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Access the complete body of work from The Source, featuring in-depth analysis, expert perspectives, and strategic commentary at the intersection of geopolitics, finance, and technology. Our archive is fully searchable and organized by topic, making it easy to find the insights most relevant to your interests.
Discover also our Word of the Day series — concise explorations of key terms and concepts that illuminate the evolving language of global strategy, policy, and markets.
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Ponzi Scheme
"Investors are promised high returns and, at first, it appears to be successful and profitable. This attracts new investors. The money...

The Source
Nov 3, 20241 min read


Trade Secret
"All forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information, including patterns, plans,...

The Source
Nov 1, 20241 min read


Initial Coin Offering
"An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a fundraising mechanism in the cryptocurrency industry, akin to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in...

The Source
Oct 15, 20241 min read


Cram Down
"[...] cram down occurs when a plan of reorganisation proposed in relation to a debtor is implemented, even though an entire class of...

The Source
Oct 7, 20241 min read


Incubator
"Startup incubators are organizations that offer help to entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas. These companies are characterized...

The Source
Oct 6, 20241 min read


Alternative Investments
"Alternative investments is a label for a disparate group of investments that are distinguished from long-only, publicly traded...

The Source
Oct 5, 20241 min read


Unicorn
"A unicorn startup is a company that's been in business for under ten years, isn’t publicly listed, haven’t been acquired by a third...

The Source
Oct 4, 20241 min read


Spin-out Company
"A spin-out company is an independent legal entity, usually created by the university and academic founders, to lead the development and...

The Source
Oct 3, 20241 min read


Zombie Company
"A zombie company is a business that generates cash, but is so indebted that it can only pay off its fixed costs and interests, and not...

The Source
Oct 1, 20241 min read


Dry Powder
"Dry powder refers to the reserves of liquid assets that a company or an individual holds, primarily to cover future obligations,...

The Source
Oct 1, 20241 min read


Black Propaganda
"Black propaganda goes beyond hiding the identity of the source of the message to falsely attributing it to a different entity, such as...

The Source
Sep 29, 20241 min read


Community Interest Company
"A community interest company (CIC) is a type of Limited Liability company formed specifically for the purpose of carrying on business...

The Source
Sep 28, 20241 min read


Controlled Unclassified Information
"Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is information the Government creates or possesses, or that an entity creates or possesses for...

The Source
Sep 22, 20241 min read


Alpha Investing
"Alpha represents how much an investment’s actual return exceeded its expected return, based on its risk level. Alpha is used to evaluate...

The Source
Sep 21, 20241 min read


Credit Default Swap
"A CDS is the most highly utilized type of credit derivative. [...] a CDS is similar to an insurance contract, providing the buyer with...

The Source
Sep 20, 20241 min read


Economic Espionage
"Economic espionage is foreign power-sponsored or coordinated intelligence activity directed at the [...] government or [...]...

The Source
Sep 19, 20241 min read


Dead Hand Proxy Put
"Dead Hand Proxy Puts trigger default and immediate repayment of corporate indebtedness in the event that a dissident slate of...

The Source
Sep 18, 20241 min read


Repurchase Agreement
"In a repo, one party sells an asset [...] to another party at one price and commits to repurchase the same or another part of the same...

The Source
Sep 17, 20241 min read


Crown Jewel Defense
"The Crown Jewel Defense strategy in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is when the target company of a hostile takeover sells its most...

The Source
Sep 16, 20241 min read


Decentralized Finance
"Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a competitive, contestable, composable and non-custodial financial ecosystem built on technology that...

The Source
Sep 15, 20241 min read
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