Put simply, a ratio is a comparison of two numbers. Ratios are generally used to relate the magnitude of two like parameters of an object (or two or more similar objects) relative to one another. For example, the parameters used in a ratio may describe...

A ratio is a quantity that denotes the proportional amount or magnitude of one quantity relative to another. Ratios are unitless when they relate quantities of the same dimension. When the two quantities being compared are of different types, the units...

China stepped up efforts Friday to cool its sizzling economy by tightening bank credit for the fourth time in seven months.The central bank raised the amount of money that banks must hold in reserves, cutting the pool available for lending. The government worries that runaway...

The nurse-patient ratio campaign that recently drew 500 union supporters to chant and march outside of Valley Hospital is headed to the state Legislature.Assemblywoman Ellen Koivisto, D-Las Vegas, promised on Oct. 13 to introduce a bill that would mandate staffing ratios at Nevada hospitals. The...

There are at least two big reasons not to buy stocks based on low price-to-earnings ratios. Such a strategy often eliminates the best-performing stocks. The top IBD 100 stocks, for instance, have P/E ratios that tend to be much higher than many pundits recommend.An investor...