Columbia Encyclopedia

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accounting

(Encyclopedia)accounting, classification, analysis, and interpretation of the financial, or bookkeeping, records of an enterprise. The professional who supplies such services is known as an accountant. Auditing is ...

Post, George Browne

(Encyclopedia)Post, George Browne, 1837–1913, American architect, b. New York City, grad. New York Univ., 1858, in civil engineering, and studied architecture with R. M. Hunt. He was one of the leaders in a notab...

Montagnais and Naskapi

(Encyclopedia)Montagnais năsˈkəpē [key], aboriginal peoples originally from Labrador, Canada. Because they both spoke almost identical Algonquian languages and had similar customs, the two groups are often link...

program trading

(Encyclopedia)program trading, a form of securities trading, also known as index arbitrage. Program traders exploit the price discrepancies between indexes of stocks and futures contracts by using sophisticated com...

pressure group

(Encyclopedia)pressure group, body, organized or unorganized, that actively seeks to promote its particular interests within a society by exerting pressure on public officials and agencies. Pressure groups direct t...

discount

(Encyclopedia)discount, in banking and investment, fee for lending money, which the banker deducts from the loan when it is given. Thus, with a $1,000 loan at a 6% discount, the borrower receives $940 and repays $1...

stock, in finance

(Encyclopedia)stock, in finance, instrument certifying to shares in the ownership of a corporation. Bonds are similar evidences of shares in a loan to a corporation. Stock yields no dividends until claims of bondho...

Douglas, William Orville

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, William Orville, 1898–1980, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1939–75), b. Maine, Minn. He received his law degree from Columbia in 1925 and later was professo...

American International Group

(Encyclopedia)American International Group (AIG), American multinational insurance corporation whose potential bankruptcy in 2008 led to the largest federal bailout of a private company. AIG was founded as American...

broker

(Encyclopedia)broker, one who acts as an intermediary in a sale or other business transaction between two parties. Such a person conducts individual transactions only, is given no general authority by the employers...