Articles

What Is Liquidity, and Why Selling a House Differs From Selling Gold

Learn what liquidity means, why one asset converts to cash quickly and near a fair price while another does not, and how to weigh the hidden cost of not being liquid. We walk the liquidity spectrum of an Iranian household's assets, from deposits and gold to housing, with clearly labelled hypothetical figures.

What Is Diversification? Why You Should Not Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

This lesson explains what diversification means, how spreading money across several assets lowers risk, and why "correlation" between assets is the key. Using a hypothetical gold-and-stocks example, we show how a good basket is built, and why buying dollars, coins and gold at the same time is not really diversification.

Risk and Return: How Are They Related, and Which Risks Threaten a Household's Savings?

Asset Allocation in Iran's Inflationary Economy: A Professional Framework for Building and Rebalancing a Portfolio

Asset allocation, not stock picking, explains most of a portfolio's return variability, yet the standard models assume what Iran lacks: a true risk-free asset and single-digit inflation. This article rewrites the framework for Iran's market: the shared currency anchor and false diversification, real versus nominal return, the true role of each asset class, and rebalancing rules where there are neither hedging instruments nor uniform liquidity.

How Markets Discover Prices

Learn what a market actually is, how supply and demand jointly shape a price, and why expectations, whether in Iran's free currency market or its coin market, can move a price even before supply or demand truly changes.

What Is Bank Deposit Interest? Nominal, Effective, and Real Returns Explained

Learn the difference between nominal, effective, and real interest on a bank deposit, and why comparing a deposit's return to the period's inflation rate gives a truer picture of what happens to a saver's purchasing power.

What Is an Asset? A Map of an Iranian Household's Assets

Learn what an asset is, how financial assets differ from real assets, and the general map of assets an Iranian household typically holds (deposits, gold and coin, currency, stocks, funds, housing, cars), with no comparison or recommendation about which is better.

Money, Inflation, and Purchasing Power

Learn what money, purchasing power, and inflation mean and how they are measured; a labelled hypothetical example shows why idle rial savings can lose part of their real value.