I Should be a CFO

And by CFO, I do mean the Chief Financial Officer.

Note: I prefer to think of myself not as a person, but as a giant business conglomerate. It's actually pretty easy if you think about it. If you own a house, that's your real estate business, you cell phone is your telecom business, your vehicle is your automotive business, so on and so forth, and of-course your bank account and your credit cards is your banking business.

So why I would make a good CFO ?

1. I have managed to support all my businesses with minimum cash outflows whilst maintaining acceptable levels of profitability.
2. I have raised debt on multiple occasions ,in multiple currencies, conducted cross border transactions at minimal transaction costs and repaid debt in multiple currencies all whilst maintaining an excellent credit rating.
3. I have been successfully able to roll-over debt on several occasions (Refer to older posts on why rolling over of debt is a good strategy)
4. I have purchased assets far beyond what my cash flows would allows me by convincing my lenders that the returns from those assets would far exceed the cost of debt (all this without a PPT)
5. In the past few years, my financial reporting of all my business segments has been good enough to meet analysts expectations. Although the other day I could relate to how the CFO of Enron would have felt in his prime.

In times of adversity, nothing beats a good credit rating.

"It's not just about the money, It's ALL about the money"

Load em up....!!!

I have always been a proponent of debt and this is another one of my observations ....and why I love debt so much. Now, this might irk Mr. Warren Buffet and his philosophy on debt and credit. But then, I have the right to an opinion and unless proved otherwise, I'm correct.

Please note: The words "debt" and "credit" used in the following paragraphs refer to unsecured debt only.

Let us analyze debt from an NPV (Net Present Value) perspective of an individual and let each transaction involving debt/credit represent a project. It might sound weird that eating pizza is a project, but if you look at through my eyes, it's not that hard to imagine. Basic corporate finance tells us that we should only take up those projects which have a positive NPV. So, if I buy a pizza for say $10 using a credit card, I consume goods worth $10 and I have to make a payment after I get my credit card bill. So essentially I paid less than $10 in NPV terms on a $10 pizza. If you pay by cash the NPV is zero. Sounds simple enough...right.

Now lets complicate matters a little but by introducing an unknown variable into the equation, DEATH. As you might be aware that if you die, the outstanding balance on your credit card is simply "written off". The same goes for any other type of unsecured debt, such as personal loans. Yes, banks do get such loans insured, but then you still don't have to pay anything.....Considering that death can occur at any time, wouldn't it be great if you always had some sort of credit outstanding, at-least you'll leave this world with one positive NPV project..!!!!!

Now lets add another small twist to the situation, probability. The probability of you dying is directly proportional to the kind of work/activities you are involved in. So the more likely you are to die the more debt you should take on (subject of-course to some lender willing to lend you that money).

So in conclusion, always use credit cards instead of cash/ debit cards, and maintain a constant level of personal debt. I'm still working on the optimum level of debt one should have so keep checking this space for more information.

But do remember:.....

"Leverage is a fickle bitch, my friend".....

Don't shoot the messenger....!!

“The world’s most public private company will now be the world’s most private public company”. This was the headline on the website of the Washington Post that day Facebook filed for its IPO. Now, I am no expert on valuations or investments for that matter, but I can definitely say that this IPO will confirm the age old adage of “Never underestimate the predictability of human stupidity”.

Before we get into the intricacies of DCF valuations, P/E multiples and so on, let’s go back a step to basic corporate finance. Why do corporations tap the capital markets? Well, the capital markets provide sources of financing, be it debt, equity or any structured offering.

A cursory glance at the company’s financial statements will reveal that that Facebook had around $3.5bn in cash at the time of filing. So why is the company interested in raising just $5bn from the IPO? What does Facebook aim to achieve with $8.5bn which it cannot do with $3.5bn. And considering that interest rates are at an all-time low in the US, debt financing would definitely have been a cheaper option. So it’s definitely not a question of money. Then why go public? Why bring in all the hassles associated with running a public company? All the financial reporting, disclosures, conference calls etc.

I believe the only reason Facebook is going public is because its Venture Capitalists want an exit. And they want out before the social networking bubble bursts. We’ve seen this before in 2000, when every company that was even remotely associated with having a .com at the end of its name was public and was commanding exorbitant valuations. It took some time before analysts around the world figured out how to value these corporations. And, when they did, boom, we all know what happened. Some people call it the bursting of the dot-com bubble; whereas the smarter guys merely said that sanity has been restored.

It will take some time, possibly another round of bailouts by the Federal Reserve before sanity can be restored this time and mainly because the bubble is much bigger this time around. Till then LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) and of course Facebook are all a big BUY.

Fixed Income Vs Equity

Sometimes I feel that a portfolio manager has the easiest job in the world. I know......most people would disagree with me here...after all the portfolio manager has to keep abreast of the market conditions, stay informed, make intelligent decisions etc etc.

Let's say I give you a million dollars today and tell you that you can invest it anywhere you like. What would you do ? Now don't get into complexities about my "Expected return", "Risk tolerance" and all that b/s. It's a simple question and I expect a simple answer. I'm sure your brain is already calculating the returns that you can generate by investing in fixed income or equity or a combination.

The problem with equity is that you might lose all the money and the problem with fixed income is that you'll face a what if? situation. What if I had gone with equity ? Let me put in another dilemma. Let's say the the returns from fixed income are exactly what you need. It is the perfect investment and it perfectly completes your portfolio....how strong does the lure from equity have to be to make you change your mind.

This is where my point comes in. The portfolio manager doesn't have to think so much, he has an investment mandate, an investment policy statement to guide him. So wouldn't it be so much better if we also had a similar mandate with us.

Well, apparently that is not the case. Every day we encounter situations where we need to make a choice. Some are big decisions, others are relatively insignificant, but they all boil down to the same thing: Should I go for the safety of fixed income or should I speculate with equity. Each has its own merits and weaknesses. So in essence sometimes it's just better to not have a choice, it just makes your life simpler.

"I know I'm right.......I just don't trust myself"

Wall Street Mafia..

In the movie "The Godfather"...New York City was ruled by five mafia families...We do not have the Corleone's, Tattaglias or the Barzini's anymore....at least not by the same name....We now know them as the Goldman's, JP Morgan's and the Morgan Stanley's...!!!

In of the scenes....Vito Corleone's consigliere says...."We have the judges on our payroll...it's fine.."....flash forward to present day.....Goldman's legal says..."We have the SEC on our payroll...it's fine.."..

These big guys of Investment Banking today rule Wall Street just the same was as a mafia would. Time and again they do wrong.....and get away with petty fines...yes, a few million dollars is petty when you deal in billions.

Take this as an example....one of my favorites though...Just a few weeks ago...before the markets went berserk...it was impossible to short LinkedIn...yes, one of the reasons was that they have a very small float (around 10%)....but the biggest according to me was that its price was backed by its underwriters...namely JPM, BofA and MS.... every time you sold.....they were ready to buy and jack up the price...Reality will be very different and hurtful once these guys take off their hands.....

Maybe in a few years someone at the SEC might discover that these guys were behaving in a manner called "Intentionally trying to manipulate the market"....so what...the banks will just cough up a small fine (if they even get to that stage)....and carry on with business as usual.....well, to me this looks like mafia behavior...

So essentially, the mafia is alive and well, just that now they engage in “legal” businesses……If you want to fight them…do it at your own risk…

PS: I do not intend to dispute or defend my viewpoint…just don’t shoot the messenger…. 

Once bitten....Never Shy..!!!!

Coming soon at a theater, workplace, school, household and every institution inhabited by humans..

"We Refuse to Learn"
Starring - Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan et al.
Directed by - The Federal Reserve
Produced by - The Department of Treasury

Not so long ago, I was reading this book, "The Big Short" and I believe in some time Michael Lewis will come out with a new one..."Tired of shorting and making money". Any sane, rational person will agree that we are seeing an asset bubble, and the best part is we all know it, we just refuse to do anything about it. Everyday I see on CNBC and every other business channel, market experts talking about this bubble, but still we do nothing. It reminds me of something the Ex Finance Minister of France said about the housing crisis.."We can see a tsunami coming, but we are busy deciding what swimsuit to wear"...

And interestingly the time period between such bubbles is reducing dramatically. Some time ago there would be a bubble once a decade, now its every couple of years.

If the last one was about housing prices, the next one will be about "social networking". All the Facebooks, LinkedIns and Twitters will lead this meltdown. I sometimes wish I had enough money to short, It seems to be the easiest way to make money these days.

I am not against the concept of social networking, in fact I believe that it will be the next big thing. My only concern is that we are not yet prepared for it. Agreed it makes perfect sense to catch on to this wave early, but if too many of us try to catch it we might just end up destroying it.

To put it in financial perspective. Facebook is valued at around $100bn, at this rate Facebook might as well be  a country in itself. It took Google, Microsoft and Apple years to reach that valuation and that is why today they have such strong business fundamentals.

And behind this bubble is again the "smart guys" in New York.......the Goldmans and the Merrills of the world. Remember these are  the same people that gave us "AAA rated" CDO's. These are the same people who didn't even understand their own investments, and yet we trust them.

Around 200-300 years ago, the top executives at these organisations would have been publicly whipped if not hanged for what they did in the financial crisis, but in today's world we reward them with multi-mullion dollar bonuses...!!!!.....It's like trusting a serial killer when he says he's sorry and won't do it again...!!

As Steve Eisman said...."The moment I understood the depth of the crisis I shorted Merrill Lynch, because whenever there is a catastrophe Merrill is there. When the S&L bubble burst Merrill was there, when the internet bubble burst Merrill was there....". Unfortunately Merrill is no longer there, but its legacy remains.....and only time will tell.

"Gamble.......If you can afford to lose"

The predictability of probability...

There goes an old saying "Care for what you wish…..cause you just might get it". Now here's my theory on wishing…….. 90% of the things you wish will never happen. The 10% that will happen is something you never thought would happen.

Now don't get me wrong out here, if you work hard enough...things will happen, they will happen in the same general direction you wanted them to be….only caveat…they won’t happen the way you wanted them to happen... Ultimately you will be part of a long term up trend but your movement will be a combination of moving averages and mean reverting levels.

Let me explain this in terms of stocks. Say a company has sound fundamentals…. over a 10 year period you can expect say 10-12% CAGR from the stock. Looks like a good investment doesn’t it……but will this stock make you rich??….for that you need the stock that will give you something like a 100% gain over a very short period of time…say a couple of years.

Now in the long term, the first one will give you consistent returns year over year, whereas the second one will be a series of advances and corrections, but in the long run both will come to the same mean level.

Now this is where the theory or probability comes in. Let’s say that the probability of Stock A going up is 0.6 and that probability of stock B is 0.4. The very act of investing in A since it has a greater chance of going up incrementally increases its probability over B. So essentially, the fate of A and B were decided even before the actual outcome.

At the end of the time period A will have a smooth ride to the mean level whereas B will have a roller-coaster ride to the same level. Mathematical inequalities somehow do not apply to life most of the times, the only unfortunate part is…the result was decided even before the game started…..and you thought the “odds” were on your side.

“Never take hope away from a man.........sometimes it’s the only thing he has.”