Monday, October 24, 2011

Chapter 6: Finance Outline

Key topics in finance:
·         
      Accounting – information, trends and facts
o   “There is no chief accounting officer, just controller”
·         Finance – strategy, decision
o   External – investment (dealing with other people’s money)
§  Valuation
§  Cash flow
o   Internal – financial management (dealing with own company’s money)
§  Dividends
§  Merger and acquisition
o   Business structures
§  Proprietorships
·         Individual owner (or husband and wife)
·         Direct accountability for company debts
·         Easiest form of business to own and operate
§  Partnerships
·         Two or more owners who share liability
·         Limited or unlimited versions
o   Limited partnerships cannot be sued for their own personal property (LLP = limited liability partnership)
o   Individuals pay taxes, not the company
o   Company makes decisions
§  Versus unlimited liability where individuals in the company all make decisions
o   Must have a record of working as a group, so the group is responsible.
§  Corporations
·         S-corporation versus C-corporation
o   C-corporation
§  Most companies are C-corps
§  Minimum cost of $800 corporate taxes per year in CA
·         Must file annual report of CEO, CFO, secretary
§  Double taxation
·         Corporate taxes (~15%), plus personal income tax (~25%).
o   Ends up with only 60% of profits paid to shareholders.
·         Interest is tax deductable.
§  Delaware has two protective laws
·         Does not show the public who is the CEO
·         Has a court system to deal with business disputes so expedites business issues.
§  Nevada is similar.
o   S-corporation
§  Only up to 100 stockholders, cannot sell stock on the open market.
§  No double taxation.
·         Limits personal liability
·         LLC is a limited liability corporation, but it can have shareholders. Not public.
·         Affords the rights of an individual to the company
§  Investment
·         Risk vs. Return
o   Example: CD and oil exploration
o   Systematic versus unique
§  Systematic – whole market has risk
§  Unique – risks associated with a specific investment
o   Diversified portfolio?
o   Beta 1, 0, -1, etc.
§  Variability in the valuation of a company relative to market indices (measure of risk)
·         Coca-cola is Beta=1, so it follows the market
§  Going against the market is a negative beta.
·         Allows you to balance out your risk.
·         Stock and stock market
o   Stock Indices: S&P 500 (big companies), Wilshire 5000 (largest 5000), Nikkei 225 and Dow Jones 30 (oldest and most famous, but not representative of the whole market)
o   Standard IPO is $10/share to make return historically about 10% using P/E ratio.
§  Since DJ started tracking the total return for all companies is ~7.6%
§  Average P/E ratio is 16.
§  Also need to know growth rate.
·         Could not be earning money but still valuable.
·         Book value assets (real estate, equipment, reputation) could represent value
o   Buy and liquidate to get money back
§  What is the challenge of continuing to sell stock?
·         Take over potential
·         Diluted value of shares
·         Alternatives:
o   Borrow money
§  Have to pay interest
§  Must be able to “service the debt”
§  Need collateral
o   Issue Corporate bonds
§  Sells your debt to the public
§  Issue coupons at a “par value” but they can be resold at a different price.
§  Interest rate on bond is fixed, outside interest rate and bond price are negatively correlated.
o   Options
§  Pay for option to buy by a defined date “CALL OPTION”
§  “PUT OPTION” is an option to sell.
§  Chicago option exchange, minimum 100 shares, keep 50% for processing fee.
o   Stock options
§  Must pay taxes on exercised gain on stock options, even if you hold the stocks and it goes down in value.
§  Works differently than founder’s stock.
·         Founder’s stock has a “nominal price” and you pay taxes when you sell on the appreciated value from the nominal price to the sale price.
o   Mergers and Acquisitions
§  Why?
·         Diversify
·         Improve sales and earnings
·         Purchase an undervalued company
·         Lower operating costs with economies of scale
§  Mergers are friendly, acquisitions are hostile
·         Absolute power is 51% but could take much less to elect your people to the board.
o   If you buy more than 10% must inform the SEC
·         Poison pill
o   Protects against takeover
o   Use all cash and borrow from bank to buy shares back, share price goes up and you take on debt so makes the company less attractive.
o   New contract to employees, if company sold to new company everyone get a significant raise (25% in Yahoo’s case in defending against Microsoft)
o   Can also fight in court.
·         After M&A
o   Reduced wages
o   Layoffs
§  Typical layoff strategy is layoff half, give other half a raise to signal no more layoffs. Otherwise everyone looks for jobs.
o   Lower cost
o   Reduce working capital needs
o   Gain access to pension fund
§  Laws against it but it does happen
o   Sell assets (real estate, patents, divisions)
§  Leveraged buyout
o   Mutual funds and hedge funds

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