贵金属投资技术分析英文版 (27).pptVIP

Text : 2.3 Portfolio Choice CHARACTERISTICS OF FINANCIAL ASSETS Portfolio choice involves decisions about the way we want to hold our assets (or to structure our liabilities). It is a fancy term for something we do all the time. For example, a yard sale is an example of portfolio adjustment. People holding a yard sale are attempting to convert assets in the form clothing and household items into cash. They are not changing the amount of assets they have, but rather the form in which they hold them. Text : From a macroeconomic perspective, most important cases of portfolio adjustment involve financial assets. When we look at financial assets, there are three characteristics that most people want to have in their assets. First, they like assets with low risk. Second, they want assets that are liquid, assets that can easily be converted to money and spent. Third, they like assets that give them a high rate of return. Because no asset combines all three characteristics, people face tradeoffs. Text : If they want a higher return, they usually have to accept more risk or less liquidity. For example, over the past half century the average return on holding common stocks has been higher than the return on holding passbook savings in a bank. However, the high average return on common stocks is the result of some stocks performing very well while others perform poorly. Investment in stocks can be quite risky. Text : BALANCE SHEET Many issues in portfolio choice can be illustrated with a balance sheet. A balance sheet is based on the definition of net worth or wealth: (1) Net Worth = Assets - Liabilities An asset is what one owns and a liability is what one owes. Using very elementary algebra, one can rewrite this equation as: (2) Assets = Net Worth + Liabilities Since this equation is based on a definition, the right-hand and left-hand sides must equal each other or balance, and hence the name balance sheet. Text :