1878,…

Rally Tuesday

The stock market (New York Stock Exchange) on Tuesday in the first half of 2013 had a 20-week-long streak of always entering positive territory at the end of the day. The Wall Street Journal had an…

Red Cent

To have "not one red cent" is to have absolutely no money. The U.S. penny (or "cent") from 1793-1857 was made of reddish copper; the phrase "not worth a copper" was…

Relief Rally

A "relief rally" (or a "sigh-of-relief rally") is when a market picks up after a period of bad or uncertain news. For example, at the end of 2012, the federal government in…

Reverse Mortgage

A reverse mortgage is a mechanism available to seniors allowing them to stay in their homes, but to withdraw the equity in the home; it is also called a reverse annuity mortgage (RAM). The term…