Musings on Markets

MARCH 8, 2023

This is the last of my data update posts for 2023, and in this one, I will focus on dividends and buybacks, perhaps the most most misunderstood and misplayed element of corporate finance. Viewed in that context, dividends as just as integral to a business, as the investing and financing decisions.

Hurdle Rate 94

Hurdle Rate Corporate Finance Investments Finance 94

CFO News Room

JANUARY 7, 2023

Check rules of thumb : Investing and corporate finance are full of rules of thumb, many of long standing. Much of my focus, when it comes to data, is on company-specific variables, rather than macro economic data, for two reasons. Or, do US companies pay far less in taxes than companies incorporated in the rest of the world?

Marketing 130

Marketing Valuation Corporate Finance Financial Analysis 130

Musings on Markets

AUGUST 15, 2023

After the rating downgrade, my mailbox was inundated with questions of what this action meant for investing, in general, and for corporate finance and valuation practice, in particular, and this post is my attempt to answer them all with one post. Why does the risk-free rate matter? What is a risk free investment?

Investments 83

Investments Currencies Treasury Hurdle Rate 83

Barry Ritholtz

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

I went into what’s called corporate finance, what people would see now as sort of M&A department. CHANCELLOR: Well, I was actually in a sort of subgroup there, which was called corporate strategy. But I didn’t last very long there because I thought I didn’t like corporate finance.

Valuation 58

Valuation Finance Investments Banking 58

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 6, 2023

Check rules of thumb : Investing and corporate finance are full of rules of thumb, many of long standing. Data Items Much of my focus, when it comes to data, is on company-specific variables, rather than macro economic data, for two reasons.

Valuation 52

Valuation Corporate Finance Financial Analysis Leverage 52

Musings on Markets

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

If you have taken a corporate finance class sometime in your past life are probably wondering how this approach reconciles with the Miller-Modigliani theorem, a key component of most corporate finance classes, which posits that there is no optimal debt ratio, and that the debt mix does not affect the value of a business.

Corporate Finance 52

Corporate Finance Finance Marketing Leverage 52

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 9, 2021

The first is that I do not have a macro focus, and my interests in macro variables occur only in the context of corporate finance or valuation issues. Starting in February and extending for most of the rest of the year, the economic shutdown created turmoil in both financial markets an the real economy.

Valuation 52

Valuation Currencies Numbers Corporate Finance 52

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 28, 2024

In particular, there are wide variations in how risk is measured, and once measured, across companies and countries, and those variations can lead to differences in expected returns and hurdle rates, central to both corporate finance and investing judgments.

Hurdle Rate 95

Hurdle Rate Concentration Investments Finance 95

Musings on Markets

JULY 24, 2024

In the section below, I highlight the differences on four major dimensions - political structure, exposure to war/violence, extent of corruption and protections for legal and property rights, with the focus firmly on the economic risks rather than on social consequences. That is easier said than done, for two reasons.

Hurdle Rate 74

Hurdle Rate Currencies Valuation Economics 74