Block trades explained

Block trades explainedBlock trades explainedHowever, when a large institutional investor seeks to buy or sell a large chunk of stock, or a block of stock, the sheer size of the order involves additional facilitation. A buy order for 200,000 shares of IBM stock, for instance, would not easily be accomplished without a block trader. At any given moment, only so much stock is available for sale, and to buy a large quantity would drive the price up in the market (to entice more sellers into the market to sell).For a NYSE stock, the process of block trading is similar to that of any small buy or sell order. The difference is that a small trade arrives electronically to the specialist on the floor of the exchange, while a block trade runs through a floor broker, who then hand-delivers the order to the specialist. The style of a block trade also differs, depending on the clients wishes. Some block trades are done at the market and some block trades involve working the order.At the market. S ay Fidelity wishes to buy 200,000 shares of IBM, and they first contact the block trader at an investment bank. If Fidelity believed that IBM stock was moving up, they would indicate that the purchase of the shares should occur at the market. In this case, the trader would call the floor broker (in reality, he contacts the floor brokers clerk), to tell him or her to buy the next available 200,000 shares of IBM. The clerk delivers the ticket to the floor broker, who then takes it to the specialist dealing in IBM stock. Again, the specialist acts as an auctioneer, matching sellers to the IBM buyer. Once the floor broker accumulates the entire amount of stock, likely from many sellers, his or her clerk is sent back to the phones to call back the trader. The final trading price is a weighted average of all of the purchase prices from the individual sellers.Working the order. Alternately, if Fidelity believes that IBM was going to bounce around in price, they might ask the trader to work the order in order to hopefully get a better price than what is currently in the market. The trader then would call the floor broker and indicate that he or she should work at finding as low a price as possible. In this case, the floor broker might linger at the IBM trading post, watching for sell orders to come in, hoping to accumulate the shares at as low a price as possible.

How to Calculate Your Take-Home Pay

How to Calculate Your Take-Home PayHow to Calculate Your Take-Home PayWho is FICA and why am I paying him so much? is a question many of us have asked while examining a pay stub. FICA is an acronym that stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act, the law that created Social Security. Your share of FICA includes employee contributions for Social Security and Medicare. Employers also pay a share of the FICA tax for each employee. FICA is just one of many potential paycheck reducers that represent the difference between your salary, or gross pay, and the actual amount you take home, your net pay. Calculating Your Take-Home Pay If you want to know what your paycheck will look like before you take a job, there is a way to figure out exactly how much youll have left over after FICA, federal taxes, state taxes, and any other applicable deductions are removed. There are a few things you should have on hand to calculate your take-home pay The amount of your gross pay. If you earn a fi xed salary, this is easy to figure out. Just divide the annual amount by the number of periods each year. If you are paid hourly, multiply that rate by 40 hours to determine your weekly pay.Your number of personal exemptions. When you start a new job, you fill out a W-4 form to tell your employer how much to withhold from your check. The number may be zero or one if you are single, or greater if you have dependents.Your tax filing status. There are standard federal and state tax deductions that vary depending on whether you are single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, or a surviving spouse. Other payroll deductions. This category could include contributions to a 401(k) retirement plan, health insurance, life insurance, or a flexible spending account for medical expenses. It also may include union dues or any other garnishments that are taken from your wages. It helps to categorize unterstellung according to pre-tax and after-tax contributions, to deduct them from either your gross salary or after-tax calculation. Calculating Taxable Income First, calculate your FICA taxes for the year, otherwise known as your contribution to Social Security and Medicare. Everyone pays a flat, 7.65 percent rate on the first $128,400 (as of 2018) of earned income. You can reduce the amount of your annual gross pay by this percentage before making other calculations. Next, adjust your annual gross income by subtracting personal exemptions and standard deductions that the IRS gives you before it calculates your income tax. The personal exemption rate changes each year, so be sure to find current exemption rates when making your calculation. For every exemption claimed on your W-4 form, you will subtract the current rate from your gross income. Your standard deduction is subtracted next. Standard deductions also change from year to year and are based on your filing status. You can find current standard deduction rates on the IRS website. Onc e youve subtracted personal exemptions and a standard deduction, the resulting number should be very close to your taxable income. This is the total that will be used to determine your federal and state tax brackets. Calculating Income Taxes There are several taxes that may be applied to your gross pay, including federal, state, and even local income taxes. The amount of federal tax you pay will depend on your filing status and bracket, which you can find in the Federal Tax Bracket tables updated annually by the Tax Foundation. If you live in a state with a personal income tax, you will need to find your state tax bracket to determine how much will be deducted from your take-home pay. Each state has its own set of brackets which should be available on the state government website where you live. The Tax Foundation also lists recent state individual income tax rates and brackets on its website. It also includes information on local taxes, where they apply. New York City, for exam ple, has its own tax on income. Add together your federal, state, and other income taxes, and this is the amount that will be deducted from your paychecks over the course of the year. Other After-Tax Payroll Deductions Remember also to subtract any other relevant deductions. Depending on whether they are pre-tax or after-tax deductions, you can deduct them from your salary before or after calculating income tax due. For example, if you contribute 6 percent of pretax salary to a 401(k) retirement plan, take that amount from your gross salary before calculating your taxes. Health insurance premiums paid by you are also typically taken from gross pay before taxes are taken out. For union dues and other garnishments, you can verify whether they are taken out before or after tax, or use estimates for those figures. Final Calculations To determine the total amount of money deducted from your paychecks, add up the amounts youve calculated for FICA taxes, income taxes, and other ded uctions, then subtract that total amount from your annual gross pay. Whats left is your net pay. Divide both your total deductions and your net pay by the number of pay periods for the year to determine how much those amounts will be per paycheck. Free Online Paycheck Calculators Online resources can help you simplify the process. Once you have a sense of who exactly gets a piece of your paycheck and how much, you can easily determine your take-home pay using an online paycheck calculator.

Everyone Counts in Job Search Mode

Everyone Counts in Job Search ModeEveryone Counts in Job Search ModeEveryone Counts in Job Search ModeAt a recent picnic, my wife and I struck up a conversation with a young man who welches walking around with his Nikon camera, taking pictures of everyone.Since one of my hobbies is photography and my favorite camera is a Nikon, instantaneously he welches my new best friend. In having our conversation, I found out that he welches a recent college graduate with a degree in construction management. He graduated with honors. However, he had not been successful in getting a job since graduating.Since I have a daughter that graduated that same year and is gainfully employed within zu sich major, I wanted to talk to him in more depth.Is your message coherent?So after the initial conversation, I asked a few simple questions what are you looking for?Tell me about you. That is where it derailed.His response was all over the map. While he was looking for an entry-level position, his passion was photography. Then it was back to his major and as they say on and on.This went on a while as I listened geschiebemergel he stopped talking. When he did, I said we have to talk. I told him my background and then proceeded to tell him the importance of having a pitch and to stay on point.Not only that, I had contacts within the construction industry that I could connect him to. But first he needed to work on HIS presentationNever discount anyoneThis reminded me of a story that a career consultant friend of mine told me. There was a senior-level executive in New York who was laid off during the latest recession. After a while of trying to find another job, she decided to go back home to the Midwest to take a break. One day she decides to spend the morning with her grandmother.As the both of them were having coffee, her grandmother asked her about her job search and what she was looking to do. Since this question came from her grandmother, she kind of sidestepped it. She figured her gr andmother would not be of any help.When her grandmother persisted, she finally told her that there was this particular company that she really wanted to work for but was not having any luck in connecting with anyone there. She noticed her grandmother staring away as if trying to remember something. Just then, she excused herself from the room and came back with her phone book.As she looked through her phone book, her granddaughter looked on puzzled. Finally, she asked her what she was looking for. She told her that her bridge partners granddaughter works for that company and is one of their senior executives. After a phone call, she came back and gave her granddaughter a phone number and told her to call the young lady. Within a few weeks, she had an interview, and within a month, she was employed with her dream company.Everyone counts in job search modeThe moral of the story is that while in job search mode, everyone you come in contact with has the potential to land you that job. You must perfect your pitch. This is your advertisement and you must make it work.It is called the 2-minute pitch, but it does not have to be two minutes.My suggestion to my friend is this. Spend some time in front of the mirror perfecting your pitch as to who you are, what you are looking for, and why a company should hire you. If it is two minutes fine, if not, and you still get your point across, even better.Use every opportunity whether at a cookout, on your commute, or basically anywhere you engage in conversation to get in your pitch. Use every opportunity to describe the package that you bring to the table. It is critical to your career search and will increase your visibility and influence.So, next time you are at an event, everyone that is there could be the one that enables you to make the connection. Dont discount anyone.About the AuthorTodays post is written by Ron Thomas (pictured), a human resources professional with more than 15 years of experience, including roles wi th Martha Stewart Living and IBM. He was recently named to the Expert Advisory Council on Talent Management Strategy at the Human Capital Institute in Washington, D.C. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Workforce Management, Chief Learning Officer magazine and Crains New York Business.Recently, he was named to the HR Hall of Fame by HR Network of New York. Rons blog, StrategyFocusedHR, focuses on human resources from a strategic perspective.

HR Strategies to Break Down a Siloed Mentality at Work

HR Strategies to Break Down a Siloed Mentality at WorkHR Strategies to Break Down a Siloed Mentality at WorkIf youve ever visited a farm, youve seen large grain silos. They are generally tall, and silver and they stand separate from each other. What you put in one silo doesnt affect the others. Unfortunately, you can experience the same mentality at work when people are working in silos. What Does Working in Silos Mean for Your Workplace? When your department does X, and the neighboring department does Y, and you dont understand each others processes, you work in a silo. Furthermore, when you are working in a silo environment, you tend to think that your operations are critical, and the other departments are bedrngnis. Worse, when your department actively works to achieve X and the neighboring department actively works to stop X, youre not only siloed, youre antagonistic. This happens more often than you might think. For example, the Human Resources department wants to increase t raining and development budgets to help reduce turnover, while the finance department keeps slashing departmental budgets. HR cant understand why finance is so tight-fisted, and finance cant understand why HR keeps presenting employee training and development proposals that call for increases in the budget. You can see how difficult it is to get work done in these situations, but businesses often end up siloed. Part of this is tradition, and part of the problem comes from managers who like accomplishing their tasks and dont want to integrate with the rest of the company. How HR Can Help People Who Are Working In Silos The HR department should be the expert in people, just like finance should be the experts in money. So, HR is well positioned to help with the breakdown of these silos. Speak the saatkorn Language to Avoid Siloed Communication This point is not about everyone speaking English or Spanish it is about the language of each department. Often, silos happen because, while employees say words, the other group doesnt understand what the employees of the other department mean with the words they use. This isnt unusual if youre an HR manager in a research laboratory, do you understand scientific jargon? Probably not. Moreover, if youre a scientist, do you know all of the acronyms that HR throws at you? Stay cognizant of the fact that HR talk is not universally understood. When you speak with other departments or coach departments in how to better communicate with each other, note that the departments may not communicate successfully because of the differences in language. If you look at the above example of a conflict between HRs desire to expand training and finances need to cut the budget, you can see that a bit of translation solves the problem. What language does finance speak? Numbers. HR generally focuses on words and soft skills. So, if you come into finance and say, We will increase employee engagement and retain our best employees if we increas e our training and development opportunities, the head of finance hears, Blah, blah, blah, thats expensive. Instead say, Every year we spend $250,000 on recruiting and training new hires. If we spend $50,000 on this new training program, we can expect to lower turnover by 10 percent. We expect to break even in two years, and save money every year after that. Thats a proposition that finance can understand far better than the words, employee engagement. End the pferderennbahn Wars Between Siloed Departments Brent Gleeson identified Turf Wars as one of the causes of siloed departments. For your department to win another department must lose. Therefore, it is to your advantage to keep information secret. HR can help address compensation plans, including bonus plans, that can remove these turfs. If winning requires help from other groups, people will speak to each other. Additionally, cross training and internal transfers can cut down on the dig in your heels mentality. If an employee m oves from operations to finance or HR, he or she brings with them a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in the other department. This deep understanding can help all of the new departments employees see how working together is good for the business, and how overall business success is good for the individual departments. Working in Silos Starts With the Expectations of Senior Employees If the CEO enjoys watching her senior team battle with each other, you can almost guarantee she will have siloed departments. Instead, the CEO needs to work to bring her team together and reward her department heads for collaboration and teamwork. Isnt Technology Part of the dicke bretter bohren mssen When People Work in Silos? You might think that enabling people to work from home and communicate mainly through instant messages would build a fractured team. Its possible, but fractured groups and silos existed long before email and instant messaging existed. Technology is neutral its ho w you use it that matters. HR can encourage the use of technology to bring people together. For instance, its now easy to share reports among different departments. Its also easy to talk to your coworker who is at another site or works from home. You can get instant responses and input. Make sure your employees arent using technology as an excuse for their bad behavior. Just like grain silos, there are gaps between departmental silos, and you lose a lot of information in these gaps. Work together with your HR team to ensure that the departments communicate with each other. Strive to create a workplace in which better understanding the goals, needs, and interconnectivity of your groups or departments brings a more cohesive team and better delivery results. - Suzanne Lucas is a freelance writer and former menschlich resources professional with over 10 years of experience.

This is the brilliant advice Jeff Bezos just gave on how to look at high standards

This is the brilliant advice Jeff Bezos just gave on how to look at high standardsThis is the brilliant advice Jeff Bezos just gave on how to look at high standardsAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos certainly doesnt harbor many professional regrets, but in his most recent letter to company shareowners he illustrates another work principle that he takes very seriously- high standards. In addition torevealing thatAmazon has more than 100 1000000 Prime membersworldwide, Bezos took a deep look at the power of applying high standards to every aspect of your work. Here are some takeaways from his letter.Dont give up too soonWhile expanding on the nature of high standards,Bezos writes that a friend of his was trying to learn how to pull off a perfect free-standing handstand, and wasnt progressing the way she wanted to, so she hired a coach who told her about how many people underestimate how much time it really takes to excel at it.Unrealistic beliefs on scope often hidden and undiscussed kill high st andards. To achieve high standards yourself or as part of a team, you need to form and proactively communicate realistic beliefs about how hard something is going to be something this coach understood well, Bezos writes.

The Advantages of Curric Vitae

The Advantages of Curric Vitae Finding the Best Curric Vitae Also be sure that you have organized all of the different sections properly. If you arent sure which type of document to submit, its best to request clarification. If you anticipate writing a studienplan vitae, for instance, you would not have to change information and details as you must set it uniformly for your readers. As you go on, plenty of relevant information could nevertheless be added to it. The Definitive Strategy to Curric Vitae Your IT Curriculum Vitae (CV) is the very first point of interaction involving you, the work applicant and possible employers. Make certain and reflect joint appointments if youve got one. If youre asking for a fellowship, for instance, you wont will need to include things like the private information that could be included in an grenzberschreitend CV. If youre asking for a fellowship for instance you wont need to include things like the private information which may be inclu ded in a global cv. This file is always attached among the prerequisites of the admission of the job. A properly formatted ASCII e-resume enables you to cut and paste your resume in the body of an email, send it over any email system on earth, and be sure your resume will look the exact same no matter where its sent. In some nations, a CV is typically the very first item a prospective employer encounters concerning the job seeker and is typically utilized to screen applicants, often followed by means of an interview. The nursing CV is a wise means to put up your nursing application, and this format is the very best in showing you the way to produce the nursing CV look its very best. What to Expect From Curric Vitae? If you determine that you want to submit a CV, bear in mind that while there arent any particular formatting guidelines, you ought to use common sense to make a document thats comprehensive and well organized. Be keen on the template which you will use so it is pos sible to guarantee that it can allow you to professionally present yourself the very best way possible. The rest of the templates are readily available to zum besten von subscribers. A few of the templates are free while others cost a couple of dollars. Today, weve resolved to share the very best CV and resume templates that youre able to utilize to portray your identity. Utilizing VisualCVs CV editor you can readily switch from 1 template to another, and that means you can easily use the ideal template for the job every single time you apply. Opt for an Appropriate Curriculum Vitae Format Make sure you pick a curriculum vitae format thats suitable for the position youre applying for. Have a peek at an outline of the way to format a CV in a skills-based template. CVs can get lengthy, especially in case youve been in your industry for many years and have amassed a lot of experience. A CV may also include things like professional references, in addition to coursework, fieldwor k, hobbies and interests applicable to your profession. A chronological CV is best if youve got consistent employment within the exact same industry, and your work experience displays advancement in your area. Employers find it quite unattractive. Young professionals can opt to compose a chronological CV if they would care to highlight their latest activity. Education should always arrive first. Using Curric Vitae The uses of the CV examples can be viewed mainly in those circumstances, where youre likely to write aA CV Samples for the very first time. Moreover, give your CV to be proofread by your friends to ensure there isnt any technical mistake like spelling and grammatical error. Pick a suitable curriculum vitae format make certain you choose a curriculum vitae format thats acceptable for the position youre applying for. Do not incorporate any other verbiage. Opt for a format dependent on the kind and volume of information youve got on your CV. To help you produce a co mpelling CV, consider the subsequent background info and examples. Formatting your CV is imperative to make your document clear, professional and simple to read. So, you can want to look at maintaining an individual CV which you use specifically for submitting with applications. Curric Vitae Can Be Fun for Everyone Together with mentioning the work type, if youll give a tiny description of your work in the cv then its going to be best too. If you are only starting out, your CV should be comparatively straightforward, but for mid-career or late-career professionals it can find a little more complex. If youre utilizing a CV to apply to get a job in another nation, its important to learn about the format common in that nation. When trying to find a job in a particular field, an overall CV simply wont do. You may want to take advantage of our readily made available digital curriculum vitae sample so that you wouldnt have a tough time searching for the precise ones that are entirel y different from a resume. You are able to also have criticism from your buddy or family for the last design. You are unable to compose a single resume for a number of kinds of jobs. This format could choose the kind of a company card and the ideal thing is that you can carry it with you at all times to utilize it easily in impromptu conditions.

How To Handle An Unhappy Employee - Spark Hire

How To Handle An Unhappy Employee - Spark HireImagine this scenario as a supervisor or HR professional an employee comes into your office and asks to speak with you privately. When they close the door and sit down, they divulge to you that they are very unhappy with their job at present, for any number of reasons. How, as their supervisor, superior, or member of HR support, should you field their questions, concerns, and even anger, in order to help them out?These situations can be complicated and difficult to understand, but as their superior, you should first seek to understand the entire situation, and then act. What are the underlying reasons for this employees unhappiness? Are they upset with their compensation? Do they believe their workload is unfair? Do they find it difficult to collaborate with their coworkers? Perhaps their unhappiness is stemming from something in their personal life, an unsupportive spouse or bills that are not being covered. As a supervisor facing this s ituation, be cognizant of which issues might require the presence of a human resources professional.When you have assessed the situation for the true cause, ask what the employee has already actively done in order to make their situation better. If they are struggling with a particular employee, have they approached this employee about their behavior and explained how it negatively affects them? If they feel stuck in their current position, have they looked at other openings within the company or actively pursued development opportunities that might align them with promotions? If they havent taken action on their own at this point, a gentle reminder to do so may be in order.Iftheyvealready exhausted other options, what can you offer them to help revamp their motivation and productivity? Depending on their specific needs, here are some ideas for offering them helpNew projects and tasks Perhaps its time for a shift within your team. When employees do the same tasks every day, they can become complacent about their levels of accuracy and efficiency and quite simply, they can become bored. You can most likely boost accuracy and productivity by shifting some tasks around within your team, putting new eyes and a new perspective on each task.Continuing education Can the company afford to send a few employees to a seminar or class about productivity or to learn a new computer program or other skill? If so, perhaps send your disgruntled employee and ask them to share about their experience when they return. Hopefully the time outside the office will be refreshing and the class or seminar will encourage them that they can excel in their job.Mentoring and professional development If the employee is genuinely concerned with moving upward and feeling like they have little way of doing that, offer them a few avenues. Maybe suggest having a mentoring relationship with someone in a position they admire. Or, offer other professional development opportunities such as seminars o r allow the employee to sit in on a meeting that may give them a higher level understanding of the company.Most likely, a discouraged or unhappy employee simply needs a new task, new perspective, or new goal in order to motivate them in their job. There are numerous ways this can be accomplished as a supervisor or HR professional, beginning with understanding the employees unhappiness for exactly what it is.Have you ever experienced a scenario like the one first described? What course of action did you take? Drop us a line in the comments belowIMAGE Courtesy of Flickr bySon of Groucho