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Learning that drives better investment decisions

VMC: What Is Free Cash Flow to the Firm?

By Andrew Stotz | Jul 22, 2019

Free cash flow to the firm (FCFF) is the cash flow that a company is ‘free’ to distribute to all providers of money (both, debt and equity) without damaging its growth opportunities.

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VMC: WACC – Theory versus Reality

By Andrew Stotz | Jul 19, 2019

Since debt is cheaper than equity, in theory, this would mean that a company would prefer to be fully funded by debt to minimize its cost of capital. However, it’s not the case in reality that a company has a capital structure that is 100% debt.

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Gearing Could Become Problematic in the US

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 18, 2019

Chart of the Day: Net-debt to equity is well-above the 2008 level, while times-interest-earned is slightly lower. Worth pointing out is that the effective interest rate is significantly lower now. Problematic if earnings stagnate and rates increase.

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Corporate Debt Is More Concerning Than Household Debt in the US

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 17, 2019

Chart of the Day: US household debt is back just above the levels seen at the start of the new millennium; big deleveraging since the Global Financial Crisis. Corporates, though, are back to 2008 levels which could constitute a risk if rates were to increase.

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Gov’t Debt Has Driven Total Debt Growth in the US

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 16, 2019

Chart of the Day: Since 2001, US household debt as a % of GDP has remained at about the same level. Corporate debt has increased a bit. While gov’t debt as a % of GDP has doubled since 2001.

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Thailand Was Asia’s Top Performer in 1H19

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 15, 2019

Chart of the Day: In 1H19, all Asian markets were up except for Malaysia. In local currency terms, Hong Kong was the strongest performer. For foreign investors, Thailand was the best as the Baht strengthened significantly.

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MONEY FM 89.3: The Thai SET’s Recent Strength

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 12, 2019

MONEY FM 89.3: Andrew Stotz is guest on Across the ASEAN to discuss The Thai SET’s Recent Strength and What’s Keeping Thai Markets Afloat?

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The Super Strong Thai Baht Is Unlikely to Weaken Substantially

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 11, 2019

It is hard for the Bank of Thailand to weaken the Baht as the government 10-year bond yield is already pretty low at 2.2%. The Baht also has some safe-haven status as Thailand has relatively large international currency reserves.

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Taiwan Mobile – World Class Benchmarking

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 10, 2019

Taiwan Mobile Company Limited (3045 TT): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was same compared to the prior period’s rank of 2. This was World Class compared to 130 large Telecom companies worldwide.

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Quality Construction Products – World Class Benchmarking

By Become a Better Investor | Jul 9, 2019

Quality Construction Products Public Company Limited (Q-CON TB): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was up compared to the prior period’s rank of 3. This was World Class compared to 460 small Materials companies worldwide.

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