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Dark Accounting Matter

Harvard Corporate Governance

The S&P 500 currently trades at a price to book value of 4.2, suggesting that book value accounts for less than 20% of the S&P 500’s market value. The remaining 80%, appears nowhere in these firms’ balance sheets—it is invisible to contemporary accounting techniques and constitutes “dark accounting matter.”

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Return on Equity, Earnings Yield and Market Efficiency: Back to Basics!

Musings on Markets

The first was the response that I received to my last data update , where I looked at the profitability of businesses, and specifically at how a comparison of accounting returns on equity (capital) to costs of equity (capital) can yield a measure of excess returns.

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What is Adjusted Book Value?

Equilest

What is Adjusted Book Value? Book value of equity, also known as theoretical book value, is a valuation process in which a company's total assets are deducted from intangible assets and liabilities. . The company's Book Value is equivalent to 100,000 USD in that case. .

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What Is The Difference Between Market Value and Book Value?

Equilest

Market value and book value with two definitions of value. Market value or relevant market value for companies traded on various stock exchanges. On the other hand, the Book Value is the value of the equity or the value of the shares as stated in the firm's financial statements.

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Data Update 1 for 2025: The Draw (and Danger) of Data

Musings on Markets

Thus, as you peruse my historical data on implied equity risk premiums or PE ratios for the S&P 500 over time, you may be tempted to compute averages and use them in your investment strategies, or use my industry averages for debt ratios and pricing multiples as the target for every company in the peer group, but you should hold back.

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9 Startup Valuation Methods: 5 to Use, 4 to Avoid

Equidam

Key value drivers include intangible assets like intellectual property, the strength and experience of the founding team, the perceived size of the market opportunity, network effects, brand recognition, and, critically, the projected ability to generate significant cash flows in the future.

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Can Equity Value Be Negative?

Equilest

distressed firms) Companies facing bankruptcy Impact on Investors and Stakeholders Risk to shareholders Implications for lenders and creditors How Negative Equity Affects Valuation Impacts on stock price Effect on mergers and acquisitions Can a Business Recover from Negative Equity? How does negative equity affect dividends?

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