Archive for the ‘strategy elements’ Category
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
In this section we return to the transparency of financial markets, which was introduced in Chapter 1. The degree of transparency is relevant because it influences traders’ strategies, hence the pricing process. However, given the great variety of aspects, assessing the effects of pre-trade transparency on market quality is complicated, so it is not surprising that the results offered by the literature differ significantly depending on the market structure considered and the type of information revealed.
If one models transparency as the increased visibility of the liquidity suppliers’ order flows, the effects of pre-trade transparency on market quality will show the benefits of the reduction in adverse selection costs for liquidity and uninformed traders’ welfare.
Clearly, when liquidity suppliers can screen informed and uninformed traders, they can also offer liquidity on better terms to the uninformed. If, however, pre-trade transparency is modelled as the visibility of traders’ identification codes, the effects on market quality can differ, as has been shown by Foucault, Moinas and Theissen (2007) and Rindi (2008). Finally, an often-debated question is the relationship between clients and intermediaries, given that the latter enjoy privileged information on the motivation for their clients’ trades and can exploit this by acting as a counterpart in the trades (dual capacity trading (Röell, 1990) or trading before the clients (front running)).
Tags: get out of debt, income, international markets, money issues, revenue
Posted in real estate, research, stocks, strategy elements, taxes | Comments Off
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
The level of implied volatility is a widely used indicator for risk appetite, and, on the individual company level, for the uncertainty related to future earnings. It is also considered a good measure of equity-market risk, because the higher the implied volatility the higher the price of equity options, and thus the higher the cost of insuring against equity-market downturns. Corporate bond spreads reflect the compensation that the investors demand for taking on credit risk. While the debt and equity markets’ estimates of risk, as explained by the Merton model, tend to move together, temporary disconnections do occur. The combination of low levels of implied equity volatility and wide credit spreads suggests the potential for the credit spreads to tighten, as the divergence in the equity and credit market eventually gets corrected. Conversely, when implied equity volatility appears high relative to credit spreads, credit markets are more optimistic about business risks in the corporate sector. The decoupling in the second half of 2003, however, was not an indication that credit spreads were rich relative to implied equity volatility. Rather credit markets were faster to cash in on the reduced risks in the corporate sector because of the massive balance sheet deleveraging, especially in the telecom sector.
Corporate managers were selling off assets, issuing equity and keeping cash for the debtholders, as opposed to using the cash to buy back stock for the first time in 10 years. By the end of the year, equity volatility came down significantly, closing the gap in the assessment of risk.
Tags: foreclosure, loans, mortgage, shares, tax, taxes, tenancy, Tenancy-in-Common, tenant, trade value
Posted in payments, profitability, real estate, research, stocks, strategy elements, taxes | Comments Off
Monday, October 5th, 2009
Many investors try to avoid these troublesome relationships by using online brokers. Online investing is promoted as fun. Chat rooms, IPOs, after-hours trading, 24-hour research: The message is: meet interesting people and make quick, easy money. The results are not any better than using a live-body broker.
Studies show switching to low-commission, online brokers leads to overconfidence. Stocks are bought and sold online in seconds. Online research takes hours if done quickly, days and weeks if done properly. Online investors skip the research and go directly to the trading page. This causes excessive trading, which quickly adds up to excess commissions, large spreads, great unhappiness, and poor results. A few investors become addicted to trading.
Investors using online brokers often turn to chat rooms to get comfort during volatile markets. Chat rooms are full of investors trying to promote their own shares. Their agenda is to get you out of your shares and into theirs at ever-higher prices. Rumors and mass hysteria are treated as fact in chat rooms. Your gullibility will hurt you.
Tags: business plans, company, economy, marketing schedule, payment plans
Posted in business publications, money spending, strategy elements | Comments Off
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Except in the movies, nobody has ever made the leap from start-up to success in one jump. The company needs a well-thought out plan built on steps, strategies, and benchmarks to reach its financial goal.
If your financial goal, for example, is a profit of $12 million, you might decide on the following steps:
- Increase sales
- Cut expenses
- Develop new products
- Innovate marketing
- Improve efficiency
Tags: benchmark, CEO, company, economy
Posted in attitude, innovative marketing, payments, profitability, strategy elements | Comments Off
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
How are you going to measure your success as a company in financial terms? The most basic measurement is a profit goal. You might also want to set ancillary goals—growth goals, sales goals, or whatever you think would be the best ways to gauge your progress and help you achieve your primary financial goal.
Then, ask a few hard questions. Is your goal realistic? Is it achievable? Are there ways to leverage the overall goal to achieve the financial goal? If not, one or the other has to be reconsidered.
Some CEOs seem to set goals according to their sense of business ideals or to really push their workers to the limit. Goals of IS percent profitability and 10 percent growth, for example, may sound great and look great on paper. But are they realistic for your company? Can you actually expect to achieve them? Also, if the overall economy is suffering, 15 percent and 10 percent might be improbable goals even for established companies.
Tags: CEO, company, entrepreneurs, executives
Posted in campaigns, financial principles, funds, merchandise, profitability, strategy elements | Comments Off
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Do the elements of your strategy make sense? Do they define the direction in which your company wants to go? Do they sound forced or contrived or simplistic? Or are these elements that can guide your company toward success?
If the strategy doesn’t sound right spoken aloud, it’s time to start over. If it makes sense and if it could make sense to any new employee, that means your business likely is on the right track in developing its business plan.
Strategies are important, but never mistake strategizing for acting. The best strategy in the world is no strategy if action isn’t built into the plan. There are companies that spend a lot of time meeting and working out strategies, but not moving on to map out a plan of action. You’re not likely to have heard of them, of course. Wonder why?
Tags: company, entrepreneurs, executives, manufacturers
Posted in business goals, business patterns, business publications, employee, negotiationg, strategy elements | Comments Off
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
After you’ve defined your business strategy, you should test the elements of that strategy. There are many ways to do so, but there’s one simple test that can be tried without fear or risk:
Say the company’s goals aloud.
Strategies are important, but never mistake strategizing for acting. The best strategy in the world is no strategy if action isn’t built into the plan. There are companies that spend a lot of time meeting and working out strategies, but not moving on to map out a plan of action. You’re not likely to have heard of them, of course. Wonder why?
This can be done as part of a meeting of the board of directors, in the executive suite, or even in the privacy of the department manager’s office. Identify the internal elements of the strategy and say them aloud. Some business people refer to this approach as “Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.” But at this point you don’t want acceptance and allegiance—you want critical thinking and tough questions. It’s time to test, not to salute.
Tags: competition, entrepreneurs, executives, manufacturers
Posted in business goals, business publications, business strategy, campaigns, companies, strategy elements | Comments Off