January 2017 Data Update 9: Dividends and Buybacks

If you are from my generation, I am sure that you remember Rodney Dangerfield , whose comedy routine was built around the fact that "he...

January 2017 Data Update 8: The Dark and Light Sides of Debt

There is no aspect of corporate finance where morality plays a bigger role than  the decision of how much to borrow. That should come as no ...

January 2017 Data Update 7: Profitability, Excess Returns and Governance

If asked to describe a successful business, most people will tell you that it is one that makes money and that is not an unreasonable starti...

January 2017 Data Update 6: A Cost of Capital Update!

I have described the cost of capital as the Swiss Army knife of finance, a number that shows up in so many different places in corporate fin...