Brian DeChesare

MAY 3, 2023

When I started offering financial modeling training , I never expected to get questions about a methodology like the Dividend Discount Model (DDM). Otherwise, the written version follows: Why Use a Dividend Discount Model? The main argument in favor of the DDM is that it best represents what happens in real life when you buy a stock.

Dividends 64

Dividends Terminal Value Enterprise Value Equity 64

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 28, 2024

In my last data updates for this year, I looked first at how equity markets rebounded in 2023 , driven by a stronger-than-expected economy and inflation coming down, and then at how interest rates mirrored this rebound.

Risk Premium 93

Risk Premium Beta Start-ups Equity 93

Andrew Stolz

MARCH 20, 2020

A firm uses a mix of equity and debt to minimize the cost of capital. In general, the cost of debt is lower than the cost of equity due to the tax advantage of debt. The cost of equity (Ke) is an expected return that a firm pays to an equity investor to compensate for the risk of investing capital.

Beta 52

Beta Capital Structure Risk-free Rate Weighted Average Cost of Capital 52

Musings on Markets

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

Relative Risk Measures Before we embark on how to measure relative risk, where there can be substantial disagreement, let me start with a statement on which there should be agreement. At the start of 2022, the ten sectors (US) with the highest and lowest relative risk (unlettered betas), are shown below.

Risk Premium 67

Risk Premium Beta Start-ups Equity 67

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 5, 2024

I have also developed a practice in the last decade of spending much of January exploring what the data tells us, and does not tell us, about the investing, financing and dividend choices that companies made during the most recent year. Beta & Risk 1. Return on Equity 1. Dividends and Potential Dividends (FCFE) 1.

Dividends 98

Dividends Risk Premium Equity Book Value 98

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 6, 2023

When valuing or analyzing a company, I find myself looking for and using macro data (risk premiums, default spreads, tax rates) and industry-level data on profitability, risk and leverage. I do report on a few market-wide data items especially on risk premiums for both equity and debt. Cost of Equity 1.

Risk Premium 52

Risk Premium Dividends EBITDA Start-ups 52

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 31, 2024

In my last three posts, I looked at the macro (equity risk premiums, default spreads, risk free rates) and micro (company risk measures) that feed into the expected returns we demand on investments, and argued that these expected returns become hurdle rates for businesses, in the form of costs of equity and capital.

Equity 79

Equity Book Value Start-ups Corporate Finance 79