3 Economic Lessons from World Events

3 Economic Lessons from World Events Finance is useful in large part because of its ability to convert qualitative principles into quantitative dollar amounts. In a cost/benefit analysis a financial analyst converts both cost and benefit into a discounted cash flow...

Debentures and Collateral

In Disney’s 1997 cartoon adaptation of the Greek legend of Hercules, the evil Hades says to his kindhearted-but-enslaved underling, “Meg, Meg, Meg, my sweet deluded little minion. Aren’t we forgetting one teensy-weensy, but ever so crucial little, tiny detail?”...

The First Principle of Investment

The term value is frequently misused. Dollar-store advertisers use it to mean that even though something is complete garbage, at least it’s cheap garbage. Portfolio managers use the term “value” to mean an underpriced-but-valuable asset. That’s better, but also...

Understanding Industry Rivalry

Michael Porter, a well-known strategy professor at Harvard identified five forces that shape the profit-making potential of the average firm in the industry. The five forces are: rivalry, buyer power, supplier power, threat of new entrants, and the threat of...