1173 Posts Found

Anyone who has tried to justify investments based on cost avoidance rather than cost reductions knows it is difficult to make the financial case by comparing against “what might have been.”

Content: Quotation | Source: Kearney | Subject: Finance

Kenneth R. French is the NTU of Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is an expert on the behavior of security prices, investment strategies, and the management of financial risk. His recent research focuses on tests of asset pricing models, the trade up between risk and return in domestic and international financial markets, the cost of capital and the relation … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Kenneth R. French | Source: IndexFunds.com Inc. | Subjects: Finance, People

This site offers an interesting view on the shadier side of finance by listing links to information sources covering various types of financial scandals. Topics include:
– Classic Financial and Corporate Scandals
– Scandals involving Central Banks
– Political Corruption
– Organized Crime: the Mafia etc.
– Money Laundering
– Bankers Behaving Badly
– Official Regulatory and Anti-Fraud … [ Read more ]

Content: Online Resource | Author: Roy Davies | Subjects: Finance, History | Industry: Finance / Banking

Every day we hear that the Dow was up (or down) or that the S&P was such and such. What does it mean? What is the Dow? What is the S&P?

In order to gauge how the stock market did on a particular day or a longer period, we use a market index to measure performance. Market indices take many flavors. … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: FinanceProfessor.com | Subjects: Economics, Finance

Confused about the differing assumptions of pricing models? More than likely you know that the assumptions don’t hold very well and you probably know much research has looked at how the assumptions matter. Fama and French now provide a framework to hopefully make sense of some of this confusion. In a working paper they show that investor tastes and expectations matter. For … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Eugene F. Fama, Kenneth R. French | Subjects: Finance, Industry Specific | Industry: Investment Banking

I love summary articles. They help make sense of the world and let us see the forest through the trees. Some of my favorites include the Harris and Raviv summary article on capital structure, Fama’s paper that responds to Behavioral Finance Theories, and Cliff Smith’s introduction to his book of readings in Corporate Finance. And now I have a favorite on the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Eugene F. Fama, Kenneth R. French | Subject: Finance | Industry: Finance / Banking

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Federal budget time has arrived again, and the United States is running nearly $500 billion in the red. Paul Solman looks at the growing budget deficit and why people are worried about it.

Editor’s Note: though focused on the current (2004) US federal deficit, this PBS Newshour audio broadcast offers a simple look at the major economic issues involved in government deficit spending.

Content: Article | Source: PBS | Subjects: Economics, Finance

Certified accountants are back in vogue, but don’t forget the MBA. Skills and experience in both accounting and finance are best for a full career.

Content: Article | Author: Cesar Bacani | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Finance, MBA Related

‘Weapons of mass destruction’? In the wrong hands, sure. But also essential financial tools.

Content: Article | Author: Gregory J. Millman | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Economics, Finance

Garcia has a thought provoking piece that warns against short-term thinking. The short version of the paper is that as technology, competition, and strategy have shrunk the business world, firms may have an even greater incentive to think short term. Winner takes all idea and if you do not win the first round, you may not be around to play other rounds. … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Eduard Gracia | Source: Deloitte | Subjects: Finance, Strategy

With many stocks trading well below their 12-month highs, finance executives are on the spot. Do they support their “undervalued” stock with an aggressive buyback? Or do they hang on to their cash in case the market is right?

Editor’s Note: this article was written in 2001 and is therefore somewhat topical, but it does provide a good look at a lot of the issues … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Richard H. Gamble | Source: Business Finance Magazine | Subject: Finance

Contrary to the implications of many payout theories, we find that announcements of openmarket share repurchase programs are not followed by an increase in operating performance. However, we find that repurchasing firms experience a significant reduction in systematic risk and cost of capital relative to non-repurchasing firms. Further, consistent with the free cash-flow hypothesis, we find that the market reaction to share repurchase announcements is … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Gustavo Grullon, Roni Michaely | Subject: Finance | Industry: Finance / Banking

What a treat! European Financial Management has a cool paper by Jay Ritter discussing the differences between the US and European IPO markets. For instance: did you know that in Germany there is a “when issued market” that allows trading in the shares prior to issuance. For what it is worth, this is sort of like how the opening lines are set … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jay R. Ritter | Source: European Financial Management | Subjects: Finance, International – Europe

On average, stock ownership by officers and directors of publicly traded firms is higher today than earlier in the 20th century.

Content: Article | Author: Randall S. Kroszner | Source: Capital Ideas | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Finance

Two concerns IPO researchers have are the apparent short-run underpricing (the stock trades up in the secondary market) and the longer run underperformance (stock falls during long event window). Previous research has been only partially successful in explaining the continued existence of these two conflicting and seemingly contradictory anomalies. Some of these previous attempts include Chowdry and Nanda 1996 who show that … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: François Derrien | Subjects: Finance, Industry Specific | Industry: Investment Banking

The San Francisco Chronicle has a great article on why the dollar has fallen and why it matters.

Content: Article | Author: Sam Zuckerman | Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Subjects: Economics, Finance

Why many companies are using metrics from the cash flow statement, and not just the income statement, to measure annual performance and award bonuses.

Content: Article | Author: Marie Leone | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Finance, Human Resources

Breaking out the plastic is one way new entrepreneurs launch fledgling businesses. But it’s not the only way cash-strapped entrepreneurs realize their dreams of starting new businesses. Here, Inc.com scoured the Inc . archives for tips, strategies, and success stories of starting up on a shoestring.

Content: Article | Source: Inc. Magazine | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Finance

Maximizing one of life’s variables (such as net worth) usually comes at the direct expense of others (such as free time). More money is better only if the tradeoffs it requires don’t undermine other dimensions of your desired point of arrival. Even the wealthiest among us agree that at some level, money has diminishing marginal returns. But since money is a common scorecard, it can … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Bain & Company | Subjects: Money, Success / Failure