Investopedia "G" Terms

Gap Analysis

A gap analysis is the process companies use to compare their current performance with their desired, expected performance. This analysis is used to determine whether a company is meeting expectations and using its resources effectively.

Garnishment

Garnishment, or wage garnishment, is when money is legally withheld from your paycheck and sent to another party. It refers to a legal process that instructs a third party to deduct payments directly from a debtor's wage or bank account.

Globalization

Globalization is the spread of products, technology, information, and jobs across national borders and cultures. In economic terms, it describes an interdependence of nations around the globe fostered through free trade.

Glocalization

Glocalization is a combination of the words "globalization" and "localization." The term is used to describe a product or service that is developed and distributed globally but is also adjusted to accommodate the user or consumer in a local market.

Going Public

Going public is the process of selling shares that were formerly held privately and are now available to new investors for the first time, otherwise known as an initial public offering (IPO).

Green Marketing

Green marketing refers to the practice of developing and advertising products based on their real or perceived environmental sustainability.

Gross Domestic Income (GDI)

Gross domestic income (GDI) is a measure of a nation's economic activity that is based on all of the money earned for all of the goods and services produced in the nation during a specific period.

Grunt Work

Grunt work is an expression used to describe thankless and menial work. Grunt work can also refer to jobs that either lack glamour and prestige or are boring and repetitive. In the context of the finance industry, grunt work could entail combing through a company's financial records, looking for positive and negative developments, or analyzing historical trading data in the hope of finding the perfect stop-limit order points.

Guanxi

Guanxi (pronounced gwan' CHē) is a Chinese term meaning relationships; in business, it is commonly referred to as networks or connections used to open doors for new business and facilitate deals. A person who has a lot of guanxi will be in a better position to generate business than someone who lacks it.

Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR)

The Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) is a semiannual report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that assesses the stability of global financial markets and emerging-market financing. It is released twice per year, in April and October.

Gross National Product (GNP) Deflator

The gross national product deflator is an economic metric that accounts for the effects of inflation in the current year's gross national product (GNP) by converting its output to a level relative to a base period.

GDP Gap

A GDP gap is the difference between the actual gross domestic product (GDP) and the potential GDP of an economy as represented by the long-term trend. A negative GDP gap represents the forfeited output of a country's economy resulting from the failure to create sufficient jobs for all those willing to work. A large positive GDP gap, on the other hand, generally signifies that an economy is overheated and at risk of high inflation.

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a commonly used graphical depiction of a project schedule. It's a type of bar chart showing the start and finish dates of a project's elements such as resources, planning and dependencies.

Genesis Block

A Genesis Block is the name given to the first block a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, ever mined. A blockchain consists of a series of so-called blocks that are used to store information related to transactions that occur on a blockchain network. Each of the blocks contains a unique header, and each such block is identified by its block header hash individually.

Giffen Good

A Giffen good is a low income, non-luxury product that defies standard economic and consumer demand theory. Demand for Giffen goods rises when the price rises and falls when the price falls. In econometrics, this results in an upward-sloping demand curve, contrary to the fundamental laws of demand which create a downward sloping demand curve.

Godfather Offer

A Godfather offer is an irrefutable takeover bid made to a target company by an acquirer. Typically, the offer is priced at an extremely generous premium compared with the target's prevailing share price, making it difficult for management to reject the bid without angering shareholders and being accused of breaching their fiduciary duty.

Goldilocks Economy

A Goldilocks economy is not too hot or too cold but just right—to steal a line from the popular children's story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The term describes an ideal state for an economic system. In this perfect state, there is full employment, economic stability, and stable growth. The economy is not expanding or contracting by a large margin.

Google Tax

A Google tax, also known as a diverted profits tax, refers to anti-avoidance tax provisions that have been introduced in several jurisdictions to deal with the practice of profits or royalties being diverted to other jurisdictions that have lower or zero tax rates. For example, internet giant Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) Google paid a negligible amount as tax in the United Kingdom by completing its transactions in the low tax capital city of Dublin, Ireland, even though the revenue of $6.5 billion was earned in the UK.

Guilder Share (New York Share)

A Guilder share was an ownership stake in a Dutch company that could be traded in the United States because it represented shares that had been canceled in Dutch stock markets.

Gardening Leave

A gardening leave refers to the period of time during which an employee stays away from the workplace, or works remotely during the notice period. The employee remains on the payroll and is in the process of terminating their employment, but is neither permitted to go to work nor to commence any other employment during the gardening leave.

General Ledger

A general ledger represents the record-keeping system for a company's financial data, with debit and credit account records validated by a trial balance. It provides a record of each financial transaction that takes place during the life of an operating company and holds account information that is needed to prepare the company's financial statements. Transaction data is segregated, by type, into accounts for assets, liabilities, owners' equity, revenues, and expenses.

General Manager (GM)

A general manager (GM) is responsible for all or part of a department's operations or the company's operations, including generating revenue and controlling costs. In small companies, the general manager may be one of the top executives. In hierarchical organizations, GMs rank above most employees but below corporate-level executives. The responsibility and importance associated with the position may vary among companies and often depend on the organization's structure.

General Order (GO)

A general order (GO) is a status given to imported goods that are missing the proper documentation or cannot be quickly cleared through customs for other reasons. Merchandise may be held under general order if the proper duties, fees, or interest are not paid, if the owner fails to complete the required customs paperwork, or if it is not correctly or legally invoiced. Goods will be held under general order if they remain uncleared for more than 15 days.

General Partner

A general partner is one of two or more investors who jointly own a business that is structured as a partnership, and who assumes a day-to-day role in managing it.

General Partnership

A general partnership is a business arrangement by which two or more individuals agree to share in all assets, profits, and financial and legal liabilities of a jointly-owned business. In a general partnership, partners agree to unlimited liability, meaning liabilities are not capped and can be paid through the seizure of an owner's assets. Furthermore, any partner may be sued for the business's debts.

Generation Gap

A generation gap refers to the chasm that separates the beliefs and behaviors belonging to members of two different generations. More specifically, a generation gap can be used to describe the differences in thoughts, actions, and tastes exhibited by members of younger generations versus older ones.

Generation-Skipping Trust—GST

A generation-skipping trust (GST) is a type of legally binding trust agreement in which the contributed assets are passed down to the grantor's grandchildren, thus "skipping" the next generation, the grantor's children. By passing over the grantor's children, the assets avoid the estate taxes—taxes on an individual's property upon his or her death—that would apply if the children directly inherited them.

Gentlemen's Agreement

A gentlemen's agreement is an informal, often unwritten agreement or transaction backed only by the integrity of the counterparty to actually abide by its terms. An agreement such as this is generally informal, made orally, and is not legally binding.

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)

A genuine progress indicator (GPI) is a metric used to measure the economic growth of a country. It is often considered an alternative metric to the more well-known gross domestic product (GDP) economic indicator. The GPI indicator takes everything the GDP uses into account but adds other figures that represent the cost of the negative effects related to economic activity, such as the cost of crime, cost of ozone depletion, and cost of resource depletion, among others.

Gift in Trust

A gift in trust is a special legal and fiduciary arrangement that allows for an indirect bequest of assets to a beneficiary. The purpose of a gift in trust is to avoid the tax on gifts that exceed the annual gift tax exclusion limit. This type of trust is commonly used to transfer wealth to the next generation.

Gift Inter Vivos

A gift inter vivos, which means a gift between the living in Latin, is a legal term that refers to a transfer or gift made during the life of the grantor. Inter vivos gifts, which includes property related to an estate, are not subject to probate taxes since they are not part of the donor's estate at death. An inter vivos transfer is one made during the grantor's lifetime.

Gift Letter

A gift letter is a piece of legal, written correspondence explicitly stating that money received from a friend or relative is a gift. Gift letters for tax purposes often come into play when a borrower has received assistance in making a down payment on a new home or other real estate property. Such letters state that the money received is not expected to be paid back in any way, shape, or form.

Gift Tax Return

A gift tax return is a federal tax return that must be filed under certain conditions by the giver of a gift. (It is not a tax on returning gifts.) The return is known as Form 709. 

Global Bond

A global bond, sometimes referred to as a Eurobond, is a type of bond issued and traded outside the country where the currency of the bond is denominated.

Global Depositary Receipt (GDR)

A global depositary receipt (GDR) is a bank certificate issued in more than one country for shares in a foreign company. GDRs list shares in two or more markets, most frequently the U.S. market and the Euromarkets, with one fungible security.

Global Recession

A global recession is an extended period of economic decline around the world. A global recession involves more or less synchronized recessions across many national economies, as trade relations and international financial systems transmit economic shocks and the impact of recession from one country to another.

Go-Shop Period

A go-shop period is a provision that allows a public company to seek out competing offers even after it has already received a firm purchase offer. The original offer then functions as a floor for possible better offers. The duration of a go-shop period is usually about one to two months.

Gold Certificate

A gold certificate, issued as U.S. currency equivalents until 1934, proves ownership of a specific amount of gold.

Golden Handshake

A golden handshake is a stipulation in an employment agreement which states that the employer will provide a significant severance package if the employee loses their job. It is usually provided to top executives in the event that they lose employment because of retirement, layoffs, or for negligence. However, payment can be made in several ways, such as cash or stock options.

Golden Parachute

A golden parachute consists of substantial benefits given to top executives if the company is taken over by another firm, and the executives are terminated as a result of the merger or takeover. Golden parachutes are contracts with key executives and can be used as a type of anti-takeover measure, often collectively referred to as poison pills, taken by a firm to discourage an unwanted takeover attempt. Benefits may include stock options, cash bonuses, and generous severance pay.

Government Bond

A government bond is a debt security issued by a government to support government spending and obligations. Government bonds can pay periodic interest payments called coupon payments. Government bonds issued by national governments are often considered low-risk investments since the issuing government backs them.

Government Grant

A government grant is a financial award given by a federal, state, or local government authority for a beneficial project. It is effectively a transfer payment. A grant does not include technical assistance or other financial assistance, such as a loan or loan guarantee, an interest rate subsidy, direct appropriation, or revenue sharing. The grantee is not expected to repay the money but is expected to use the funds from the grant for their stated purpose, which typically serves some larger good.

Government Shutdown

A government shutdown happens when nonessential U.S. government offices can no longer remain open due to a lack of funding. The lack of funding usually occurs when there is a delay in the approval of the federal budget that will finance the government for the upcoming fiscal year. The shutdown remains in effect until funding legislation is passed.

Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE)

A government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) is a quasi-governmental entity established to enhance the flow of credit to specific sectors of the American economy. Created by acts of Congress, these agencies-although they are privately-held-provide public financial services. GSEs help to facilitate borrowing for a variety of individuals, including students, farmers, and homeowners.

Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC)

A government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC) is a contract in which multiple government agencies align their needs and purchase a contract for goods or services. Government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) allow for economies of scale, which usually reduce per-unit costs.

Grant

A grant is an award, usually financial, given by one entity (typically a company, foundation, or government) to an individual or a company to facilitate a goal or incentivize performance. Grants are essentially gifts that do not have to be paid back, under most conditions. These can include education loans, research money, and stock options. Some grants have waiting periods—called lock-up or vesting periods—before the grantee can take full ownership of the financial reward.

Grantee

A grantee is the recipient of a grant, scholarship, or some other asset such as real estate property. In contrast, a grantor is a person or entity that conveys ownership of an asset to another person or entity: the grantee. Identifying the grantee and grantor is especially important in legal documents as specific duties, responsibilities, benefits, and limitations are assigned to each.

Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT)

A grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) is a financial instrument used in estate planning to minimize taxes on large financial gifts to family members. Under these plans, an irrevocable trust is created for a certain term or period of time. The individual forming the trust establishes a gift value when the trust is created. Assets are placed under the trust and then an annuity is paid out every year. When the trust expires the beneficiary receives the assets tax-free.

Green Bond

A green bond is a type of fixed-income instrument that is specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects. These bonds are typically asset-linked and backed by the issuing entity's balance sheet, so they usually carry the same credit rating as their issuers' other debt obligations.​

Green Card

A green card is a colloquial name for the identification card issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to permanent residents who are legally allowed to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely. Green cards got their nickname because they were green in color from 1946 to 1964. In 2010 they became green again, but the nickname persisted during the intervening decades of blue, pink, and yellow "green cards."

Green Fund

A green fund is a mutual fund or another investment vehicle that will only invest in companies that are deemed socially conscious or directly promote environmental responsibility. A green fund can come in the form of a focused investment vehicle for companies engaged in environmentally supportive businesses, such as alternative energy, green transport, water and waste management, and sustainable living.

Green-Field Investment

A green-field (also "greenfield") investment is a type of foreign direct investment (FDI) in which a parent company creates a subsidiary in a different country, building its operations from the ground up. In addition to the construction of new production facilities, these projects can also include the building of new distribution hubs, offices, and living quarters.

Greenback

A greenback is a slang term for U.S. paper dollars that originated from the backs of the bills being printed in green ink. In the mid-1800s, the Continental Congress did not have taxing authority. The "greenback" was a negative term because they did not have secure financial backing authority and banks were reluctant to give customers the full value of the dollar.

Greensheet

A greensheet is a document prepared by an underwriter to summarize the main components of a new issue or initial public offering (IPO). Such documents are for internal use only, functioning as a marketing tool to help drum up interest from prospective institutional investors and brokers.

Greenshoe Option

A greenshoe option is an over-allotment option. In the context of an initial public offering (IPO), it is a provision in an underwriting agreement that grants the underwriter the right to sell investors more shares than initially planned by the issuer if the demand for a security issue proves higher than expected.

Gross-Up

A gross-up is an additional amount of money added to a payment to cover the income taxes the recipient will owe on the payment.

Growth Curve

A growth curve is a graphical representation that shows the course of a phenomenon over time. An example of a growth curve might be a chart showing a country's population increase over time.

Growth Industry

A growth industry is that sector of an economy which experiences a higher-than-average growth rate as compared to other sectors. Growth industries are often new or pioneer industries that did not exist in the past. Their growth is a result of demand for new products or services offered by companies in the field. An example of a growth industry is the technology sector, whose products have become runaway hits with consumers and led to multibillion-dollar valuations for tech companies in the stock market.

Growth Stock

A growth stock is any share in a company that is anticipated to grow at a rate significantly above the average growth for the market. These stocks generally do not pay dividends. This is because the issuers of growth stocks are usually companies that want to reinvest any earnings they accrue in order to accelerate growth in the short term. When investors invest in growth stocks, they anticipate that they will earn money through capital gains when they eventually sell their shares in the future.

Guarantee Company

A guarantee company is a type of corporation designed to protect members from liability. Guarantee companies often form when non-profit organizations wish to attain corporate status. Clubs, sports associations, students' unions, and other membership organizations, workers' co-operatives, social enterprises, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may also form guarantee companies.

Guaranteed Bond

A guaranteed bond is a debt security that offers a secondary guarantee that interest and principal payments will be made by a third party, should the issuer default due to reasons such as insolvency or bankruptcy. A guaranteed bond can be of either the municipal or corporate variety. It can be backed by a bond insurance company, a fund or group entity, a government authority, or the corporate parents of subsidiaries or joint ventures that are issuing bonds.

Gazelle Company:

According to the original technical definition, a gazelle company is a high-growth company that has been increasing its revenues by at least 20% annually for four years or more, starting from a revenue base of at least $100,000.

Gemini Exchange

Founded in 2014, the Gemini Exchange, also known as the Gemini Trust Company, is the brainchild of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the famous investors, twins, and Harvard classmates of Mark Zuckerberg.

GAFAM Stocks

GAFAM is an acronym for five popular U.S. tech stocks: Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook (Meta), Amazon, and Microsoft.

GDAX

GDAX is the former name of the cryptocurrency exchange run by Coinbase, a popular broker for bitcoin and other digital assets. Unlike the in-app purchases available through the Coinbase wallet, GDAX was aimed at professional traders, with tools to track price movements and set complex buy and sell orders.

Guinea Franc (GNF)

GNF is the currency abbreviation for the Guinea franc, the national currency of the Republic of Guinea, a country in West Africa.

Game Theory

Game theory is a theoretical framework for conceiving social situations among competing players. In some respects, game theory is the science of strategy, or at least the optimal decision-making of independent and competing actors in a strategic setting.

Gamification

Gamification describes the incentivization of people's engagement in non-game contexts and activities by using game-style mechanics.

Garage Liability Insurance

Garage liability insurance is specialty insurance targeted to the automotive industry. Automobile dealerships, parking lots or parking garages operators, tow-truck operators, service stations, and customization and repair shops will add garage liability insurance to their business liability coverage. The policy protects property damage and bodily injury resulting from operations.

Gas (Ethereum)

Gas refers to the fee, or pricing value, required to successfully conduct a transaction or execute a contract on the Ethereum blockchain platform. Priced in small fractions of the cryptocurrency ether (ETH), commonly referred to as gwei and sometimes also called nanoeth, the gas is used to allocate resources of the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) so that decentralized applications such as smart contracts can self-execute in a secured but decentralized fashion.

Gearing Ratio

Gearing ratios are financial ratios that compare some form of owner's equity (or capital) to debt, or funds borrowed by the company. Gearing is a measurement of the entity's financial leverage, which demonstrates the degree to which a firm's activities are funded by shareholders' funds versus creditors' funds.

Gearing

Gearing refers to the relationship, or ratio, of a company's debt-to-equity (D/E). Gearing shows the extent to which a firm's operations are funded by lenders versus shareholders—in other words, it measures a company's financial leverage. When the proportion of debt-to-equity is great, then a business may be thought of as being highly geared, or highly leveraged.

General and Administrative Expense (G&A)

General and administrative (G&A) expenses are incurred in the day-to-day operations of a business and may not be directly tied to a specific function or department within the company. General expenses pertain to operational overhead expenses that impact the entire business. Administrative expenses are expenses that cannot be directly tied to a specific function within the company such as manufacturing, production, or sales. G&A expenses include rent, utilities, insurance, legal fees, and certain salaries.

General Equilibrium Theory

General equilibrium theory, or Walrasian general equilibrium, attempts to explain the functioning of the macroeconomy as a whole, rather than as collections of individual market phenomena.

General Provisions

General provisions are balance sheet items representing funds set aside by a company as assets to pay for anticipated future losses. For banks, a general provision is considered to be supplementary capital under the first Basel Accord. General provisions on the balance sheets of financial firms are considered to be a higher risk asset because it is implicitly assumed that the underlying funds will be in default in the future.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) refer to a common set of accounting principles, standards, and procedures issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Public companies in the U.S. must follow GAAP when their accountants compile their financial statements.

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS)

Generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) are a set of systematic guidelines used by auditors when conducting audits on companies' financial records. GAAS helps to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and verifiability of auditors' actions and reports. The Auditing Standards Board (ASB) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) created GAAS.

Generation X (Gen X)

Generation X, which is sometimes shortened to Gen X, is the name given to the generation of Americans born between the mid-1960s and the early-1980s. The exact years that comprise Gen X vary. Some researchers—demographers William Straus and Neil Howe, for example—place the exact birth years from 1961 to 1981, whereas Gallup places the birth years between 1965 and 1979. But all agree that Gen X follows the baby boom generation and precedes Generation Y or the millennial generation. 

Geographical Labor Mobility

Geographical labor mobility refers to the level of flexibility and freedom that workers have to move from one region or locale to another in order to find gainful employment in their field.

Geographical Pricing

Geographical pricing is the practice of adjusting an item's sale price based on the location of the buyer. Sometimes the difference in the sale price is based on the cost to ship the item to that location. But the difference may also be based on what amount the people in that location are willing to pay. Companies will try to maximize revenue in the markets in which they operate, and geographical pricing contributes to that goal.

Who Is George Soros? For What Is He Known?

George Soros is a legendary hedge fund manager who is widely considered one of the most successful investors of all time. Soros managed the Quantum Fund, a fund that achieved an average annual return of 30% from 1970 to 2000. He remains the chair of Soros Fund Management LLC.

Gift Causa Mortis

Gift causa mortis is a gift of personal property made with the expectation that the person giving the gift will soon die.

Gift Tax

Gift tax is a federal tax paid by an individual who transfers something of value to another individual without receiving something of similar value in return. Gifts can be anything of significant value, such as large sums of money or real estate, and the tax can be imposed even if the person donating never intended it to be a gift.

Glass Cliff

Glass cliff refers to a phenomenon wherein women tend to be promoted to positions of power during times of crisis or downturn when the chance of failure is more likely. The British researchers Michelle K. Ryan, Alexander Haslam, and Julie S. Ashby of the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, have been credited with coining this term based on their research on the 100 companies included in the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 Index.

Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS)

Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) are a set of voluntary standards used by investment managers throughout the world to ensure the full disclosure and fair representation of their investment performance. The goal of the standards is to make it possible for investors to compare one firm's performance against that of another firm.

GmbH

GmbH is an abbreviation of the German phrase "Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung," which means "company with limited liability." It's a suffix used after a private limited company's name in Germany (versus AG, which is used to indicate a public limited company). GmbH is the equivalent of "Ltd." (limited) used in the U.K. and is the most common form of incorporation in Germany.

Goal Seeking

Goal seeking is the process of finding the correct input value when only the output is known. The function of goal seeking can be built into different kinds of computer software programs like Microsoft Excel.

Goal-Based Investing

Goal-based investing is a relatively new approach to wealth management that emphasizes investing with the objective of attaining specific life goals. Goal-based investing (GBI) involves a wealth manager or investment firm's clients measuring their progress towards specific life goals, such as saving for children's education or building a retirement nest-egg, rather than focusing on generating the highest possible portfolio return or beating the market.

Going Concern

Going concern is an accounting term for a company that has the resources needed to continue operating indefinitely until it provides evidence to the contrary. This term also refers to a company's ability to make enough money to stay afloat or to avoid bankruptcy. If a business is not a going concern, it means it's gone bankrupt and its assets were liquidated. As an example, many dot-coms are no longer going concern companies after the tech bust in the late 1990s.

Going-Concern Value

Going concern value is a value that assumes the company will remain in business indefinitely and continue to be profitable. Going concern value is also known as total value. This differs from the value that would be realized if its assets were liquidated—the liquidation value—because an ongoing operation has the ability to continue to earn a profit, which contributes to its value. A company should always be considered a going concern unless there is a good reason to believe that it will be going out of business.

Golden Handcuffs

Golden handcuffs are a collection of financial incentives that are intended to encourage employees to remain with a company for a stipulated period of time. Golden handcuffs are offered by employers to existing key employees as a means of holding onto them as well as to increase employee retention rates. Golden handcuffs are common in industries where highly-compensated employees are likely to move from one company to another.

Good Credit

Good credit is a classification for an individual's credit history, indicating the borrower has a relatively high credit score and is a safe credit risk. Credit scores are provided through credit reporting agencies. Lenders check credit scores for the purpose of providing credit underwriting decisions and background check details.

Good Faith Money

Good faith money is a deposit of money into an account by a buyer to show that they have the intention of completing a deal. Good faith money is often later applied to the purchase but may be non-refundable if the deal does not go through.

Goodwill Impairment

Goodwill impairment is an accounting charge that companies record when goodwill's carrying value on financial statements exceeds its fair value. In accounting, goodwill is recorded after a company acquires assets and liabilities, and pays a price in excess of their identifiable net value.

Goodwill

Goodwill is an intangible asset that is associated with the purchase of one company by another. Specifically, goodwill is the portion of the purchase price that is higher than the sum of the net fair value of all of the assets purchased in the acquisition and the liabilities assumed in the process. The value of a company's brand name, solid customer base, good customer relations, good employee relations, and proprietary technology represent some reasons why goodwill exists.

Gordon Gekko

Gordon Gekko is a fictional character who appears as the villain in the popular 1987 Oliver Stone movie "Wall Street" and its 2010 sequel "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." The character, a ruthless and wildly wealthy investor and corporate raider, has become a cultural symbol for greed, as epitomized by the famous "Wall Street" quote "Greed is good."

Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC)

Governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) is a relatively new corporate management system that integrates these three crucial functions into the processes of every department within an organization.

Gilts

Government bonds in the U.K., India, and several other Commonwealth countries are known as gilts. Gilts are the equivalent of U.S. Treasury securities in their respective countries. The term gilt is often used informally to describe any bond that has a very low risk of default and a correspondingly low rate of return. They are called gilts because the original certificates issued by the British government had gilded edges.

Government Purchases

Government purchases are expenditures on goods and services by federal, state, and local governments. The combined total of this spending, excluding transfer payments and interest on the debt, is a key factor in determining a nation's gross domestic product (GDP). Transfer payments are expenditures that do not involve purchases, such as Social Security payments and farm subsidies.

Grantor Trust Rules

Grantor trust rules are guidelines within the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that outline certain tax implications of a grantor trust. Under these rules, the individual who creates a grantor trust is recognized as the owner of the assets and property held within the trust for income and estate tax purposes.

Gray Box

Gray box refers to the testing of software where there is some limited knowledge of its internal workings. Gray box testing is an ethical hacking technique where the hacker has to use limited information to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a target's security network.

Green Chip Stocks

Green chip stocks are shares of environmentally-friendly companies. Green chip stocks are likely to be concentrated in areas such as alternative energy, pollution control, carbon abatement, and recycling.

Green Tech

Green tech refers to a type of technology that is considered environmentally friendly based on its production process or its supply chain. Green tech—an abbreviation of "green technology"—can also refer to clean energy production, the use of alternative fuels, and technologies that are less harmful to the environment than fossil fuels.

Greenwashing

Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products are more environmentally sound. Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company's products are environmentally friendly.

Gresham's Law

Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good." It is primarily used for consideration and application in currency markets. Gresham's law was originally based on the composition of minted coins and the value of the precious metals used in them. However, since the abandonment of metallic currency standards, the theory has been applied to the relative stability of different currencies' value in global markets.

Grexit

Grexit, an abbreviation for "Greek exit," refers to Greece's potential withdrawal from the Euro-zone, and a return to the Drachma as its official currency instead of the Euro.

Gross National Income (GNI)

Gross National Income (GNI) is the total amount of money earned by a nation's people and businesses. It is used to measure and track a nation's wealth from year to year. The number includes the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) plus the income it receives from overseas sources.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period. As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country's economic health.

Gross Earnings

Gross earnings is the total amount of income earned over a period of time by an individual/household or a company. For individuals and households, gross earnings are the income earned before the deduction of taxes or adjustments. In the corporate world, it's an accounting convention that refers to a public company's gross profit or the amount left from total revenues over a specified time period once the cost of goods sold (COGS) is deducted.

Gross Income

Gross income for an individual—also known as gross pay when it's on a paycheck—is an individual's total earnings before taxes or other deductions. This includes income from all sources, not just employment, and is not limited to income received in cash; it also includes property or services received.

Gross Margin

Gross margin is net sales less the cost of goods sold (COGS). In other words, it's the amount of money a company retains after incurring the direct costs associated with producing the goods it sells and the services it provides. The higher the gross margin, the more capital a company retains, which it can then use to pay other costs or satisfy debt obligations. The net sales figure is gross revenue, less the returns, allowances, and discounts.

Gross Merchandise Value (GMV)

Gross merchandise value (GMV) is the total value of merchandise sold over a given period of time through a customer-to-customer (C2C) exchange site. It is a measure of the growth of the business or use of the site to sell merchandise owned by others.

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Gross national happiness (GNH) is a measure of economic and moral progress that the king of the Himalayan country of Bhutan introduced in the 1970s as an alternative to gross domestic product. Rather than focusing strictly on quantitative economic measures, gross national happiness takes into account an evolving mix of quality-of-life factors.

Gross National Product (GNP)

Gross national product (GNP) is an estimate of the total value of all the final products and services turned out in a given period by the means of production owned by a country's residents. GNP is commonly calculated by taking the sum of personal consumption expenditures, private domestic investment, government expenditure, net exports, and any income earned by residents from overseas investments, minus income earned within the domestic economy by foreign residents. Net exports represent the difference between what a country exports minus any imports of goods and services.

Gross Net Written Premium

Gross net written premium income (GNWPI) is the dollar amount of an insurance company's premiums that are used to determine what portion of premiums is owed to a reinsurer. Gross net written premium income is the base to which the reinsurance premium rate is applied, taking into account cancellations, refunds, and premiums paid for reinsurance coverage.

Gross Profit

Gross profit is the profit a company makes after deducting the costs associated with making and selling its products, or the costs associated with providing its services. Gross profit will appear on a company's income statement and can be calculated by subtracting the cost of goods sold (COGS) from revenue (sales). These figures can be found on a company's income statement. Gross profit may also be referred to as sales profit or gross income.

Gross Profit Margin

Gross profit margin is a metric analysts use to assess a company's financial health by calculating the amount of money left over from product sales after subtracting the cost of goods sold (COGS). Sometimes referred to as the gross margin ratio, gross profit margin is frequently expressed as a percentage of sales.

Introduction to Gross Receipts

Gross receipts are sales of a business that form the basis for corporate taxation in a handful of individual states and certain local tax authorities. The components of gross receipts vary by state and municipality.

Gross Sales

Gross sales is a metric for the total sales of a company, unadjusted for the costs related to generating those sales. The gross sales formula is calculated by totaling all sale invoices or related revenue transactions. However, gross sales do not include the operating expenses, tax expenses, or other charges—all of these are deducted to calculate net sales.

Gross Value Added (GVA)

Gross value added (GVA) is an economic productivity metric that measures the contribution of a corporate subsidiary, company, or municipality to an economy, producer, sector, or region.

Gross Working Capital

Gross working capital is the sum of a company's current assets (assets that are convertible to cash within a year or less). Gross working capital includes assets such as cash, accounts receivable, inventory, short-term investments, and marketable securities. Gross working capital less current liabilities is equal to net working capital, or simply "working capital;" a more useful measure for balance sheet analysis.

Group of 3 (G3)

Group of 3 refers to a ten-year free trade agreement between Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela that began in 1995 and lasted until 2005. The pact covered numerous issues including intellectual property rights, public-sector investments and the easing of trade restrictions.

Groupthink

Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives. Groupthink is based on a common desire not to upset the balance of a group of people.

Growth at a Reasonable Price (GARP)

Growth at a reasonable price (GARP) is an equity investment strategy that seeks to combine tenets of both growth investing and value investing to select individual stocks. GARP investors look for companies that are showing consistent earnings growth above broad market levels while excluding companies that have very high valuations. The overarching goal is to avoid the extremes of either growth or value investing; this typically leads GARP investors to growth-oriented stocks with relatively low price/earnings (P/E) multiples in normal market conditions.

Growth Investing

Growth investing is an investment style and strategy that is focused on increasing an investor's capital. Growth investors typically invest in growth stocks—that is, young or small companies whose earnings are expected to increase at an above-average rate compared to their industry sector or the overall market.

Growth Rates

Growth rates refer to the percentage change of a specific variable within a specific time period. For investors, growth rates typically represent the compounded annualized rate of growth of a company's revenues, earnings, dividends, or even macro concepts, such as gross domestic product (GDP) and retail sales. Expected forward-looking or trailing growth rates are two common kinds of growth rates used for analysis.

Guaranteed Payments to Partners

Guaranteed payments to partners are payments meant to compensate a partner for services rendered or use of capital. Essentially, they are the equivalent of a salary for partners or limited liability company (LLC) members. These kinds of payments eliminate the risk of a partner making personal contributions of time or property and then never getting compensated if the partnership does not prove to be successful.

Guaranteed Stock

Guaranteed stock has two meanings, one applied to dividends and one applied to inventory. The more common reference is to an infrequently used form of common or preferred stock, in which the dividends are guaranteed by one or more other companies. Guaranteed stock issues, like guaranteed bonds, have most often used by railroads and public utilities. The guaranteed dividend can increase the stock's price.

Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is a marketing tactic in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. Guerrilla marketing is different than traditional marketing in that it often relies on personal interaction, has a smaller budget, and focuses on smaller groups of promoters that are responsible for getting the word out in a particular location rather than through widespread media campaigns.

Gun-Jumping

Gun jumping, or more commonly "jumping the gun," refers to selectively using financial information that has not been publicly announced. At least two illegal methods of jumping the gun can be identified:

Gunnar Myrdal

Gunnar Myrdal was a Swedish Keynesian economist and sociologist who won the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics alongside conservative, Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek—despite both men being on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Myrdal was best known for his work in international development and trade economics, as well as for his activism promoting racial equality and opposing American foreign policy.

Gwei

Gwei is a portmanteau (a blend of words) of giga and wei. Gwei is a denomination of the cryptocurrency ether (ETH), the digital coin used on the Ethereum network. Ethereum is a blockchain platform, like Bitcoin, where users transact to buy and sell goods and services without a middle man or interference from a third party.

Canadian Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC)

In Canada, a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) is a deposit investment sold by Canadian banks and trust companies. People often purchase them for retirement plans because they provide a low-risk fixed rate of return and are insured, to a degree, by the Canadian government.

Gig Economy

In a gig economy, temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend to hire independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees. A gig economy undermines the traditional economy of full-time workers who often focus on their career development.

Gold Bug Defined

In economics, the term "gold bug" is a colloquial expression used to refer to people that are particularly bullish on gold.

Government Security

In the investing world, "government security" applies to a range of investment products offered by a governmental body. For most readers, the most common types of government securities are those items issued by the U.S. Treasury in the form of Treasury bonds, bills, and notes. However, the governments of many nations will issue these debt instruments to fund necessary ongoing operations.

Gross Dividends

Similar in concept to gross income, gross dividends are the sum total of all dividends received by an investor for tax purposes. Gross dividends include all ordinary dividends that are paid, plus capital-gains distributions and nontaxable distributions received by the taxpayer during the year before taxes, fees, and expenses are deducted.

GDP Price Deflator

The GDP price deflator, also known as the GDP deflator or the implicit price deflator, measures the changes in prices for all of the goods and services produced in an economy.

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)

The GMAT, which stands for the graduate management admission test, is a standardized test intended to measure a test taker's aptitude in mathematics, verbal skills, and analytical writing. The GMAT is most commonly used as the primary exam reviewed by business schools to gain entrance into an MBA program. The exam is generally offered by computer only; in areas of the world where computer networks are limited, the exam may be given as a paper-based test.

Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act

The Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act was enacted by Congress in 1982. The primary purpose was to ease pressures on banks and savings and loans which increased after the Federal Reserve raised rates in an effort to combat inflation. Financial institutions that had taken on interest rate risk by lending at low rates in earlier years were faced with negative spreads when the Fed drove deposit interest rates higher in the early 1980s.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), signed on October 30, 1947, by 23 countries, was a legal agreement minimizing barriers to international trade by eliminating or reducing quotas, tariffs, and subsidies while preserving significant regulations. The GATT was intended to boost economic recovery after World War II through reconstructing and liberalizing global trade.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU). Since the Regulation applies regardless of where websites are based, it must be heeded by all sites that attract European visitors, even if they don't specifically market goods or services to EU residents.

Gibraltar Pound (GIP)

The Gibraltar pound (abbreviated as GIP) is the official currency for the country of Gibraltar. The Gibraltar pound is pegged at par value to the British pound sterling, at a fixed exchange rate.

Gini Index

The Gini index, or Gini coefficient, is a measure of the distribution of income across a population. Developed by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912, it is often used as a gauge of economic inequality, measuring income distribution or, less commonly, wealth distribution among a population.

Gordon Growth Model (GGM)

The Gordon growth model (GGM) is used to determine the intrinsic value of a stock based on a future series of dividends that grow at a constant rate. It is a popular and straightforward variant of the dividend discount model (DDM). The GGM assumes that dividends grow at a constant rate in perpetuity and solves for the present value of the infinite series of future dividends.

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent and non-partisan U.S. legislative agency that monitors and audits government spending and operations. Often called the "congressional watchdog," GAO examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides recommendations on how to save the government money or operate more fiscally responsibly.

Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is a private non-governmental organization that creates accounting reporting standards, or generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), for state and local governments in the United States.

Government Securities Clearing Corporation (GSCC)

The Government Securities Clearing Corporation (GSCC) was a non-profit organization that cleared and netted U.S. government securities and agency debt securities. The GSCC was first established in 1986 by the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) to provide clearing and settlement of U.S. government securities. The GSCC handles both new issues and the reselling of government securities.

Government Of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC)

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) is a government-owned company assigned to manage Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. The fund is now officially named: GIC Private Limited. The GIC was formed in 1981 with the aim to invest the sovereign wealth fund more aggressively in higher yielding asset classes and over a longer investment horizon. According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, the GICS controls the eighth largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, with $390 billion in assets under management as of mid-2018.[cite]

Graham Number

The Graham number (or Benjamin Graham's number) measures a stock's fundamental value by taking into account the company's earnings per share (EPS) and book value per share (BVPS).

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA)

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA) was a bi-partisan regulation under President Bill Clinton, passed by Congress on November 12, 1999. The GLBA was an attempt to update and modernize the financial industry. The GLBA is most well-known as the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which stated that commercial banks were not allowed to offer financial services—like investments and insurance-related services—as part of normal operations.

Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap Forward was a five-year plan of forced agricultural collectivization and rural industrialization that was instituted by the Chinese Communist Party in 1958, which resulted in a sharp contraction in the Chinese economy and between 30 to 45 million deaths by starvation, execution, torture, forced labor, and suicide out of desperation. It was the largest single, non-wartime campaign of mass killing in human history.

The Great Moderation

The Great Moderation is the name given to the period of decreased macroeconomic volatility experienced in the United States starting in the 1980s. During this period, the standard deviation of quarterly real gross domestic product (GDP) declined by half and the standard deviation of inflation declined by two-thirds, according to figures reported by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke. The Great Moderation can be summed up as a multi-decade period of low inflation and positive economic growth.

The Great Recession

The Great Recession was the sharp decline in economic activity during the late 2000s. It is considered the most significant downturn since the Great Depression. The term Great Recession applies to both the U.S. recession, officially lasting from December 2007 to June 2009, and the ensuing global recession in 2009. The economic slump began when the U.S. housing market went from boom to bust, and large amounts of mortgage-backed securities (MBS's) and derivatives lost significant value.

Great Society

The Great Society was a set of domestic policy initiatives, programs, and legislation introduced in the 1960s in the U.S. These Great Society programs were intended to reduce poverty levels, reduce racial injustice, reduce crime, and improve the environment. Great Society policies were launched by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson between 1964 and 1965.

Group of 11 (G11)

The Group of 11 (G-11) is a group of developing countries created to ease members' debt burdens to direct their resources to economic development. The G-11 came into existence on Sept. 20, 2006, and was initially conceived by King Abdullah of Jordan. The group is mainly made up of lower-middle-income countries.

Group of 20 (G-20)

The Group of 20, also called the G-20, is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 of the world's largest economies, including those of many developing nations, along with the European Union. Formed in 1999, the G-20 promotes global economic growth, international trade, and regulation of financial markets.

Group of 30 (G-30)

The Group of 30, generally abbreviated to G-30, is a private, nonprofit international body composed of academic economists, company chiefs, and representatives of national, regional, and central banks. G-30 members meet twice a year to discuss and better undersand financial and economic issues in the private and public sectors worldwide.

Group of Eight (G-8)

The Group of Eight (G-8) was an assembly of the world's largest developed economies that have established a position as pacesetters for the industrialized world. Leaders of member countries, the United States, the United Kingdom (U.K.), Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, and until recently, Russia, meet periodically to address international economic and monetary issues.

Group of Seven (G-7)

The Group of Seven (G-7) is an intergovernmental organization made up of the world's largest developed economies: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Government leaders of these countries meet periodically to address international economic and monetary issues, with each member taking over the presidency on a rotating basis.

Group of Ten (G10)

The Group of Ten (G10) is one of five "group of" groups, not to be confused with the Groups of 7, 8, 20, or 24. Each of these consists of a group with similar economic interests. The G10 consists of eleven industrialized nations that meet on an annual basis or more frequently, as necessary, to consult each other, debate and cooperate on international financial matters. The member countries are Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with Switzerland playing a minor role.

Gambler's Fallacy

The gambler's fallacy, also known as the Monte Carlo fallacy, occurs when an individual erroneously believes that a certain random event is less likely or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events. This line of thinking is incorrect, since past events do not change the probability that certain events will occur in the future.

Gas Guzzler Tax

The gas guzzler tax is a surcharge added to the sales or lease price of cars in the U.S. that have poor fuel economy ratings. The tax, which is paid by the manufacturer or importer of the vehicle, varies depending on the miles-per-gallon efficiency of the vehicle and ranges from $1,000 to $7,700.

General Account

The general account is where an insurer deposits premiums from policies it underwrites and from which it funds day-to-day operations of the business. The general account does not dedicate collateral to a specific policy and instead treats all funds in aggregate.

General Business Tax Credit

The general business tax credit is the total value of all the individual credits to be applied against income on a tax return. This credit can be carried forward for a number of years in most cases and can also be carried back in some cases.

General Depreciation System (GDS) Defined

The general depreciation system is the most commonly used modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) for calculating depreciation. A general depreciation system uses the declining balance method to depreciate personal property.

GARCH Process

The generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process is an econometric term developed in 1982 by Robert F. Engle, an economist and 2003 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics. GARCH describes an approach to estimate volatility in financial markets.

Generally Accepted Principles And Practices (GAPP)

The generally accepted principles and practices (GAPP), which are also known as the Santiago principles, are standardized business procedures related to the operation of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), which have agreed to pursue financial rather than political agendas and maintain a stable global financial system.

Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax—GSTT

The generation-skipping transfer tax is a federal tax that results when there is a transfer of property by gift or inheritance to a beneficiary who is at least 37½ years younger than the donor. Generation-skipping transfer taxes serve the purpose of ensuring that taxes are paid when assets are placed in a trust, and the beneficiary receives amounts in excess of the generation-skipping estate tax credit.

Geometric Mean

The geometric mean is the average of a set of products, the calculation of which is commonly used to determine the performance results of an investment or portfolio. It is technically defined as "the nth root product of n numbers." The geometric mean must be used when working with percentages, which are derived from values, while the standard arithmetic mean works with the values themselves.

Gold Standard

The gold standard is a fixed monetary regime under which the government's currency is fixed and may be freely converted into gold. It can also refer to a freely competitive monetary system in which gold or bank receipts for gold act as the principal medium of exchange; or to a standard of international trade, wherein some or all countries fix their exchange rate based on the relative gold parity values between individual currencies.

The Golden Rule of Government Spending Defined

The golden rule, as it pertains to fiscal policy, stipulates that a government must only borrow in order to invest, and not to finance existing spending. In other words, the government should borrow money only to fund investments that will benefit future generations, while current spending must be covered and funded by existing or new taxes.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

The goods and services tax (GST) is a value-added tax levied on most goods and services sold for domestic consumption. The GST is paid by consumers, but it is remitted to the government by the businesses selling the goods and services.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

The graduate record examination (GRE) is a standardized exam used to measure one's aptitude for abstract thinking in the areas of analytical writing, mathematics, and vocabulary. The GRE is commonly used by many graduate schools in the U.S. and Canada to determine an applicant's eligibility for the program.

Gross Expense Ratio (GER)

The gross expense ratio (GER) is the total percentage of a mutual fund's assets that are devoted to running the fund. The gross expense ratio includes any fee waiver or expense reimbursement agreements that may be in effect. However, it does not include any sales or brokerage commissions that are not charged to the fund directly but which would be included in the net expense ratio.

Gross Leverage Ratio

The gross leverage ratio is the sum of an insurance company's net premiums written ratio, net liability ratio, and ceded reinsurance ratio. The gross leverage ratio is used to determine how exposed an insurer is to pricing and estimation errors, as well as its exposure to reinsurance companies.

Gross Margin Return on Investment (GMROI)

The gross margin return on investment (GMROI) is an inventory profitability evaluation ratio that analyzes a firm's ability to turn inventory into cash above the cost of the inventory. It is calculated by dividing the gross margin by the average inventory cost and is used often in the retail industry. GMROI is also known as the gross margin return on inventory investment (GMROII).

Gross-Income Test

The gross-income test is one of the five necessary tests that dependents must pass before they can be claimed as such in the United States.

Guideline Premium and Corridor Test (GPT)

The guideline premium and corridor test (GPT) is used to determine whether an insurance product can be taxed as insurance rather than as an investment. GPT limits the amount of premiums that can be paid into an insurance policy relative to the policy's death benefit.

Guns-and-Butter Curve

The guns-and-butter curve is the classic economic example of the production possibility curve, which demonstrates the idea of opportunity cost. In a theoretical economy with only two goods, a choice must be made between how much of each good to produce. As an economy produces more guns (military spending) it must reduce its production of butter (food), and vice versa.

General Agreements to Borrow (GAB)

The term "General Agreements to Borrow" (GAB) refers to a terminated lending medium for members of the Group of Ten (G-10). The program was established in 1962, allowing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to borrow funds from the central banks of these advanced countries. The capital was advanced as temporary loans to countries experiencing economic distress so they could avoid crisis situations. The GAB was phased out at the end of 2018 after member countries agreed its usefulness was "diminished and limited."

Gross Estate

The term "gross estate" refers to the total dollar value of an individual's property and assets at the time of his or her death. This figure does not factor in any liabilities, such as debts owed and taxable events triggered by one's death. When those charges are deducted, the sum figure represents the net value of an individual's estate.

The Great Depression

The term Great Depression refers to the greatest and longest economic recession in modern world history. The Great Depression ran between 1929 and 1941, which was the same year that the United States entered World War II in 1941. This period was accentuated by a number of economic contractions, including the stock market crash of 1929 and banking panics that occurred in 1930 and 1931.

Game-Changer

The term game-changer refers to an individual or company that significantly alters the way things are done as a whole. Individual game-changers find a way to stand out by way of their personality. Game-changing companies are able to switch things up and form new business plans and strategies that place them above their competition. By mere virtue of their actions, game-changers can make changes that transform the landscape as a whole.

Generic Brand

The term generic brand refers to a type of consumer product on the market that lacks a widely recognized name or logo because it typically isn't advertised. Generic brands are usually less expensive than their brand name counterparts due to their lack of promotion, which can inflate the cost of a good or service. These brands, which are designed as substitutes for more expensive brand name goods, are especially common in the food and pharmaceutical industry and tend to be more popular during a recession.

Glass Ceiling

The term glass ceiling refers to a metaphorical invisible barrier that prevents certain individuals from being promoted to managerial- and executive-level positions within an organization or industry. The phrase is commonly used to describe the difficulties faced by women and minorities when trying to move to higher roles in a male-dominated corporate hierarchy. The barriers are most often unwritten, meaning that these individuals are more likely to be restricted from advancing through accepted norms and implicit biases rather than defined corporate policies.

Going Private

The term going private refers to a transaction or series of transactions that convert a publicly traded company into a private entity. Once a company goes private, its shareholders are no longer able to trade their shares in the open market.

Goodness-of-Fit

The term goodness-of-fit refers to a statistical test that determines how well sample data fits a distribution from a population with a normal distribution. Put simply, it hypothesizes whether a sample is skewed or represents the data you would expect to find in the actual population. Goodness-of-fit establishes the discrepancy between the observed values and those expected of the model in a normal distribution case. There are multiple methods to determine goodness-of-fit, including the chi-square.