FINANCIAL HOUSEKEEPING | Get smart before buying a car
With a car being one of the biggest purchases most consumers make, knowing the ins and outs of auto financing can provide a big edge for being a smart shopper.
Americans Well-Informed on Automobile Retailing Economics, or AWARE, is a group dedicated to helping consumers get a little bit smarter about the way they purchase and finance cars, and the group has a website that will help consumers bone up on the right way to shop for a car before they ever head to the showroom.
The group’s website – autofinancing101.org – is a particularly good jumping-off point for anyone buying a first car, or for someone who has not purchased or leased a car recently.
SHORT COURSE | Debt-equity swap
A debt-equity swap is a deal in which a corporation exchanges existing bonds (debt) for newly issued stock (equity). Typically, this kind of move allows a company that is in financial trouble to cancel some of its outstanding debt by trading shares for the bonds.
For example, XYZ Co. can eliminate some of its debt – removing that negative from their balance sheet – by transferring the equivalent balance to equity.
Some companies may take advantage of the debt-equity swap process during times when their share price is high, allowing them to trade more debt for fewer shares of stock.
