Musings on Markets

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

What is a hurdle rate for a business? There are multiple definitions that you will see offered, from it being the cost of raising capital for that business to an opportunity cost , i.e., a return that you can make investing elsewhere, to a required return for investors in that business. What is a hurdle rate?

Hurdle Rate 52

Hurdle Rate Currencies Investments Valuation 52

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 31, 2024

In my last three posts, I looked at the macro (equity risk premiums, default spreads, risk free rates) and micro (company risk measures) that feed into the expected returns we demand on investments, and argued that these expected returns become hurdle rates for businesses, in the form of costs of equity and capital.

Hurdle Rate 79

Hurdle Rate Profit and Loss Investments Accounting 79

Musings on Markets

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

During the course of the year, investors also rediscovered that the essence of business is not growing revenues or adding users, but making profits from that growth. In this post, I will focus on trend lines in profitability at companies in 2022, with the intent of addressing multiple questions.

Profit and Loss 52

Profit and Loss Investments Hurdle Rate Accounting 52

Musings on Markets

AUGUST 15, 2023

In every introductory finance class, you begin with the notion of a risk-free investment, and the rate on that investment becomes the base on which you build, to get to expected returns on risky assets and investments. What is a risk free investment?

Investments 80

Investments Currencies Treasury Hurdle Rate 80

Barry Ritholtz

FEBRUARY 21, 2023

And I love business, I love the markets, I want to go there. What sort of challenges — BUCKLEY: A couple of bear markets. BUCKLEY: We’ve had, let’s see, inflation at a 40-year high, tightest labor market of our lifetimes. We have lowered the cost of investing, and we have improved the quality of those funds.

Leadership 107

Leadership Investments Profit and Loss Technology 107

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 9, 2021

I spent the first week of 2021 in the same way that I have spent the first week of every year since 1995, collecting data on publicly traded companies and analyzing how they navigated the cross currents of the prior year, both in operating and market value terms. So, why bother?

Valuation 52

Valuation Currencies Numbers Corporate Finance 52

Musings on Markets

MARCH 8, 2023

The dividend principle, which is the focus of this post is built on a very simple principle, which is that if a company is unable to find investments that make returns that meet its hurdle rate thresholds, it should return cash back to the owners in that business.

Hurdle Rate 91

Hurdle Rate Corporate Finance Investments Finance 91