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Wiki Wiki Summary
Operations research Operations research (British English: operational research), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of advanced analytical methods to improve decision-making. It is sometimes considered to be a subfield of mathematical sciences.
Adverse effect An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect.
Customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information.CRM systems compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. They allow businesses to learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater for their needs, thus retaining customers and driving sales growth.
Not Available Not Available is the second studio album (released as the fourth) by the Residents, recorded in 1974. The album was allegedly meant to only be released once its creators completely forgot about its existence (adhering to their "Theory of Obscurity," in which an artist's purest work is created without an audience) - however, due to ongoing delays in the release of Eskimo, Not Available was released to supply the demand for new Residents material, given their unexpected critical and commercial success following the release of the Duck Stab EP.\n\n\n== History ==\nIt is said that the lyrics and themes of Not Available arose from personal tensions within the group, and that the project began as a private psychodrama before being adapted into a possible operetta.
Route availability Route Availability (RA) is the system by which the permanent way and supporting works (bridges, embankments, etc.) of the railway network of Great Britain are graded. All routes are allocated an RA number between 1 and 10.
Available-to-promise Available-to-promise (ATP) is a business function that provides a response to customer order inquiries, based on resource availability.\n It generates available quantities of the requested product, and delivery due dates.
Export restriction Export restrictions, or a restriction on exportation, are limitations on the quantity of goods exported to a specific country or countries by a Government. Export restrictions could be aimed at achieving diverse policy objectives such as environmental protection, economic welfare, social wellbeing, conversion of natural resources, and controlling inflationary pressures.
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California.\nDisney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names the Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company in 1986.
Bit numbering In computing, bit numbering is the convention used to identify the bit positions in a binary number.\n\n\n== Bit significance and indexing ==\n\nIn computing, the least significant bit (LSB) is the bit position in a binary integer representing the binary 1s place of the integer.
Significant Others The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and in colloquial language. Colloquially "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about marital status, relationship status, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
Statistical significance In statistical hypothesis testing, a result has statistical significance when it is very unlikely to have occurred given the null hypothesis. More precisely, a study's defined significance level, denoted by \n \n \n \n α\n \n \n {\displaystyle \alpha }\n , is the probability of the study rejecting the null hypothesis, given that the null hypothesis is true; and the p-value of a result, \n \n \n \n p\n \n \n {\displaystyle p}\n , is the probability of obtaining a result at least as extreme, given that the null hypothesis is true.
The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.
Significant Mother Significant Mother is an American television sitcom created by Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith. Starring Josh Zuckerman, Nathaniel Buzolic and Krista Allen, it premiered on The CW network on August 3 and ended its run on October 5, 2015.
Business intelligence Business intelligence (BI) comprises the strategies and technologies used by enterprises for the data analysis and management of business information. Common functions of business intelligence technologies include reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, dashboard development, data mining, process mining, complex event processing, business performance management, benchmarking, text mining, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics.
Mortgage loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any purpose while putting a lien on the property being mortgaged. The loan is "secured" on the borrower's property through a process known as mortgage origination.
Financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, consumer-finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds, individual asset managers, and some government-sponsored enterprises.\n\n\n== History ==\n\nThe term "financial services" became more prevalent in the United States partly as a result of the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of the late 1990s, which enabled different types of companies operating in the U.S. financial services industry at that time to merge.Companies usually have two distinct approaches to this new type of business.
Regulation of therapeutic goods The regulation of therapeutic goods, defined as drugs and therapeutic devices, varies by jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, they are regulated at the national level by a single agency.
Queen's Regulations The Queen's Regulations (first published in 1731 and known as the King's Regulations when the monarch is a king) is a collection of orders and regulations in force in the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, and Commonwealth Realm Forces (where the same person as on the British throne is also their separate head of state), forming guidance for officers of these armed services in all matters of discipline and personal conduct. Originally, a single set of regulations were published in one volume.
United States dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents.
Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared goals.
Arithmetic Arithmetic (from Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós) 'number', and τική [τέχνη] (tikḗ [tékhnē]) 'art, craft') is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th century, Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano formalized arithmetic with his Peano axioms, which are highly important to the field of mathematical logic today.
Emergency operations center An emergency operations center (EOC) is a central command and control facility responsible for carrying out the principles of emergency preparedness and emergency management, or disaster management functions at a strategic level during an emergency, and ensuring the continuity of operation of a company, political subdivision or other organization.\nAn EOC is responsible for strategic direction and operational decisions and does not normally directly control field assets, instead leaving tactical decisions to lower commands.
Special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism actions, and are typically conducted by small groups of highly-trained personnel, emphasizing sufficiency, stealth, speed, and tactical coordination, commonly known as "special forces".
Bitwise operation In computer programming, a bitwise operation operates on a bit string, a bit array or a binary numeral (considered as a bit string) at the level of its individual bits. It is a fast and simple action, basic to the higher-level arithmetic operations and directly supported by the processor.
Competitor backlinking Competitor backlinking is a search engine optimization strategy that involves analyzing the backlinks of competing websites within a vertical search. The outcome of this activity is designed to increase organic search engine rankings and to gain an understanding of the link building strategies used by business competitors.By analyzing the backlinks to competitor websites, it is possible to gain a benchmark on the number of links and the quality of links that is required for high search engine rankings.
Competitor Group Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) is a privately held, for-profit, sports marketing and management company based in Mira Mesa, San Diego, California.
Round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-play-all tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn. A round-robin contrasts with an elimination tournament, in which participants are eliminated after a certain number of losses.
Merchandising Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more items or products.
Service Merchandise Service Merchandise was a retail chain of catalog showrooms carrying jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics. The company, which first began in 1934 as a five-and-dime store, was in existence for 68 years before ceasing operations in 2002.
Merchandiser A merchandiser is an arcade gaming device, which features a machine that contains a display of merchandise, which can be won by playing the game.\nIn the trade, such games are described as "skill with prize" (SWP) games, and are a hybrid of games of skill and games of chance, with the preponderance of skill or chance differing between devices and often able to be set by the operator.
Merchandise Mart The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with 4 million square feet (372,000 m2) of floor space.
General line of merchandise General line of merchandise or general merchandise is a term used in retail and wholesale business in reference to merchandise not limited to some particular category. General merchandise stores (general stores) address this sector of retail.
Visual merchandising Visual Merchandising is the practice in the retail industry of optimizing the presentation of products and services to better highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of such visual merchandising is to attract, engage, and motivate the customer towards making a purchase.Visual merchandising traditionally occurs in brick and mortar stores using a blend of lighting, color combinations, and articles of decor to stimulate an observer and generate interest.
Return merchandise authorization A return merchandise authorization (RMA), return authorization (RA) or return goods authorization (RGA) is a part of the process of returning a product to receive a refund, replacement, or repair during the product's warranty period. Both parties can decide how to deal with it, which could be refund, replacement or repair.
General store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer or village shop) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general goods.
Risk Factors
Risk Factors ---------------------- Important risk factors that could cause results or events to differ from current expectations are described below
These factors are not intended to be an all-encompassing list of risks and uncertainties that may affect the operations, performance, development and results of the Companyapstas business
A decreased demand for the Companyapstas products and specialty financial services and failure of the Company to adapt to such decrease could adversely affect results
Although the Companyapstas products and services are a staple of its customer base, the demand for a particular product or service may decrease due to a variety of factors, such as the availability of competing products, changes in customers &apos financial conditions, or regulatory restrictions that reduce customer access to particular products
Should the Company fail to adapt to a significant change in its customers &apos demand for, or access to, its products, the Companyapstas revenues could decrease significantly
Even if the Company does make adaptations, customers may resist or may reject products whose adaptations make them less attractive or less available
In any event, the effect of any product change on the results of the Companyapstas business may not be fully ascertainable until the change has been in effect for some time
In particular, the Company has changed, and will continue to change, some of the short-term advance products and services it offers due to the revised guidelines issued by the FDIC effective July 1, 2005 and supplemented in February 2006
The long-term impact these changes will have on the Companyapstas business is not yet certain
Short-term consumer loan services have come under increased regulation and scrutiny
If changes in regulations affecting the Companyapstas short-term advance and credit services businesses create increased restrictions, or have the effect of prohibiting loans in the countries and states where the Company offers short-term consumer loans, such regulations could materially reduce the Companyapstas pawn, short-term advance and credit services businesses and limit its expansion into new markets
The Companyapstas products and services are subject to extensive regulation and supervision under various federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations in both the United States and Mexico
The Company faces the risk that restrictions or limitations on loan amounts, loan yields and customer acceptance of loan products resulting from the enactment, change, or interpretation of laws and regulations in the United States or Mexico could have a negative effect on the Companyapstas business activities
In particular, short-term consumer loans have come under increased scrutiny and increasingly restrictive regulation in recent years
Some regulatory activity may limit the number of short-term loans that customers may receive or have outstanding, such as the limits prescribed by the FDIC in March 2005 and supplemented in February 2006 and regulations adopted by some states requiring that all borrowers of certain short-term loan products be listed on a database, limiting the yield on short term-loans and limiting the number of such loans they may have outstanding
Certain consumer advocacy groups and federal and state legislators have also asserted that laws and regulations should be tightened so as to severely limit, if not eliminate, the availability of the short-term advance and credit services products to consumers, despite the significant demand for it
In Mexico, similar restrictions and regulations affecting the pawn industry, including limits on loan yields, have been proposed from time to time
Adoption of such federal, state or local regulation or legislation in the United States and Mexico could restrict, or even eliminate, the availability of specialty consumer finance products at some or all of the Companyapstas locations
See the discussion of Regulation in &quote Item 1 - Business &quote for more information about regulations affecting the Company
The failure of third-parties who provide products, services or support to the Company to maintain their products, services or support could disrupt Company operations or result in a loss of revenue
The Companyapstas credit services revenues depend in part on the willingness and ability of an unaffiliated third-party lender to make loans to its customers
The loss of the relationship with this lender, and an inability to replace it with a new lender or lenders, or the failure of the lender to maintain quality and consistency in its loan programs, could cause the Company to lose customers and substantially decrease the revenues and earnings of the Companyapstas credit services business
The Company also uses third parties to support and maintain certain of its communication systems and computerized point-of-sale and information systems
The failure of such a third party to fulfill its support and maintenance obligations could disrupt the Companyapstas operations
The Companyapstas growth is subject to external factors and other circumstances over which the Company has limited control or that are beyond the Companyapstas control
These factors and circumstances could adversely affect the Companyapstas ability to grow through the opening of new store locations
The success of this strategy is subject to numerous external factors, such as the availability of sites with favorable customer demographics, limited competition, acceptable regulatory restrictions and suitable lease terms, the Companyapstas ability to attract, train and retain qualified unit management personnel and the ability to obtain required government permits and licenses
The failure to execute this expansion strategy would adversely affect the Companyapstas ability to expand its business and could materially adversely affect its business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition
Increased competition from banks, savings and loans, other short-term consumer lenders, and other entities offering similar financial services, as well as retail businesses that offer products and services offered by the Company, could adversely affect the Companyapstas results of operations
The Company has many competitors to its core lending and merchandise sales operations
Its principal competitors are other pawnshops, cash advance companies, consumer finance companies and other financial institutions that serve the Companyapstas primary customer base
Many other financial institutions or other businesses that do not now offer products or services directed toward the Companyapstas traditional customer base, many of whom may be much larger than the Company, could begin doing so
Significant increases in the number and size of competitors for the Companyapstas business could result in a decrease in the number of short-term advances or pawn loans that the Company writes, resulting in lower levels of revenues and earnings in these categories
Furthermore, the Company has many competitors to its retail operations, such as retailers of new merchandise, retailers of pre-owned merchandise, other pawnshops, thrift shops, online retailers and online auction sites
Increased competition or aggressive marketing and pricing practices by these competitors could result in decreased revenues, margins and turnover rates in the Companyapstas retail operations
In Mexico, the Company competes directly with certain pawn stores owned by a governmental entity
The government could take actions that would harm the Companyapstas ability to compete in the Mexico market
A sustained deterioration of economic conditions could reduce demand for the Companyapstas products and services and result in reduced earnings
While the credit risk for most of the Companyapstas consumer lending is mitigated by the collateralized nature of pawn lending, a sustained deterioration in the economy could adversely affect the Companyapstas operations through deterioration in performance of its pawn loan or short-term advance portfolios, or by reducing consumer demand for the purchase of pre-owned merchandise
Adverse gold market fluctuations could affect the Companyapstas profits
The Company holds significant gold inventories and a significant portion of its pawn receivables are secured by gold jewelry collateral
A significant decline in gold prices could result in decreased merchandise sales margins, decreased inventory valuations and sub-standard collateralization of outstanding pawn loans
In addition, a decline in gold prices could result in a lower balance of pawn loans outstanding for the Company, as customers would receive lower loan amounts for individual pieces of jewelry
Adverse real estate market fluctuations could affect the Companyapstas profits
The Company leases most of its locations
A significant rise in real estate prices could result in an increase in store lease costs as the Company opens new locations and renews leases for existing locations
Risks and uncertainties related to the Companyapstas foreign operations could negatively impact the Companyapstas operating results
The Company has a significant number of pawnshop locations in Mexico, a country in which there are potential risks related to geo-political events, enforcement of property rights, public safety and security among others
Actions or events could occur in Mexico, that are beyond the Companyapstas control, which could restrict or eliminate the Companyapstas ability to operate its locations in Mexico or significantly reduce the profitability of such operations
In addition, the Company conducts a significant number of transactions in pesos, the national currency in Mexico, and holds significant financial assets that are denominated in pesos
Significant fluctuations in the value of the peso compared to the US dollar could negatively impact the Companyapstas operating results
Media reports and public perception of short-term consumer loans as being predatory or abusive could materially adversely affect the Companyapstas short-term advance and credit services businesses
In recent years, consumer advocacy groups and some media reports, in both the United States and Mexico, have advocated governmental action to prohibit or place severe restrictions on short-term consumer loans
The consumer advocacy groups and media reports generally focus on the cost to a consumer for this type of loan, which is higher than the interest typically charged by banks to consumers with better credit histories
Though the consumer advocacy groups and media reports do not discuss the lack of viable alternatives for our customers &apos borrowing needs, they do typically characterize these short-term consumer loans as predatory or abusive despite the large customer demand for these loans
If the negative characterization of these types of loans becomes increasingly accepted by consumers, demand for the cash advance products could significantly decrease, which could materially affect the Companyapstas results of operations and financial condition
Additionally, if the negative characterization of these types of loans becomes increasingly accepted by legislators and regulators, the Company could become subject to more restrictive laws and regulations that could materially adversely affect the Companyapstas financial condition and results of operations
Other risk factors are discussed under Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Other risks that are indicated in the Companyapstas filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission may apply as well