Should Germany Leave The Euro?

If Germany were to leave the euro zone, the resulting devaluation of the euro could benefit the remaining members of the European Union. A recent op-ed by Kenneth Griffin and Anil Kashyap argues that a German exit from the euro back to the Deutsche mark could be beneficial to all parties in the long run. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/opinion/to-save-the-euro-germany-must-leave-it.html?_r=1&smid=pl-share

Moody's Downgrades Banks

Moody's downgraded numerous large banks citing exposure to violent swings in the global financial markets. The banks were grouped into three categories. The safest banks have large consumer deposits, lending and credit card business. The second group relies heavily on investment income, and the riskiest group has problems in risk management. In a nod to the efficient markets hypothesis, many banks stock rose after the announcement, an indication that the downgrades had been expected by the stock market. http://www.garp.org/risk-news-and-resources/risk-headlines/story.aspx?newsid=48640

Corporate Governance at Mutual Funds

Charles Schwab's YieldPlus bond fund was one of many bond funds that tanked in 2008. One thing that makes this unusual is that fund managers claimed that the average maturity of the fund's holdings was about six months when in actuality it was as high as 2.2 years. A mutual fund's Board of Trustees is designed to protect fund investors, similar to the Board of Director's role as shareholder protector in a corporation, yet some people argue that most mutual fund's Board of Trustees are relatively passive and do little to protect investors. One potential problem raised is that individuals will often sit on multiple mutual fund boards. For example, Fergus Reid III, serves as chairman for all 154 J.P. Morgan mutual funds, while simultaneously serving on the board of 105 Morgan Stanley mutual funds. A telling statement of the apparent lack of power held by a Board of Trustees is evident in the statement by mutual fund manager Donald Yacktman, who said "I've never changed my fees because of pressure from the board." http://www.smartmoney.com/invest/mutual-funds/why-mutual-fund-guardians-are-failing-1339088682278/#tabs 

2011 Executive Pay

Despite the recession and Say On Pay, median executive compensation increased about 5 percent in 2011. The largest pay package, an astounding $378 million, was given to Apple's Timothy D. Cook. And David Simon of the Simon Property Group received $137 million last year even though 73.3 percent of shareholders voted against his pay package. Median pay for the 200 top-paid CEOs in 2011 was $14.5 million. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/business/executive-pay-still-climbing-despite-a-shareholder-din.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

McWages and PPP

Absolute purchasing power parity states that a good should cost the same no matter the currency. Since labor is a good, it stands to reason that labor should result in the same purchasing power across currencies as well. New research by two economists, Orley Ashenfelter and Stepan Jurajda, examines PPP-adjusted wages across different currencies. By taking the cost of a Big Mac and dividing by the hourly wages paid to a typical McDonald's employee in that country, the result is Big Macs earned per hour. The research show that Western European and Canadian McDonald's workers earn 2.2 Big Macs per hour, while Chinese and Indian McDonald's workers earn only .6 and .4 Big Macs per hour, respectively. These results indicate that absolute PPP does not hold across currencies for labor. http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/06/purchasing-power-parity

A Trillion Here, A Trillion There

So what happens to corporate debt when it matures? To maintain its capital structure, most companies refinance the maturing debt with new debt. In the next four years, the total amount of debt needed to refinance existing debt as well as fund growth is expected to be $46 trillion combined in the U.S., Euro zone, U.K., Japan, and China. $30 million is expected to be needed to refinance maturing debt, and $13 to $16 trillion needed for growth. China leads the way with $16 to $18 trillion, while U.S. companies will need only $13 to $16 trillion. http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/articles/en/us/?articleType=HTML&assetID=1245333370039

Happy Birthday! Say On Pay Turns 2

For the past two years shareholders have had the ability to vote on executive pay. And although only about 2 percent of executive compensation packages have received a no vote, it appears that there have been changes in those companies that have received a no vote. For example, HP's new CEO, Meg Whitman, has a $1 salary, with much of her pay package based on the company's stock performance. This is the result of the backlash against the former CEO. One factor that does appear to increase the chance of a no vote is poor stock performance over the previous five years. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-07/say-on-pay-boards-listen-when-shareholders-speak

Negative Net Working Capital

Negative numbers are generally bad, however a recent survey of the communications sector in 2011 found that the best performing companies actually had negative working capital. While negative working capital can be dangerous, especially if liquidity gets tighter, the advantage is that you are actually using other companies' money for free. http://www3.cfo.com/article/2012/6/cash-flow_cash-flow-operating-working-capital-digitalglobe

Capital Budgeting and Taxes

Tax credits on renewable-energy are set to expire beginning at the end of 2012, which will likely reduce capital investments in these projects. In fact, one analyst notes that wind projects have already slowed down since a project begun now could not be completed by the end of the year and capture the tax break. Obviously, the tax credits are an important cash flow to these renewable-energy projects. The article also states that before the recession, solar facilities earned a 6 to 8 percent aftertax IRR, while the current aftertax IRR is more than 10 percent. A question: Since the article states an aftertax IRR, is this any different than the IRR calculated in the textbook? http://www3.cfo.com/article/2012/6/tax_renewable-energy-wind-solar-investment-tax-credit-production-tax-credit?currpage=1

But It Is Only $3.6 Million Per Year

Last month, LightSquared, Inc., filed bankruptcy. In any bankruptcy, there are numerous court filings, including the costs associated with the bankruptcy. In a recent filing, it was disclosed that the cost per hour for former Solicitor General Theodore Olson to work on the bankruptcy was a staggering $1,800. Fortunately, David Fotouhi, an associate at the same firm, was only charging $445 per hour. http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/06/06/bankruptcy-fees-the-ted-olson-edition/