Editing Investment (section)

== Types of financial investments ==

In modern economies, [[traditional investments]] include:
* [[Stock]]s - [[Business]] ownership, known as [[Equity (finance)|equity]], in [[publicly traded companies]]
* [[Bond (finance)|Bond]]s - [[loan]]s to governments and businesses traded on public markets
* [[Cash]] - holding a particular [[currency]], whether in anticipation of spending or to take advantage of or hedge against changes in a [[currency exchange rate]]
* [[Real estate investing|Real estate]], which can be rented to provide ongoing income or resold if it increases in value

[[Alternative investment]]s include:
* [[Private equity]] in businesses that are not publicly traded on a [[stock exchange]], often involving [[venture capital]] funds, [[angel investor]]s, or [[equity crowdfunding]]
* Other [[loan]]s, including [[mortgage]]s
* [[Commodities]], such as [[precious metal]]s like [[gold]], [[agricultural]] products like [[potatoes]], and [[energy]] deliveries like [[natural gas]]
* [[Collectables]], including [[art]], [[coin]]s, [[vintage car]]s, [[postage stamp]]s, and [[wine]]
* [[Carbon offsets and credits]]
* Digital entities like [[cryptocurrency]] and [[non-fungible token]]s
* [[Hedge fund]]s that use sophisticated techniques like:
** [[Derivative (finance)|Derivative]]s, the value of which is determined by a contract and is derived by calculation from the performance of some other sort of underlying investment; these include [[Forward contract|forwards]], [[Futures contract|futures]], [[Option (finance)|options]], [[Swap (finance)|swaps]], [[collateralized debt obligation]]s, [[credit default swap]]s, and [[Tax Receivable Agreement]]s
** [[Leverage (finance)|Leveraged investing]], which is the investment of borrowed money
** [[Short selling]], which typically uses leverage and derivatives to bet that the value of a stock will decline