Financial statements report the basic shares outstanding. However, when attempting to value a company’s market value of equity, fully diluted shares outstanding is used instead of the basic shares outstanding number. Fully diluted shares outstanding provides a better representation of how the market is implicitly valuing the company. Basic shares outstanding are the total shares that a company issued and are outstanding. This number is directly reported on the financial statements.

In finance, investing, and business in general, valuation is a key skill. Markets set prices, but applying an accurate valuation to assets being priced in that market can provide insight into how accurate that market pricing is. However, all valuations are biased and based on many assumptions. Therefore, valuation is less of a precise method to determine the “correct” price, but rather more of an art that is a useful tool for evaluating an asset. Valuation models can be very quantitative and complex, but more quantitative models are not always better. Frequently, the …

Return on Investment Overview
In business, it is often said “it takes money to make money.” Return on Investment (ROI) is a profitability ratio that helps measure the performance of this application of money. ROI allows managements’ utilization of assets and overall company profitability to be measured. ROI measures the link between profits and the investment required to generate profits.
ROI is frequently used by management to measure performance against internal goals, competitors, or a specific industry. Management also utilizes ROI to determine where to allocate future resources based on previous investment’s …

Volatility Definition
In finance, volatility is a statistical measurement of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. If an asset has rapid dramatic price swings, volatility will be high. If prices are consistent and rarely change, volatility is low. Volatility can be measured as the annualized standard deviation.
Volatility as Measure of Risk
Volatility is often used to measure risk. Many common measurements of risk, such as beta, utilize volatility in calculations. It makes sense that an asset that has had huge price swings is more risky than an asset that is …

The Sortino ratio is a financial ratio, similar to the Sharpe ratio, that measures the risk-adjusted return of investments or portfolios. Unlike the Sharpe ratio, the Sortino uses downside-volatility(sometimes referred to as semi-volatility) as the denominator instead of standard deviation. The use of downside-volatility allows the Sortino ratio to measure the return of “negative” volatility.
Downside deviation differentiates “positive” volatility from “negative” volatility, unlike standard deviation. Standard deviation is the square root of volatility. However, using standard deviation as a measure of risk may not be completely accurate. For example, assume …

The Sharpe Ratio is a formula used to measure risk/return. The ratio describes the amount of extra return received for the extra volatility of a more risky asset. The higher the Sharpe Ratio, the greater returns are for each unit of risk. The Sharpe Ratio is calculated by subtracting the risk free rate or return from the return of the portfolio and then dividing by the portfolio’s standard deviation. By using the Sharpe Ratio, investors can theoretically compare risk adjusted returns of investments or portfolios that have different returns and …