Since our last update, a number of interesting trends and factors caught our eye:
M&A Transaction Activity:
• The number and value of headline-grabbing, billion-dollar deals peaked at the end of June 2007. For the twelve months ending 6/30/2007, dealmakers racked up 290 deals with an aggregate value of $1.148 Trillion Dollars. Since that time, mega-deal activity has dropped.
• The number of M&A deals leveled off at the very beginning of 2007 showing 0% growth for the 12 months ending 1/30/2007, versus the 12 months ending 1/30/2006.
• Deal volume for the 12 months ending 9/30/2007 versus 9/30/2006 has dropped by 6.1%.
• The news from the middle market suggests that the credit crunch has not had an impact on private-company M&A. However, aggregate deal volume is down 6.1%. Middle-market and private deals represent over 70% of the volume. Something is causing friction within the mid-market and private segment.
• The September Duke University/CFO Business Outlook survey indicates that three-quarters of the CFOs surveyed expect M&A activity to slow. Of particular interest is the suddenness of this change in expectations. In the prior quarter’s survey, the majority of surveyed CFOs expected M&A to “stay strong through the remainder of 2007.”
Capital Markets:
• Equity markets have become much more volatile. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX) is a “key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P 500 stock index option prices. Since its introduction in 1993, VIX has been considered by many to be the world's premier barometer of investor sentiment and market volatility.” When the last M&A Outlook was written, the VIX was at 11.57. At the start of November 2007, the VIX had increased to 23.21.
• Despite the increase in volatility, the NASDAQ Composite Index is up by 15.4% for 2007 and by 28% since the last MoneySoft M&A Outlook was published. During the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has moved from 10,705 to 13,930—an increase of 30%, but the market is “wobbly.”
• A tightening of credit has made it more difficult to get leveraged deals funded resulting in downward pressure on purchase price multiples and more restrictive funding terms and loan covenants.
The Dollar and Economy:
• The value of the dollar has lost value against the following currencies:
Currency July 29, 2005 November 1, 2007 % Change (2)
Canadian Dollar 1.2257 0.9497 -22.5 %
Chinese Yuan 8.1056 7.4582 - 7.9 %
Euro (1) 1.2129 1.4435 - 15.97 % (2)
UK Pound Sterling (1) 1.
The attacks of 9/11 resulted in history’s longest stock market shut down since the 1930s. The New York Stock Exchange remained closed for six days after the attacks. Furthermore, Davis (2011) reports that upon reopening, the New York Stock Exchange fell almost seven hundred points, the biggest one day loss in history. Additionally, Jackson (2008) reports a 14% decline in the Dow Jones, a loss the Dow still felt almost a year later. But, it was American Airlines and United Airlines that experienced the greatest loss. Following the reopening of the stock market, American experienced a 39% decline and United experienced a 42% decline (Davis, 2011). However in face of discouraging numbers, Jackson (2008) reports that the U.S. markets rebounded second only to Japan, showing the great economic resilience of the U.S. While the stock markets present a bleak outlook immediately following the attacks, the financial loss is far from reassuring.
Not only were millions of Americans been put out of work due to these manager’s actions, the American financial markets themselves were pushed to the brink of collapse. Despite the fact that the global financial markets, in reality, are not perfectly efficient, there is a corrective mechanism built into the day-to-day trading in the market. When prices are driven down by large sells, either by large investors or a movement in a stock, there are usually new buyers for these stocks at the cheaper price. Managers of...
There were many factors that triggered the financial crisis in 2008, with one of the main ca...
Gaughan, P. A., 2002. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate restructuring. 3rd ed.New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The events that unfolded on September 11th and the days that followed also profoundly effected the stock market. It is the purpose of this paper is to examine what happened to both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ after September 11th and how it is similar to events such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Gulf War in terms of how the stock market experienced a blow and bounced back after a while.
damaged credit, the companies are taking a financial risk by financing them. Considering that for
Maris, D. (2012) ‘What’s Really Driving the Pharma M&A Frenzy’, Forbes, 27 April [Online]. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmaris/2012/04/27/pharma-feeding-frenzy/ (Accessed at: 15 December 2013)
Comparing the 1929 Market Crash and the Current Position in the Stock Market During the 1920's, the North American economy was roaring, but this decade would eventually be put to a stop. In October of 1929, the stock market began its steepest decline to this date in history. Many stock market traders and economists believe and pray that it was a one-shot episode never to be repeated. On the other hand, many financial analysts and other economists believe that the current stock markets are in place to repeat the calamitous errors of the 1920's. In this paper, I will analyze the causes of the crash and discuss the possibilities of it re-occurring.
The popularity of online options trading has exploded in recent years. The Internet has fueled a booming business of small investors throwing money at the derivatives market. The upside to an expanding array of financial products is a greater potential for profit to be made by investors skilled in daily trading; the downside is increased risk and a more complex trading environment. For the amateur investor who is ready to learn how to trade stock options the derivatives market can be enticing, but also frightening. This article will outline some of the advantages and disadvantages of the stock options market for the average investor.
In early 1928 the Dow Jones Average went from a low of 191 early in the year, to a high of 300 in December of 1928 and peaked at 381 in September of 1929. (1929…) It was anticipated that the increases in earnings and dividends would continue. (1929…) The price to earnings ratings rose from 10 to 12 to 20 and higher for the market’s favorite stocks. (1929…) Observers believed that stock market prices in the first 6 months of 1929 were high, while others saw them to be cheap. (1929…) On October 3rd, the Dow Jones Average began to drop, declining through the week of October 14th. (1929…)
We analyzed the market for two weeks to determine when the equity market would turn from a bearish to bullish market. Without a change in the market and a declining bond price, we decided to invest in equities according to our investment strategy, which brought us into the second phase of our portfolio. Therefore, at the beginning of February we bought shares in Sirius, Microsoft, Neon, Washington Mutual, and Nike. As assumed, the equity market continued to plummet decreasing the value of all our stocks except for our Gold Corporation stock.
Chapter 11 closes our discussion with several insights into the efficient market theory. There have been many attempts to discredit the random walk theory, but none of the theories hold against empirical evidence. Any pattern that is noticed by investors will disappear as investors try to exploit it and the valuation methods of growth rate are far too difficult to predict. As we said before the random walk concludes that no patterns exist in the market, pricing is accurate and all information available is already incorporated into the stock price. Therefore the market is efficient. Even if errors do occur in short-run pricing, they will correct themselves in the long run. The random walk suggest that short-term prices cannot be predicted and to buy stocks for the long run. Malkiel concludes the best way to consistently be profitable is to buy and hold a broad based market index fund. As the market rises so will the investors returns since historically the market continues to rise as a whole.
The first two do not require the acquired business unit to be connected with the existing units; the second two depend on connection. Although the concepts are not always mutually exclusive, the way in which they generate value for the corporation is different for each. The portfolio management balances current business activities with new industry acquisitions. Its success is undervalued acquisition meets attractiveness and COE test. The challenges are: increased capital market competition, need for industry specific knowledge, and growth of the company and diversity. The restructuring seeks underdeveloped or sick companies and industries. Its successes are: utilize and pass the three tests and ability to find undervalued companies with growth potential. Its challenges are: restructurer exposed to more risk, time limit for success, hold onto a restructured company, and growing depletion of restructuring pool with increased competition. The transfer of skills involves activities important to competitive advantage. With transferring skills, business activities are similar enough that sharing knowledge would be meaningful. However, skills must be useful to key business activities and must be beyond competitors’ capabilities. The ability to share activities has been a potent basis for corporate strategy because sharing often enhances
...anagers to reduce their firm’s risk. In hope to help out firms, banks have reacted by requiring a lower debt-to-equity ratio and reducing the debt burden in hope to reduce LBOs failure.
When entrepreneurs plan their business future they will consider how they can increase their business size or profit in a short period. Entrepreneurs may consider growing their business or company by using a merger or an acquisition. These methods can be a speed up tool and a short cut to enlarge their business. (Burns, 2011) Also they can reduce competition, make it easier for entrepreneurs to think about the market and product development and risk reduction. Furthermore, some lesser – known companies can improve their firm’s image and market power by using merger and acquisition with larger firms. However, there may be risks associated with merger and acquisition related to lack of finance and time. (Burns, 2011) This essay will discuss more deeply the advantages and disadvantages of using mergers and acquisitions, showing how it can affect firms and market with the case study.