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 short, if you don't like betas and have disdain for modern portfolio theory, your choice should not be to abandon risk measurement all together, but to come up with an alternative risk measure that is more in sync with your view of the world.

Risk Premium 93

Risk Premium Beta Start-ups Equity 93

Andrew Stolz

MARCH 20, 2020

The formula implies the return an investor expects from a risk-free investment plus the return from the stock in relation to market volatility. The market risk premium is calculated from a market rate of return less a risk-free rate. Therefore, the risks of the firm are eventually increased.

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. Dividends and Potential Dividends (FCFE) 1. Tax rates 4.

Dividends 98

Dividends Risk Premium Equity Book Value 98

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 12, 2021

Thus, you and I can disagree about whether beta is a good measure of risk, but not on the principle that no matter what definition of risk you ultimately choose, riskier investments need higher hurdles than safer investments.

Corporate Finance 52

Corporate Finance Start-ups Finance Marketability 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