Foreword by Dean LeBaron xiii
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xix
1 Corporate Valuation for Portfolio Investment: A Philosophical Framework 1
Valuation Defined 2
The Importance of Equity 4
Equity Defined 4
Articles of Faith Undermined: Securitization at Risk 5
Benefits of the Equity Marketplace 8
The Flexible Nature of Equity Capital 8
Long-Term Superiority of Equity over Debtwith a Caution about Volatility 9
The Focused Nature of Valuation for Investment 11
Two Main Sources of Information about Equity 12
Financial Reports: Issues with GAAP and IFRS/IAS 12
Sources of Complexity in Accounting for Company Value 13
Reforming GAAP and IFRS 15
The Problem of Fair Market Value: Reporting Values for Securities with No Current Market 17
Three Studies 18
The Need to Read between the Lines 19
Human Nature Complicates (but Also Informs) Equity Valuation 19
George Soross Concept of Reflexivity 21
Other Paradoxes in Equity Investing 22
The Observer Effect 24
Human Nature as the Key to Equity Value 24
Need for Expression in Currency Values 25
On Financial Mathematics 26
In Closing: About This Book 28
A Range of Approaches 30
2 Valuation Based on Assets 47
Overview of Assets as a Unit of Valuation 48
An Opening Caveat: The Limitations of Accounting Numbers 51
Accounting Numbers: Why Assets as a Starting Point? 52
Definition of an Asset 53
Flow-Dominant vs. Value-Dominant Assets 55
The Market Premium and Nonmarket Discount 56
Bear Stearns: A Cautionary Tale 58
The Asset-Focused Investor 59
Current Asset Value 60
Taking Clues from Assets 62
The Sykes Model 66
Beyond Assets: Clues from Liabilities and Equity on the Balance Sheet 67
The Role of the Appraiser and Appraisal Standards in Valuing Assets 69
Fair Market Value Treatment Assets 70
Fair Value of Assets under FASB (GAAP) and IASB (IFRS) 70
Valuing Intangible Assets on the Balance Sheet 72
Valuing Intangible Assets That Are Not on the Balance Sheet 73
Using the MD&A for Insights on Assets 77
Improvements in Fair Value Disclosures: A Checklist for Investors 78
Asset-Based Valuation by Industry 79
Special Topics in Asset Valuations: Valuing Assets in Pension Plans 83
Lens Check 84
Conclusion: Asset Values in Bailouts 86
Appendix 2.1: Common Ratios, Multiples, Averages, and Algorithms Based in Assetsand Examples of Their Use 86
Appendix 2.2: Asset-Based Approach to Business Valuation (American Society of Appraisers) 90
3 Valuation Based on Earnings (Income) 103
Earnings Defined 103
Types of Earnings 104
Operating Earnings Are Key to Value 106
Earnings Are Relative to Revenues and Expenses 108
Earnings Are Ultimately Based on Assets 108
Hard Times Reveal Earnings-Asset Connection 110
How the Standard Setters Currently Define Earnings 111
A Brief Pause to Look at Our Compass 114
The Other Side of the Equation: Revenues Minus Expenses 114
How XBRL Can Connect the Dots between Earnings and Assets 116
Earnings Management and Fraud 117
Earnings Caveat from a Sage 118
The Quality of Earnings 119
Models to Assess Earnings 122
Earnings Guidance: A Waning Trend? 124
Consensus Earnings Programs 124
Earnings Examples 126
EPS: An Emerging Standard 128
Earnings-Based Valuation by Industry 129
Impact on Industries of New Global Accounting Standards for Revenue Recognition 132
Is a New Earnings Measure Needed? 133
Lens Check 133
Conclusion 134
Appendix 3.1: Hoovers Definitions of Basic Income Statement Terms 134
Appendix 3.2: Ratios and Other Valuation Indicators Using Earnings 138
Appendix 3.3: Net Income Example 144
4 Valuation Based on Cash Flow 155
Cash Flow StatementsSomething Old, Something New for Investors 156
Value and Liquidity 157
Cash Flow: What the Global Standard Setters Say 157
What the Cash Flow Statement Shows 158
Accounting Note: Converting an Indirect Method Statement of Cash Flows to a Direct Method 161
DCF: Projecting Future Cash Flow 163
Crystal Ball: Two Kinds of Questions 164
Some General Methodologies for Considering Cash Flow 168
Cash Flow from Projects: What Investors Should Know 172
The Work of Alfred Rappaport 175
Using Monte Carlo Simulations for Future Cash Flow Estimates 175
Using Cash Flow to Calculate Amortized Cost 191
IFRS Impact on Cash Flow 191
Cash Flow Patterns in Industries 192
Lens Check 194
Conclusion 195
Appendix 4.1: AT&T Example 195
Appendix 4.2: ASC 230 Summary 200
Appendix 4.3: Summary of IAS 7 201
5 Valuation Based on Securities Prices 209
Overview of Securities Prices 210
Definition of Stock Price 211
Seven Basic Points of Departure to Determining the Value of a Security 213
Approach 1: Ratios or Formulas That Include Stock Prices 214
Approach 2: Technical Analysis of Stock Price Movements 216
Approach 3: Analysis of Values According to Efficient MarketRandom Walk Hypothesis 226
Approach 4: Stock Valuation Based on Expectations 228
Approach 5: Valuations Implicit in Algorithmic Trading 229
Approach 6: The Black Swan Approach to Stock Price Valuation 230
Approach 7: Reflexivity Theory and Stock Values 231
An Overview of Chaos/Complexity Theory 234
Securities Valuation as an Asset on the Balance Sheet 236
The Duff& Phelps Valuation Model 236
Revisiting Mark-to-Market 238
Can We Bring Back the Equity Premium? 241
Reconnecting with the Good Old Capital Asset Pricing Model 243
Stock Price Patterns in Industries 244
Lens Check 244
Conclusion 245
6 Hybrid Techniques for Valuation 255
Building vs. Buying a Model 255
A Word about Building a Model within a Model 257
Words of Caution 258
Fourteen Approaches 258
Using Metrics to Measure Management 270
A Basic Distinction: Residual Income vs. Discounted Cash Flow 271
Out-of-the-Box, or Generic, Valuation Models 272
Reconciling the Balance Sheet and Income Statement 273
Reconciling the Income Statement to the Statement of Cash Flows 275
A New Balance Sheet Metric 277
Use of Hybrid Valuation Approaches in a Key Industry: Energy 278
Concluding Caveat and a Fifteenth Model 281
Appendix 6.1: National Standard Company: Description of Bonus Plan Based on EVA 282
7 Market Value Drivers of Public Corporations: Genius, Liberty, Law, Markets, Governance, and Values 291
The Nonmarketability Discount 292
Six Key Elements 292
Element 1: Genius 293
Element 2: Liberty 300
Element 3: Law 302
Element 4: Markets 306
Element 5: Governance 308
Element 6: Values 314
Long-Term Investing 324
A Note on Valuation for Divestment 326
Conclusion 327
Appendix 7.1: Rating Governance 328
Appendix 7.2: Enhanced Business Reporting Framework 335
Appendix 7.3: The Caux Round Table Principles 339
Appendix 7.4: Trucost 343
8 Situational Valuation: Equity Values throughout the Corporate Life Cycle 367
Scenarios 367
Valuation of Shares under Public Policy Pressure: A Story in Medias Res 368
Valuation of Shares at Par (or No Par) 369
Valuation of Shares in IPOs and Secondary Offerings 369
Valuation of Shares upon the Declaration of a Dividend or a Stock Split 371
Valuation of Shares in Buybacks 371
Valuation of Shares in Companies with Underfunded Defined Benefit Pension Plans 372
The Example of Endowments 373
Valuation of Shares Tendered, Exchanged, or Retained in Mergers or Acquisitions 375
Valuation of Shares in Spin-Offs and Divestitures 382
Valuation of Shares Impacted by Shareholder-Led Governance Changes 383
Valuation of Shares in Companies in the Zone of Insolvency or Filing for Bankruptcy 385
Valuation of Shares in Companies Emerging from Bankruptcy 387
Conclusion 388
9 Conclusion 395
Appendices
Need for Humility in Valuation 395
A True Beauty Contest 396
No Single Definition for Valuation 397
A Word about Genius 398
Real Impact 399
A Need for Investor Talent 400
Looking for the Story 401
On the Social Impact of Corporations and Investors 402
Work in Progress 403
A Equity vs. Debt Securities: A Global Definition 407
B Basic Accounting Concepts for Corporate Valuation 411
Summary of Tentative Global Accounting Decisions on Objectives and Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting 411
Accounting Principles: U.S. GAAP 416
c convergence of Global Standards: FASB, IASB, and Their Joint Standards as of June 1, 2010 421
Current Technical Plan and Project Updates for Joint FASB-IASB Projects in 2010 and 2011 421
D Report to the Congressional Oversight Panel Regarding Fair Value of Certain Securities and Warrants Acquired by the Treasury under TARP 427
A. Introduction 428
B. Engagement Overview and Procedures 428
C. Valuation Methodologies Overview 430
D. Summary of Findings 437
E. Assumptions, Qualifications, and Limiting Conditions 439
Addendum 441
E The Use of Mathematics in Finance 443
Types of Mathematics Used in Corporate Valuation 443
Statistics 448
Histograms 451
Geometry and Trigonometry 451
Conclusion 452
Symbols Used in Financial Mathematics 452
F The Modigliani-Miller Theorems 461
Modigliani-Miller Propositions 462
G Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) 467
Standard 9: Business Appraisal, Development 467
H Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) Sectors and Industry Groups 473
I Damodaran Spreadsheets for Valuation 475
J Monte Carlo Simulation for Security Investments 479
Volatility and Time Horizon Exercise 481
K Antivaluation! Human Valuation and Investment Foibles 483
Some Common Biases in Valuation Choices 483
Some Common Fallacies in Valuation Reasoning 486
Aristotles 13 Fallacies 487
Fair Value Measurement of Derivatives Contracts 491
M Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission 493
1. Substantive Complexity 493
4. Delivering Financial Information 496
N Valuing Values 501
The Methodological Challenge 502
Economic Value and Social Value 503
Financial Investing vs. Social Investing Tools 508
Valuing Values 512
O XBRL Guidance 515
What Is XBRL? 515
How Can Investors in Companies Using U.S. GAAP Locate and Use XBRL Information? 516
P Pension Fund Valuation Guidance 521
Q Stock Indexes 525
R U.S. Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions 527
S Wisdom from Norway: Two Speeches from a Norwegian State Pension Plan Inspire a Long-Term View 531
From Oil to Equities: Knut N. Kjær 531
Investing for the Long Term: Governor Svein Gjedrem 532
Recommended Reading on Corporate Securities Valuation 539
Index 541
