4.1 Financial Assets

BONDS VS STOCKS

demand deposit 活期存款

interest rate与bond prices 相反的关系

3 function of money

• a medium of exchange

• a unit of account

• a store of value

M1 includes currency and money in checking accounts (demand deposits). Traveler’s checks are also a component of M1, but are declining in use. M2 includes all of M1, plus savings deposits, time deposits like certificates of deposit, and money market funds.

The lines separating M1 and M2 can become a little blurry. Sometimes elements of M1 are not treated alike; for example, some businesses will not accept personal checks for large amounts, but will accept traveler’s checks or cash. Changes in banking practices and technology have made the savings accounts in M2 more similar to the checking accounts in M1. For example, some savings accounts will allow depositors to write checks, use automatic teller machines, and pay bills over the Internet, which has made it easier to access savings accounts. As with many other economic terms and statistics, the important point is to know the strengths and limitations of the various definitions of money, not to believe that such definitions are as clear-cut to economists as, say, the definition of nitrogen is to chemists.

活期存款账户（Savings Account/saving deposit）是一种由零售银行支付利息并维护的银行账户，但是账户内的资金不能直接当做现金使用（例如通过支票支付）。虽然活期储蓄账户不能当作支票账户使用，但是它依然可以一边保持客户的流动资金，另一边为客户提供利息收益。

借记卡,credit card 既不是M1也不是M2

Monetary Base = Banknotes in Circulation + Coins in Circulation + Current Account Balances (Current Account Deposits at the Bank)

Banking and the expansion of the money supply

What are assets?

Assets are resources (tangible and intangible) that your business owns, and that can provide you with future economic benefit. They add value to your business, they can help you meet your commitments and increase your equity.

What are liabilities?

Liabilities are your business' debts or obligations which you need to fulfil in the future. This is the money you need to repay, the goods you need to provide or the services you need to perform. These responsibilities arise out of past transactions and need to be settled through the company's assets.

Both assets and liabilities are reported on the company's balance sheet. While some assets are depreciable, liabilities are not - they do not diminish in value over time. See more on depreciation of assets.

assets- things that a bank owns like bonds, car loans, mortagages, and reserves

liabilities- things that a bank owes like demand deposits

required reserves- the percent that banks must hold by law

excess reserves- the amount that the bank can loan out

Fractional Reserve Banking（部分准备金制度）

when banks hold a portion of deposits to cover potential withdrawals and then loans the rest of the rest of the money out

Money Demand Shifters

• change in price level

• change in income

• change in technology

money supply shifters

• reserve requirement

• discount rate 

• open market operations (buying and selling bonds)

open market operations is when the central bank buys or sells government bonds(securities) This is the most important and widely used monetary policy

The federal funds rate is the interest rate that banks charge one another for one-day loans of reserves. 与discount rate 不同的是，这是central bank 对于来向它借钱的commercial bank的利率

discount rate 折现率

贴现率是用于将未来现金流贴现到现在的利率。

在金融界，现在的100美元和5年后的100美元的价值是不相等的，因为如果你现在得到100美元，你可以投资它，产生利息并支付它，最终的结果将超过5年后的100美元。

例如，如果我们把100美元存入银行，利率为1%，经过5年的复利，我们可以得到大约105.1美元。

我们可以说，在利率（贴现率为1%）下，现在的100美元和5年后的105.1美元的价值是相等的。

把这个概念转过来。

例如，如果一个投资机会告诉你，它在5年后将值100美元，那么它在现在应该值多少钱？

我们可以尝试计算它的现值（称为现值PV），它可以通过以一定的利率进行贴现来计算，用于贴现的利率称为贴现率。

例如，如果我们用5%的贴现率来计算5年后100美元的现值，我们可以说今天78.35美元的价值就等于5年后100美元的价值。

为什么我们需要了解贴现率？

因为现在的价值和未来的价值之间的差异会使我们难以比较不同时期的成本和收益，也会影响战略分析的结果，所以计算一个折现率进行比较是很重要的。

例如，如果一个投资计划现在需要70美元，五年后将获得100美元的收益，这样做是好还是坏？

在你知道了资金的时间价值之后，你会发现这两者之间没有直接的比较，我们不能说100美元比70美元好，也不能说盈利更好。

相反，我们应该了解我们赚了多少钱，是否符合我们的预期。

此时，我们需要把5年后的100美元和今天的70美元换算成相同的时间点来相互比较，我们将使用贴现率。

例如，如果我们用5%的贴现率来做计算，5年后的100美元的贴现率是78.35美元，也就是说，如果你现在投资78.35美元，5年后得到100美元，你的年化收益率是5%。

但是，如果投资计划现在的价值低于78.35美元，例如，如果你可以只投资70美元，那么你可以肯定，投资回报率将超过5%的折现率。

另一方面，如果现在的投资价值超过78.35美元，例如85美元，那么我们可以肯定，投资回报率低于5%

通过这种方式，我们可以评估一个投资机会是否符合我们期望的回报。

贴现率是指将一项投资的未来现金流转换为现值的比率，以估计一项投资是否有利可图。

投资中最容易使用贴现率的地方之一是股票的估值。

通过设定一个合理的贴现率，你可以将一只股票或投资机会的未来收益折算成现值，并与当前的股票价格进行比较，以确定它是否值得投资。