Tag: capital markets

Allow Zombie Companies To Fail & Sanity To Return To The Markets

Allow Zombie Companies To Fail & Sanity To Return To The Markets

The Fed has created more zombie companies than any zombie apocalypse. The late great George Romero has nothing on the Fed. We are praying, crossing fingers and toes that the Fed will end QE and not support Government-led corporate bailouts with its money printing ability. Wishful thinking? Maybe. However, if nobody pushes back on the … Continue reading Allow Zombie Companies To Fail & Sanity To Return To The Markets

The Cost of Debt Rises

The Cost of Debt Rises

Management Teams Have Less Discretionary Capital as The Cost of Debt Rises As the cost of debt rises, management teams have less discretionary capital to allocate toward growth initiatives and various sources of competitive differentiation (Product Development for example). Belt tightening will be required as corporate America braces for the new normal of higher input … Continue reading The Cost of Debt Rises

The Fed Already Blinked

The Fed Already Blinked

It would have made for great theater if the Fed truly wanted to win the war against inflation. Unfortunately, the Fed already blinked. If the Fed's mission truly was to get CPI back down to 2%, the valuation froth that began to manifest in 2019 peaking with 2021's valuation mania (which made the 1999-2000 dot … Continue reading The Fed Already Blinked

Automating The IPO Process

Automating The IPO Process

Founded in 2017, Capital Markets Gateway ("CMG") is working to automate the IPO process, an effort that is long overdue. CMG was highlighted in today's WSJ. The firm's platform aggregates data from issuers, underwriters and investors and provides real-time information and analytics to users that otherwise would be aggregated, error checked and tabulated by hand. … Continue reading Automating The IPO Process

Broadridge’s Acquisition of Itiviti. Nothing Is Cheap.

Broadridge’s Acquisition of Itiviti. Nothing Is Cheap.

Earlier this week Broadridge (BR) agreed to acquire trading platform Itiviti for $2.5 Billion in an all cash deal from PE firm Nordic Capital. This demonstrates that growth is valued at a premium as it values Itiviti at approximately 34x 2020 Non-GAAP Operating Income and 10x 2020 Revenue. Itiviti is growing organic revenues faster than … Continue reading Broadridge’s Acquisition of Itiviti. Nothing Is Cheap.

Virtu, SS&C Technologies and Envestnet

Virtu, SS&C Technologies and Envestnet

Virtu, SS&C Technologies and Envestnet are among the Capital Markets Fintech names that ought to draw attention from value investors. We have updated our Capital Markets Fintech table as earnings reports have rolled in. If you are a value investor who looks to cash flow-based valuation metrics, Virtu (tkr: VIRT), SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC) and … Continue reading Virtu, SS&C Technologies and Envestnet

The Social Media-Enabled Pump and Dump

The Social Media-Enabled Pump and Dump

Hopefully prospective SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will work to rein in the frothy activity that has occurred in the capital markets over the past decade. These range from slap on the wrist fines (large banks in particular), which amount to nothing more than a Cost of Goods Sold charge, to SPACs to more recently social … Continue reading The Social Media-Enabled Pump and Dump

Elon Musk Is A Carnival Barker At Best, A Criminal At Worst

Elon Musk Is A Carnival Barker At Best, A Criminal At Worst

The retail trading crowd views Elon Musk as a populist hero. The reality is Musk is a carnival barker and borderline fraudster in the vein of WeWork founder Adam Neumann. Mr. Musk got off easy under lax former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. Recall in August 2018 when Musk posted on Twitter that he had secured … Continue reading Elon Musk Is A Carnival Barker At Best, A Criminal At Worst

Cult of Personality – A Deep Dive On CEO Personality Research

Cult of Personality – A Deep Dive On CEO Personality Research

From time to time we have written about CEO Personality and its impact on corporate operations and stock returns. Earlier this week we spoke with Dr. Joseph Harrison of TCU. Dr. Harrison and his team recently performed an Advanced Analytics exercise that analyzed 2,880 CEOs regarding their personality traits and related company stock returns. Click … Continue reading Cult of Personality – A Deep Dive On CEO Personality Research

The CEORater CEO Hall of Fame Class of 2020

The CEORater CEO Hall of Fame Class of 2020

For our inaugural CEO Hall of Fame class we selected CEO Hall of Fame members largely based upon their contribution toward building their respective companies as well as creating long-term shareholder value. Our selection process included a variety of quantitative and qualitative elements including financial operating performance, total stock returns, longevity, innovation, corporate governance and … Continue reading The CEORater CEO Hall of Fame Class of 2020