An authoritative text on cost of capital for both the nonprofessional and the valuation expert -- now revised and expanded In endeavoring to practice sound corporate finance, there is perhaps nothing so critical, nor slippery, as cost of capital estimation. The second edition of Cost of Capital: Estimation and Applications combines a state-of-the-art treatise on cost of capital estimation with an accessible introduction for the nonprofessional. This comprehensive yet usable guide begins with an exposition of basic concepts understandable to the lay person and proceeds gradually from simple applications to the more complex procedures commonly found in the marketplace. New features of the revised and expanded Second Edition include chapters on Economic Value Added (EVA) and reconciling cost of capital in the income approach with valuation multiples in the market approach, as well as expanded coverage of cost of capital in the courts and handling discounts for marketability. Cost of Capital remains an incomparable resource for all parties interested in effective business valuation.
Research into the equity risk premium, often considered the most important number in finance, falls into three broad groupings. First, researchers have measured the margin by which equity total returns have exceeded fixed-income or cash returns over long historical periods and have projected this measure of the equity risk premium into the future. Second, the dividend discount model—or a variant of it, such as an earnings discount model—is used to estimate the future return on an equity index, and the fixed-income or cash yield is then subtracted to arrive at an equity risk premium expectation or forecast. Third, academics have used macroeconomic techniques to estimate what premium investors might rationally require for taking the risk of equities. Current thinking emphasizes the second, or dividend discount, approach and projects an equity risk premium centered on 3½% to 4%.
What is the return to investing in the stock market? Can we predict future stock market returns? How have equities performed over the last two centuries? The authors in this volume are among the leading researchers in the study of these questions. This book draws upon their research on the stock market over the past two dozen years. It contains their major research articles on the equity risk premium and new contributions on measuring, forecasting, and timing stock market returns, together with new interpretive essays that explore critical issues and new research on the topic of stock market investing. This book is aimed at all readers interested in understanding the empirical basis for the equity risk premium. Through the analysis and interpretation of two scholars whose research contributions have been key factors in the modern debate over stock market perfomance, this volume engages the reader in many of the key issues of importance to investors. How large is the premium? Is history a reliable guide to predict future equity returns? Does the equity and cash flows of the market? Are global equity markets different from those in the United States? Do emerging markets offer higher or lower equity risk premia? The authors use the historical performance of the world's stock markets to address these issues.
The science behind creating portfolios that adapt to market changes “After ten years of poor stock market returns and yet great bond and gold returns, there is a real thirst for an all-weather portfolio in a high-risk period. Dick Stoken builds that diversified portfolio and also introduces some timing methods to improve returns and lower risks. This is a very timely and useful book.” —Ned Davis, Senior Investment Strategist, Ned Davis Research, Inc. “Dick Stoken’s Survival of the Fittest for Investors is a masterful and unique dissection of what makes the market tick. It represents an indispensable and brand-new approach for the serious investor. A must on every investor’s reading list.” —Leo Melamed, Chairman Emeritus, CME Group “I selected Stoken’s Strategic Investment Timing as the Best Investment Book of the Year in the 1985 Stock Trader’s Almanac; Survival of the Fittest for Investors will be a leading contender for Best Investment Book of the Year in the upcoming 2013 edition.” —Yale Hirsch, founder, Stock Trader’s Almanac About the Book: Just as the animal kingdom is composed of many species, today’s financial systems are composed of a multitude of independent participants, all over the globe, all influencing the whole. Survival of the Fittest for Investors breaks down the science behind the behavior of these market participants to present a definitive system for building profitable portfolios based on the concept of natural selection. This advanced guide to the cutting-edge science of complex adaptive systems in financial markets tells you where to find and how to track the evolutionary instability underlying these markets. It shows how, with heightened insight and a powerful algorithm, you can survive and thrive in volatile markets by following the simple principles of evolution. Award-winning and critically acclaimed author Dick Stoken punches holes in the outdated, Newtonian cause-and-effect paradigm and helps you see financial markets from a Darwinian perspective, where they function as complex systems that have the ability to adapt. By using his state-of-the-art algorithm, Stoken demonstrates how you can use agent-based modeling to assess the actual way markets behave in order to maximize the upside of your asset allocation. Stoken shows that variation is the key to profitability by using three real-world portfolios, each balancing four major asset classes going back thirty-nine years. Each portfolio clearly demonstrates how to reap consistently impressive profits with lower-than-market risk—regardless of your investment style. Whether you take conservative, traditional, or leveraged positions, this book helps you create portfolios of equities, debt, gold, and real estate that have proven to beat the S&P 500 by up to 22.5 percent! After opening your eyes to the science of complex adaptive systems and the vitality of punctuated equilibrium, Survival of the Fittest for Investors helps you implement the know-how into nuts-and-bolts results by equipping you with such practical tools as: A 1-year/6-month algorithm for accurately simulating evolutionary fluctuations in markets A cutting-edge allocation strategy that takes advantage of our natural “herding” instinct Tips for recognizing and enduring “bubbles” Without Survival of the Fittest for Investors, the evolution of investing may leave your wealth behind.
Business Valuation Discounts and Premiums SECOND EDITION Discounts and premiums do not just affect the value of a company; they play a crucial role in influencing a host of other factors and conditions that can make or break a deal. When it comes to business valuations, it's the business appraiser's responsibility to be intimately knowledgeable with every aspect of discounts and premiums: the different types, the situations when they may or may not apply, and how to quantify them. In this newly updated edition of Business Valuation: Discounts and Premiums, Shannon Pratt—one of the nation's most recognized and respected business valuation consultants—brings together the latest collective wisdom and knowledge about all major business discounts and premiums. Addressing the three basic approaches to conducting a valuation—the income approach, the market approach, and the asset approach—Shannon Pratt deftly and logically details the different discounts or premiums that may be applicable, depending on the basic valuation approach used, and how the valuation approaches used affect the level. Clearly written and thorough, Business Valuation: Discounts and Premiums, Second Edition provides business appraisers, accountants, attorneys, and business owners with an arsenal of information for their professional toolkit that can be applied to every major evaluation case they might face in any deal. This updated edition features timely, comprehensive coverage on: Strategic acquisitions Extensive empirical data Pre-IPO marketability discount studies Merger and acquisition negotiations, empirical evidence from completed transactions, and positions taken by courts in litigations Strategic acquisition premiums Studies on minority discounts Detailed, authoritative, and complete in its coverage, Business Valuation: Discounts and Premiums, Second Edition gets to the core of one of the more complex challenges faced by business appraisers, and arms readers with the understanding and techniques needed to successfully meet and exceed their job expectations.
This book provides a comprehensive guide to market timing using moving averages. Part I explores the foundations of market timing rules, presenting a methodology for examining how the value of a trading indicator is computed. Using this methodology the author then applies the computation of trading indicators to a variety of market timing rules to analyse the commonalities and differences between the rules. Part II goes on to present a comprehensive analysis of the empirical performance of trading rules based on moving averages.
Your Best Approach to Determining Value If you're buying, selling, or valuing a business, how can you determine its true value? By basing it on present market conditions and sales of similar businesses. The market approach is the premier way to determine the value of a business or partnership. With convincing evidence of value for both buyers and sellers, it can end stalemates and get deals closed. Acclaimed for its empirical basis and objectivity, this approach is the model most favored by the IRS and the United States Tax Court-as long as it's properly implemented. Shannon Pratt's The Market Approach to Valuing Businesses, Second Edition provides a wealth of proven guidelines and resources for effective market approach implementation. You'll find information on valuing and its applications, case studies on small and midsize businesses, and a detailed analysis of the latest market approach developments, as well as: A critique of US acquisitions over the last twenty-five years An analysis of the effect of size on value Common errors in applying the market approach Court reactions to the market approach and information to help you avoid being blindsided by a litigation opponent Must reading for anyone who owns or holds a partial interest in a small or large business or a professional practice, as well as for CPAs consulting on valuations, appraisers, corporate development officers, intermediaries, and venture capitalists, The Market Approach to Valuing Businesses will show you how to successfully reach a fair agreement-one that will satisfy both buyers and sellers and stand up to scrutiny by courts and the IRS.
In Bond Portfolio Management, Frank Fabozzi, the leading expert in fixed income securities, explains the latest strategies for maximizing bond portfolio returns. Through in-depth discussions on different types of bonds, valuation principles, and a wide range of strategies, Bond Portfolio Management will prepare you for virtually any bond related event-whether your working on a pension fund or at an insurance company. Key topics include investment objectives of institutional investors, general principles of bond valuation, measuring interest rate risk, and evaluating performance. Bond Portfolio Management is an excellent resource for anyone looking to master one of the world's largest markets, and is a perfect companion to Fabozzi's successful guide-The Handbook of Fixed-Income Securities.
