SKARBECK: Giant H-P’s recent missteps a valuable lesson for us all
The Hewlett-Packard saga portrays the huge importance the capital-allocation function plays in deciding ultimate shareholder wealth.
Ken Skarbeck
Articles
SKARBECK: Long-term investments make solid tax shelters
This is the season many investors review their year-to-date gains and losses and scan their portfolios for any other year-end tax maneuvers.
SKARBECK: Use caution with ventures turning to crowd for cash
When social media meets finance, society births a technique for small business to raise capital called “crowdfunding.”
SKARBECK: Stocks climb as markets look past looming issues
Considering the issues to be faced in just the next few months—a heated election and the fiscal cliff—how in the world can stocks be going up?
SKARBECK: Debt, deficit need work even if crisis is averted
Just what is this so-called “fiscal cliff” that is regularly injected into discussions as the political season heats up?
SKARBECK: Use facts, not feelings to choose investments
Our “big-picture” views can be shaped and influenced by experiences, reading, television and other external media. We can even be persuaded by the opinions of others.
SKARBECK: Are equities really dead? Depends on whom you ask
References to the infamous 1979 Business Week article “The Death of Equities” have resurfaced in the media.
SKARBECK: High-quality stocks perform as well as alternative options
Most hedge funds have failed to outperform index funds since the credit crisis.
SKARBECK: Does focus on stock prices hurt companies in long run?
A new book, “The Shareholder Value Myth,” by Cornell law professor Lynn Stout, is ruffling feathers in the field of corporate governance.
SKARBECK: Summertime is right time to seek investing wisdom
The term “dog days” also has found a spot in investors’ lexicon, sometimes describing lackluster stock market behavior during the summer.
SKARBECK: Leadership, not regulation key to changing behavior
In the midst of hard-core lobbying by the banking industry designed to soften the drive for more stringent financial regulation, some key institutions haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory lately.
SKARBECK: Exchange-traded funds grow as alternative investments
At the end of 2011, over 1,300 exchange-traded funds held $1.1 trillion in assets, including 22 with more than $10 billion in assets and 157 over $1 billion.
SKARBECK: Merger lawsuits common, but investors seldom benefit
The filing of merger lawsuits is so predictable that many acquiring companies factor in class-action legal costs as a form of “transaction tax” to get their deals done.
SKARBECK: Facebook flop casts doubt on remarkable valuations
After a year of escalating hype, Facebook’s May 18 initial public offering failed to come anywhere near Wall Street’s glorified expectations.
SKARBECK: Executive pay packages must reflect performance
When it comes to corporate governance, my firm has been roundly critical of the unending escalation in executive compensation.
SKARBECK: Debt, growth must balance for economies to recover
Countries need to reduce debt by cutting costs and raising revenue, but those actions dampen growth.
SKARBECK: Investors, boards at odds over executive pay, power
Perhaps now we will see more shareholders oppose excessive pay, putting more pressure on corporate boards to come up with reasonable compensation plans.
SKARBECK: Exchange’s bizarre IPO triggers securities probe
Securities regulators are looking into several issues raised in the aftermath of the failed initial public offering of BATS Global Markets on March 23.
SKARBECK: Observers cry foul over pension fund proposal
The legislation would change the formula used to calculate pension costs and effectively allow companies to lower their annual contributions.
SKARBECK: Go all-in on stocks to avoid bond risks
The symbolic pie charts marketed to investors with multiple colored slices—each representing the percentage investors need in all the various categories of stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate and alternative investments—had suddenly turned into one solid color.