Questions tagged [risk]

Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome sometimes exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.

Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome sometimes exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.

Risk can be defined in six different ways

  1. A probability or threat of damage, injury, liability, loss, or any other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, and that may be avoided through preemptive action.

  2. Finance: The probability that an actual return on an investment will be lower than the expected return. Financial risk is divided into the following categories: Basic risk, Capital risk, Country risk, Default risk, Delivery risk, Economic risk, Exchange rate risk, Interest rate risk, Liquidity risk, Operations risk, Payment system risk, Political risk, Refinancing risk, Reinvestment risk, Settlement risk, Sovereign risk, and Underwriting risk.

  3. Food industry: The possibility that due to a certain hazard in food there will be a negative effect to a certain magnitude.

  4. Insurance: A situation where the probability of a variable (such as burning down of a building) is known but when a mode of occurrence or the actual value of the occurrence (whether the fire will occur at a particular property) is not. A risk is not an uncertainty (where neither the probability nor the mode of occurrence is known), a peril (cause of loss), or a hazard (something that makes the occurrence of a peril more likely or more severe).

  5. Securities trading: The probability of a loss or drop in value. Trading risk is divided into two general categories: (1) Systemic risk affects all securities in the same class and is linked to the overall capital-market system and therefore cannot be eliminated by diversification. Also called market risk. (2) Nonsystematic risk is any risk that isn't market-related or is not systemic. Also called nonmarket risk, extra-market risk, or unsystemic risk.

  6. Workplace: Product of the consequence and probability of a hazardous event or phenomenon. For example, the risk of developing cancer is estimated as the incremental probability of developing cancer over a lifetime as a result of exposure to potential carcinogens (cancer-causing substances).

From Wikipedia

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Why does risk level matter?

In a perfect market, the extra losses of a high risk portfolio should exactly match the difference in returns between that and a low risk portfolio. In other words, a sufficiently diversified portfolio will return the same, on average, independent…
Mike M
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Is high return and low risk possible?

In finance, we often see that high return instruments should be accompanied by high risk. Is it possible to have a high return and a low risk financial instrument?
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How do GICs compare to something like an S&P500 index fund in terms of risk?

How do GICs compare to something like an S&P500 index fund in terms of risk? Could it be argued that index funds are generally as safe as any investment? Is there any data or models to measure or gauge the levels of investment risk rather and…
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Franchise expected survival/failure rate

What are good stats about the rate of survival/failure of franchises? I get to hear that McDonald's restaurants tend to live longer than Subway's, but don't know how reliable that is. Around me, I have seen both a Subway and a McDonald's closing…
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