ed martinez

A Lesson in Free Cash Flow Analysis and Portfolio Construction

Is Yahoo's "Free Cash Flow" at end of prior fiscal year the correct figure to use in your calculation of FCF/share? Why wouldn't cash/share, easily found in Yahoo's "key statistics" be OK? Then I wouldn't have to decide on which of the share numbers ("outstanding" being one of them) to use in the denominator.
Second, even passing FCF specifications. would you be influenced by net profit margins lower than "industry's" average? (MSN Research Wizard)

Has Capitalism Failed?

Symptoms right, diagnosis wrong. How about the perversion of democracy?


On Sep 06 08:31 AM CautiousInvestor wrote:

> I agree with the authors slant on this and believe capitalism has
> not failed, we have failed capitalism by allowing the state and society
> to default upon their responsibilities and obligations to the system
> of capitalism. Capitalism is organic and must be nurtured.
>
> Capitalism flourishes in an environment distinguished by a strong
> and stable currency, restrained federal spending, less harmful legislation,
> dependable contract law, limits on taxation and countercyclical capital
> regulation. And there must be strong incentives to save and invest,
> as investment is backbone of capitalism.
>
> More fundamentally, though, capitalism requires a spirit and ethic
> borne of a belief system under which members of society (1) believe
> that work gives meaning to life; (2) have a strong sense of duty
> to one’s work; (3) believe in the necessity of hard work and of giving
> work (even before the family) the best of one’s time; (4) believe
> that work contributes to the moral worth of the individual and to
> the health of the social order; (5) view wealth as a major goal in
> life; (6) view leisure as earned by work and as preparation for work;
> (7) view success in work as resulting primarily from the amount of
> personal effort.
>
> The deformed and malignant policies emananting from Washington, though,
> undermine this largely protestant belief system and simultaneously
> relieve individuals of their duties and obligations to society. Under
> prevailing views, society (the state) has obligations to the individual
> and the individual has none to society.
>
> Presently, and under a system of expanding individuals rights, the
> state owes the individual everything and the individual owes society
> nothing. How can capitalism succeed when there is an entitlement
> mindset, fails to understand the morality of work and the individual
> has no accountability for failure and no responsibility to be successful?
>
>
> This bizarre mindset has spilled into the educational system and
> now its the state's responsibility to educate the child and parents
> are totally absolved from taking an active interest in their childrens
> education, believing that it is the state's responsibility. We spend
> more per capita on education, yet rank around 15 in general proficiency
> tests. This has come about because have relieved parents of some
> of their must basic duties and, in so doing, have failed to produce
> an increasingly educated workforce upon which advanced capitalism
> depends.
>
> From this it's easy to see the confortable progression of taxing
> success and rewarding failure and transferring income and wealth
> from producers to the parasitic classes, policies diametrically opposed
> to a system of robust capitalism but the natural outcome of a system
> in which the state owes the individual everything but nothing is
> required of the individual.
>
> Similarly, governement spending rises along a parabolic path attempting
> to fulfill its limitless obligations to society, incurring hemorrhaging
> deficits and crowding out private investment. To placate critics,
> spending is frequently undertaken under the guise of prudent stimulative
> fiscal policies when its really a blatant transfer of income and
> purchase of constituency votes.
>
> And as the author notes, the entreched cartel of the Fed and the
> large banks were only to happy to expand credit and lending until
> the bubble burst. Along this same line, and underscoring the powers
> of the banking cartel, some time ago Barry Ritholtz noted there are
> considerable many pressures to think within the box and to think
> positively, even if delusionally. There is clearly a herd mentality
> with few, if any incentives, to think critically and outside the
> box.
>
> John keyenes said it is better to fail conventionally than succeed
> unconventionally.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Natural Gas: America's Energy Salvation

There's no real key to our energy future. Reminds me of proper nutrition. A little of everything may be the solution. In ancient Greece tyrants even took a tiny daily dose of arsenic, hoping to get immunity from assassins. As for oil subsidies, they would be better invested in fusion research.

Is Socialism Coming Back to Haunt U.S.?

Behind my belated comment is my ambivalence on the subject of the conflict between socialism and individual liberty. The founding fathers had before them unexplored riches and an immigrant population with unlimited opportunities. Like Rome, they had slave labor to boot plus land to appropriate in exchange for tobacco and furs from native Americans. Liberty was an effective catalyst to progress. Now look around and no need to expound on the differences. Starting with the IRS, started to finance a war, we have been on a "slippery slope" to socialism. If our survival as a great nation is to be independent of our military might we must strive for a higher standard of living of our people. Compared to what? To nations less blessed than ours who recognize that along with a public education, universal health care should be an inalienable right. When FDR led the fight for Social Security he was vilified; when Martin Luther King fought for Civil Rights, ignored in our judiciary's obsession with Law and Order, Whites didn't know they would be the biggest beneficiaries; now universal healthcare is shunned even by a President who under vicious attacks has been forced to compromise in ways that will make his plan more costly and less effective. Socialized medicine will one day be seen as the third missing leg in American Democracy's round table. Neither President Obama nor Congress should be allowed to make it shorter than the other two. Perhaps delay it until the economy improves and until we are out of the Middle East.
Better to have one seventh of our economy under government administration than to have Medicare and Social Security go bankrupt, which they will under the Model O hybrid or the status quo. The fear of creeping socialism will not allow the Congressional Budget Office do a feasibility study to prove or disprove my contention.
'

America's Healthcare Problems Are Making It Less Competitive

Re. Comment 32. Economyst's analysis, "take away capital motive....and you can have effective health care", is right on target. Right now, however, Congress is in a state of paralysis by analysis; the numbers are as intimidating as the patriotic fear of creeping socialism.

And that is the way it'll be until someone ambitious Congressperson decides to paint himself (or herself) in courage and say: "The right to universal health care is as inalienable as the rights to Public Education and Civil Rights."
Fear of creeping socialism is silly in a country that's been confiscating salaries since the First World War. As for costs, those numbers now held as obstacles will be irrelevant in a socialized system.
More so when our doctors will be selected not just on their smarts but also on their psychological profiles as determined by modern testing techniques. Rejects will undoubtedly help us manage our national economy to higher highs.

Procter & Gamble: Exposure to Improving Economy

What about PG's current ratio?

The Real Crisis Is Food: Beginning of the Bull for Agriculture

VE's stats read "Stay out of the water". Am I wrong?

How the Current Crisis Has Simplified the Search for Solid Investment Advice

Last I heard about stock picking dart games in Wall St., it was pet female chimp who outperformed all the "pros". I guess no one is now willing to repeat the experiment (albeit different market conditions) as most scientists would. Can't blame them -- half of us still want to think we can outperform chimps.

Thoughts on Last Night's Speech by the President

2 and 10 together would have a multiplier effect on our future standard of living and domestic tranquility. Accepting the inevitable demographic changes could help us realize that the sooner we bring immigrants into our national fabric the greater will be their contribution. Simply put: They're here, let's educate them.


On Feb 25 08:32 AM tginomorebush wrote:

> who the hell is fred wilson?

Stock Still Aren't Cheap

TRY TOBIN'S Q INSTEAD OF P/E. Excellent chart in smithers.co.uk/page.ph... will show, if lines extended following trend, that 2012 bottom likely -- time enough for Mr. Farinacci retracements down to 450 for the S&P.

Rick Santelli: The Best Five Minutes in CNBC History

Any effort by well intended government to mediate greed and compassion in a capitalist society must expect unintended consequences. Ultimately the majority will decide between individual liberty or the general welfare.
Without an educated majority our democracy will degenerate into mob rule. Santelli may be right but he, like most in today's Market, are barking up the wrong tree.