Accounting Short Response

One comprehensive forum topic response is assigned weekly. Students are required to select and research one of the forum topics listed below using a minimum of 3 reference sources in addition to the textbook and then write a 1,000-word or more response to the forum topic. (Will be submitted using “Turn It In”).

 

Chapter 1: An Overview of Financial Management and the Financial Environment

 

-Types of Company Ownership

 

-The Primary Objective of the Corporation

 

-The Process of Securitization and its Results

 

-Financial Institutions

 

-Financial Markets

 

-The Global Economic Crisis

 

-Derivatives (Web Extension 1A)

Forum Topic Responses:
 One comprehensive forum topic response is assigned weekly. Students are required to select and research one of the forum topics listed below using a minimum of 3 reference sources in addition to the textbook and then write a 1,000-word or more response to the forum topic. Post the topic response in this forum no later than Day 2 of this week. APA format is required. Also submit your forum topic response to Turnitin through the Weekly Materials/Week 1/Assignment Submission folder for grading.

Comprehensive forum topic response contributions will be critically graded on the thought quality of the response, work effort, research, APA format, and analysis. Refer to the rubric for this assignment in the Syllabus section of Blackboard.

Select one of the following forum topics to research and write about.

Week 1 Forum Topics – Chapter 1:
 An Overview of Financial Management and the Financial Environment

-Types of Company Ownership

-The Primary Objective of the Corporation

-The Process of Securitization and its Results

-Financial Institutions

-Financial Markets

-The Global Economic Crisis

-Derivatives (Web Extension 1A)

1

CHAPTER 1

Overview of Financial Management and the Financial Environment

2

Topics in Chapter

Forms of business organization

Objective of the firm: Maximize wealth

Determinants of fundamental value

Financial securities, markets and institutions

3
Why is corporate finance important to all managers?
Corporate finance provides the skills managers need to:
Identify and select the corporate strategies and individual projects that add value to their firm.
Forecast the funding requirements of their company, and devise strategies for acquiring those funds.

4

Business Organization from Start-up to a Major Corporation
Sole proprietorship
Partnership
Corporation
(More . .)

5

Starting as a Proprietorship
Advantages:
Ease of formation
Subject to few regulations
No corporate income taxes
Disadvantages:
Limited life
Unlimited liability
Difficult to raise capital to support growth

6

Starting as or Growing into a Partnership
A partnership has roughly the same advantages and disadvantages as a sole proprietorship.

7
Becoming a Corporation
A corporation is a legal entity separate from its owners and managers.
File papers of incorporation with state.
Charter
Bylaws

8

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Corporation
Advantages:
Unlimited life
Easy transfer of ownership
Limited liability
Ease of raising capital
Disadvantages:
Double taxation
Cost of set-up and report filing

9
Becoming a Public Corporation and Growing Afterwards
Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Stock
Raises cash
Allows founders and pre-IPO investors to “harvest” some of their wealth
Subsequent issues of debt and equity

10
Agency Problems and Corporate Governance
Agency problem: managers may act in their own interests and not on behalf of owners (stockholders)
Corporate governance is the set of rules that control a company’s behavior towards its directors, managers, employees, shareholders, creditors, customers, competitors, and community.
Corporate governance can help control agency problems.

11

What should be management’s primary objective?
The primary objective should be shareholder wealth maximization, which translates to maximizing the fundamental stock price.
Should firms behave ethically? YES!
Do firms have any responsibilities to society at large? YES! Shareholders are also members of society.

12

Is maximizing stock price good for society, employees, and customers?
Employment growth is higher in firms that try to maximize stock price. On average, employment goes up in:
firms that make managers into owners (such as LBO firms)
firms that were owned by the government but that have been sold to private investors
(Continued)

13

Is maximizing stock price good? (Continued)
Consumer welfare is higher in capitalist free market economies than in communist or socialist economies.
Fortune lists the most admired firms. In addition to high stock returns, these firms have:
high quality from customers’ view
employees who like working there

14

What three aspects of cash flows affect an investment’s value?
Amount of expected cash flows (bigger is better)
Timing of the cash flow stream (sooner is better)
Risk of the cash flows (less risk is better)

15
Free Cash Flows (FCF)
Free cash flows are the cash flows that are available (or free) for distribution to all investors (stockholders and creditors).
FCF = sales revenues – operating costs – operating taxes – required investments in operating capital.

16
What is the weighted average cost of capital (WACC)?
WACC is the average rate of return required by all of the company’s investors.
WACC is affected by:
Capital structure (the firm’s relative use of debt and equity as sources of financing)
Interest rates
Risk of the firm
Investors’ overall attitude toward risk

17
What determines a firm’s fundamental, or intrinsic, value?
Intrinsic value is the sum of all the future expected free cash flows when converted into today’s dollars:
Value = + + … +
FCF1
FCF2
FCF∞
(1 + WACC)1
(1 + WACC)∞
(1 + WACC)2

See “big picture” diagram on next slide.
(More . .)

18

Value = + + +
FCF1
FCF2
FCF∞
(1 + WACC)1
(1 + WACC)∞
(1 + WACC)2

Free cash flow
(FCF)
Market interest rates
Firm’s business risk
Market risk aversion
Firm’s debt/equity mix
Cost of debt
Cost of equity
Weighted average
cost of capital
(WACC)
Sales revenues
Operating costs and taxes
Required investments in operating capital
−
−
=
Determinants of Intrinsic Value: The Big Picture
…

Figure 1-6 in FM13.

19

Who are the providers (savers) and users (borrowers) of capital?
Households: Net savers
Non-financial corporations: Net users (borrowers)
Governments: U.S. governments are net borrowers, some foreign governments are net savers
Financial corporations: Slightly net borrowers, but almost breakeven

20

Transfer of Capital from Savers to Borrowers
Direct transfer
Example: A corporation issues commercial paper to an insurance company.
Through an investment banking house
Example: In an IPO, seasoned equity offering, or debt placement, company sells security to investment banking house, which then sells security to investor.
Through a financial intermediary
Example: An individual deposits money in bank and gets certificate of deposit, bank makes commercial loan to a company (bank gets note from company).

21

Cost of Money
What do we call the price, or cost, of debt capital?
The interest rate
What do we call the price, or cost, of equity capital?
Cost of equity = Required return = dividend yield + capital gain

22

What four factors affect the cost of money?
Production opportunities
Time preferences for consumption
Risk
Expected inflation

23

What economic conditions affect the cost of money?
Federal Reserve policies
Budget deficits/surpluses
Level of business activity (recession or boom)
International trade deficits/surpluses

24

What international conditions affect the cost of money?
Country risk. Depends on the country’s economic, political, and social environment.
Exchange rate risk. Non-dollar denominated investment’s value depends on what happens to exchange rate. Exchange rates affected by:
International trade deficits/surpluses
Relative inflation and interest rates
Country risk

25

What two factors lead to exchange
rate fluctuations?
Changes in relative inflation will lead to changes in exchange rates.
An increase in country risk will also cause that country’s currency to fall.

26
Financial Securities
Debt Equity Derivatives
Money
Market T-Bills
CD’s
Eurodollars
Fed Funds Options
Futures
Forward contract
Capital
Market T-Bonds
Agency bonds
Municipals
Corporate bonds Common stock
Preferred stock LEAPS
Swaps

27
Typical Rates of Return
Instrument Rate (January 2009)
U.S. T-bills 0.41%
Banker’s acceptances 5.28
Commercial paper 0.28
Negotiable CDs 1.58
Eurodollar deposits 2.60
Commercial loans:
Tied to prime 3.25 +
or LIBOR 2.02 +

(More . .)

28
Typical Rates (Continued)
Instrument Rate (January 2009)
U.S. T-notes and T-bonds 3.04%
Mortgages 5.02
Municipal bonds 4.39
Corporate (AAA) bonds 5.03
Preferred stocks 6% to 9%
Common stocks (expected) 9% to 15%

29

What are some financial institutions?
Commercial banks
Investment banks
Savings & Loans, mutual savings banks, and credit unions
Life insurance companies
Mutual funds
Exchanged Traded Funds (ETFs)
Pension funds
Hedge funds and private equity funds

30

What are some types of markets?
A market is a method of exchanging one asset (usually cash) for another asset.
Physical assets vs. financial assets
Spot versus future markets
Money versus capital markets
Primary versus secondary markets

31
Primary vs. Secondary Security Sales
Primary
New issue (IPO or seasoned)
Key factor: issuer receives the proceeds from the sale.
Secondary
Existing owner sells to another party.
Issuing firm doesn’t receive proceeds and is not directly involved.

32

How are secondary markets organized?
By “location”
Physical location exchanges
Computer/telephone networks
By the way that orders from buyers and sellers are matched
Open outcry auction
Dealers (i.e., market makers)
Electronic communications networks (ECNs)

33

Physical Location vs. Computer/telephone Networks
Physical location exchanges: e.g., NYSE, AMEX, CBOT, Tokyo Stock Exchange
Computer/telephone: e.g., Nasdaq, government bond markets, foreign exchange markets

34
Types of Orders
Instructions on how a transaction is to be completed
Market Order– Transact as quickly as possible at current price
Limit Order– Transact only if specific situation occurs. For example, buy if price drops to $50 or below during the next two hours.

35

Auction Markets
Participants have a seat on the exchange, meet face-to-face, and place orders for themselves or for their clients; e.g., CBOT.
NYSE and AMEX are the two largest auction markets for stocks.
NYSE is a modified auction, with a “specialist.”

36

Dealer Markets
“Dealers” keep an inventory of the stock (or other financial asset) and place bid and ask “advertisements,” which are prices at which they are willing to buy and sell.
Often many dealers for each stock
Computerized quotation system keeps track of bid and ask prices, but does not automatically match buyers and sellers.
Examples: Nasdaq National Market, Nasdaq SmallCap Market, London SEAQ, German Neuer Markt.

37

Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs)
ECNs:
Computerized system matches orders from buyers and sellers and automatically executes transaction.
Low cost to transact
Examples: Instinet (US, stocks, owned by Nasdaq); Archipelago (US, stocks, owned by NYSE); Eurex (Swiss-German, futures contracts); SETS (London, stocks).

38

Over the Counter (OTC) Markets
In the old days, securities were kept in a safe behind the counter, and passed “over the counter” when they were sold.
Now the OTC market is the equivalent of a computer bulletin board (e.g., Nasdaq Pink Sheets), which allows potential buyers and sellers to post an offer.
No dealers
Very poor liquidity

39
Home Mortgages Before S&Ls
The problems if an individual investor tried to lend money to an aspiring homeowner:
Individual investor might not have enough money to fund an entire home
Individual investor might not be in a good position to evaluate the risk of the potential homeowner
Individual investor might have difficulty collecting mortgage payments

40
S&Ls Before Securitization
Savings and loan associations (S&Ls) solved the problems faced by individual investors
S&Ls pooled deposits from many investors
S&Ls developed expertise in evaluating the risk of borrowers
S&Ls had legal resources to collect payments from borrowers

41
Problems faced by S&Ls Before Securitization
S&Ls were limited in the amount of mortgages they could fund by the amount of deposits they could raise
S&Ls were raising money through short-term floating-rate deposits, but making loans in the form of long-term fixed-rate mortgages
When interest rates increased, S&Ls faced crisis because they had to pay more to depositors than they collected from mortgagees

42
Taxpayers to the Rescue
Many S&Ls went bankrupt when interest rates rose in the 1980s.
Because deposits are insured, taxpayers ended up paying hundreds of billions of dollars.

43
Securitization in the Home Mortgage Industry
After crisis in 1980s, S&Ls now put their mortgages into “pools” and sell the pools to other organizations, such as Fannie Mae.
After selling a pool, the S&Ls have funds to make new home loans
Risk is shifted to Fannie Mae

44
Fannie Mae Shifts Risk to Its Investors
Risk hasn’t disappeared, it has been shifted to Fannie Mae.
But Fannie Mae doesn’t keep the mortgages:
Puts mortgages in pools, sells shares of these pools to investors
Risk is shifted to investors.
But investors get a rate of return close to the mortgage rate, which is higher than the rate S&Ls pay their depositor.
Investors have more risk, but more return
This is called securitization, since new securities have been created based on original securities (mortgages in this example)

45
Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)
Fannie Mae and others, such as investment banks, can also split mortgage pools into “special” securities
Some securities might pay investors only the mortgage interest, others might pay only the mortgage principal.
Some securities might mature quickly, others might mature later.
Some securities are “senior” and get paid before other securities from the pool get paid.
Rating agencies give different
Risk of basic mortgage is parceled out to those investors who want that type of risk (and the potential return that goes with it).

46
Other Assets Can be Securitized
Car loans
Student loans
Credit card balances

47
The Dark Side of Securitization
Homeowners wanted better homes than they could afford.
Mortgage brokers encouraged homeowners to take mortgages even thought they would reset to payments that the borrowers might not be able to pay because the brokers got a commission for closing the deal.
Appraisers thought the real estate boom would continue and over-appraised house values, getting paid at the time of the appraisal.
Originating institutions (like Countrywide) quickly sold the mortgages to investment banks and other institutions.
(More . .)

48
The Dark Side (Continued)
Investment banks created CDOs and got rating agencies to help design and then rate the new CDOs, with rating agencies making big profits despite conflicts of interest.
Financial engineers used unrealistic inputs to generate high values for the CDOs.
Investment banks sold the CDOs to investors and made big profits.
Investors bought the CDOs but either didn’t understand or care about the risk.
Some investors bought “insurance” via credit default swaps.

49
The Collapse
When mortgages reset and borrowers defaulted, the values of CDOs plummeted.
Many of the credit default swaps failed to provide insurance because the counterparty failed.
Many originators and securitizers still owned sub-prime securities, which led to many bankruptcies, government takeovers, and fire sales, including:
New Century, Countrywide, IndyMac, Northern Rock, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch.
More to come.

Chapter 1
Web Extension 1A

An Overview of Derivatives

Topics in Web Extension

Overview of derivatives

Forward contracts

Futures contracts

Options

Swaps

Forward Contracts
2 parties to contract, each with a basic position:
One party is “long” (buy). Obligates party to buy the underlying asset at some fixed price at a specified date in the future.
One party is “short” (sell). Obligates party to sell the underlying asset at some fixed price at a specified date in the future.
Terms
Forward price
Delivery date (expiration date)
Forward contracts are common for currencies.

Hedging Risk with Forward Contracts
US wine importer might plan on purchasing French wine with euros in the fall. Could lock in the currency exchange rate for the fall by taking a long position in a euro currency forward contract.
US computer manufacturer might plan on selling computers to German company in fall, with the payment in euros. Could lock in exchange rate by taking a short position in euro forward contract.
Both parties have reduced risk by locking in the exchange rate.

Problems with Forward Contracts
Forward contracts are made directly between two parties, so there is the possibility of default (although banks often are one of the parties in each transaction, in effect acting as “middlemen”).
Forward contracts are often designed for a specific need, so there is not a standardized contract, which makes it difficult to have a secondary market.
Futures contract solve these problems.

Futures Contracts
Similar to forwards, except:
Marking-to-market
Many more assets- agriculture, livestock, metals, indexes, currencies, interest rates, energy
Standardized contracts that trade on exchanges, such as CBOT

Options
Basic Positions
Call / Put
Long / Short (writer)
Terms
Exercise Price
Expiration Date (can let expire unexercised)
Assets- Stocks, indexes, currency, and futures
CBOE

Swaps
Two parties agree to “swap” some particular obligation (usually associated with debt)
Swap payments in one currency for payments in another currency
Swap floating-rate payments for fixed-rate payments