An investor must examine the industry in which a company operates because this can have a tremendous effect on its results, and even its existence. A company’s management may be superior, its balance sheet strong and its reputation enviable. However, the company may not have diversified and the industry within which it operates may be in a depression. This can result in a tremendous decline in revenues and even threaten the viability of the company. The first step in industry analysis is to determine the cycle it is in, or the stage of maturity of the industry. All industries evolve through the following stages: The Entrepreneurial or Nascent Stage: At the first stage, the industry is new and it can take some time for it to properly establish itself. In the early days, it may actually make losses. At this time there may also not be many companies in the Continue reading
Investment Ideas
Demutualization of stock exchanges
Demutualization refers to the conversion of an existing non-profit organization into a profits-oriented company. In other words, an association that is mutually owned by members converts itself into an organization that is owned by shareholders. The company can take different shapes and forms, that is, it could be either a listed or unlisted company which may be closely held or publicly held. Demutualization of stock exchanges involves the segregation of members’ right into distinct segments, viz. ownership rights and trading rights. It changes the relationship between members and the stock exchange. Members while retaining their trading rights acquire ownership rights in the stock exchange, which have a market value, and they also acquire the benefits of limited liability. The shareholders in a corporatized stock exchange may be a diverse group, as members may decide to retain their shares or to sell them. Demutualization however, does not insulate them from competition. Continue reading
Case Study: The Story of Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett, born August 30, 1930 is a U.S. investor, and philanthropist. He is one of the most eminent investors in chronicle, the basic shareholder and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway and in 2008 was ordered by Forbes as the 2nd most robust person in the world on an approximated net worth of around $62 billion. Buffett is often called the “Oracle of Omaha” or the “Sage of Omaha’ and is noted for his adhesiveness to the value investing philosophy and for his own frugalness in spite of his huge riches. Buffett is also a famed altruist, having engaged to impart 85 percentage of his fate to the Gates cornerstone. He as well assists as a appendage of the board of trustees at Grinnell College. In 1999, Buffett personified described as the greatest money manager of the twentieth century in a survey by the Carson Group, leading Peter Continue reading
Investments when entire Stock Market is Under or Over Valued
Should management proceed with investing in a project with a satisfactory NPV (Net Present Value) if it has sufficient funds to do so, and if (a) the entire stock market is significantly undervalued and may well rise by 25 or 30% over the next year, or (b) the entire stock market is significantly overvalued and may well fall by 25 or 30% over the next year? In case (a), it could be argued that management should postpone the investment for a year, and invest the cash in a general portfolio of shares, realize them after a year, then take up the postponed investment, and use the capital gain either for future investment or a special dividend payment to shareholders. However, most shareholders do not expect or want the company to use their money for speculative share investments since most companies are unlikely to possess the appropriate skills to do so. Continue reading
Futures Trading – Meaning, Trading Process and Uses
To better understand how futures are traded, it is helpful to know what a future is, the history behind them, and the benefits of trading them in addition to the trading process. A ‘future‘ is an evolved financial contract to buy or sell an underlying commodity or product at a future time. Futures are exchanged through authorized clearinghouses such as the Chicago Board of Trade and must be exercised on a pre-determined date called the ‘final settlement date’. The exchange of futures contracts is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and requires the use of credit to the contract purchaser and has less risk than a similar contract called a forward. Since futures contracts and prices are derived from a product or commodity they all called derivative securities. Speculators often buy and sell these contracts with the intent of making a profit off price fluctuations before the delivery date, Continue reading
Strategies of Options Contracts
Options are of two types – calls and puts. Calls give the buyer the right but not the obligation to buy a given quantity of the underlying asset, at a given price on or before a given future date. Puts give the buyer the right, but not the obligation to sell a given quantity of the underlying asset at a given price on or before a given date. We look here at some Strategies of options contracts. We refer to single stock options here. However since the index is nothing but a security whose price or level is a weighted average of securities constituting the index, all strategies that can be implemented using stock futures can also be implemented using index options. Hedging: Have underlying buy puts Speculation: Bullish security, buy calls or sell puts Speculation: Bearish security, sell calls or buy puts Hedging: Have underlying buy puts Owners of Continue reading