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Business & Strategy
Finance and performance: Controlling the flow
According to our 11th annual Cost Management Survey, a joint effort of CFO magazine and Stamford, Connecticut-based Archstone Consulting LLC, revenue growth outpaced cost growth in 2003. In fact, revenues at the
1,091 companies surveyed (with sales of at least $1 billion) spiked by 9.3 percent, compared with just a 1.4 percent increase in 2002. But companies seem to have maintained the cost discipline they honed during the past few years.
 The good news & bad news for cost conscious companies |
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Financial Market Outlook
Revisiting Home Prices
The essence of our long-held no-bubble position is that low interest rates have worked wonders to enhance affordability of home ownership. So despite today's median home price being stratospherically high relative to the
median household income, low mortgage interest rates have kept payments on those homes historically low.
Identifying markets that are over or under-valued |
Small Business
Banking Your Business
Every day loans to businesses, large and small, are being made by
thousands of financial institutions and other lenders. Why is it that some business owners find it a time consuming and emotionally frustrating experience? The answer
lies in how prepared you are to demonstrate that your business is an acceptable credit risk.
You, your lender, and the lending process |
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Economics
Forecasts, Currency, and an Economic Snapshot
Real GDP, prices & compensation, and interest rates; world currency
analysis and highlights; and recent economic indicators.
Charting the economy |
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Finance & Treasury
A Dream of Simpler Accounting
Don Nicolaisen, the Securities & Exchange Commission's accounting chief, doesn't like clock radios. What he prefers is a plain old alarm clock -- one that's reliable, easy to set, and unembellished with soft rock or ocean
sounds. What does that have to do with accounting regulation? A lot, it turns out.
The price of straightforward accounting and broader guidelines |
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International & Trade
Global Supply Chains Challenge Banks to Do More
Banks are responding with their own unique set of structures and priorities as the demands of the global supply chain create fresh opportunities to expand services.
Financing tricky deals in risky places |
Trends & Technology
Three Trends for 2005
Big trends have a way of sneaking past us. Consider the Web. New "it" things for 2005 are Weblogs, Consumer-Priced Technology, and Spitzer's Gift to Startups. V-blogs, cheap technology ably performing business chores and a new
golden era for startups--rich rewards await the entrepreneurs who knit these trends together.
Staying one step ahead of the game |
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Human Resource
Health Savings Accounts See Strong Early Growth
Of the 438,000 people covered by HSAs in September 2004, just 13,000 received coverage through employers with at least 50 employees, while 346,000 purchased coverage in the individual market and 79,000 received coverage
through the small-group market.
Health savings accounts - off and running |
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Legislative & Regulatory
ISS Lays Out 2005 Proxy Strategy
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) announced that it would continue to shine a spotlight on boards of directors and hold compensation committees responsible for linking executive pay to performance during the
upcoming annual meeting season. It will continue to apply its quantitative methodology to assess the cost of equity-based compensation plans, but this year will broaden its compensation evaluation to include analysis of burn rates, pay-for-performance metrics, director pay, and various other qualitative factors.
Big brother has his eye on boards of directors |
Sales & Marketing
Lure for Repatriation: Tax Break Could Boost Ad Spending
According to a corporate bill passed by Congress last year, profits
from overseas subsidiaries that are brought back to the U.S. will be taxed at a rate of 5.25% for one year, instead of at
the normal 35% tax rate, provided the repatriated money is used for certain purposes - banning its use for executive salaries, dividends, stock investments or tax investments.
More advertising bang for your bucks |
Personal Investing
Simple, Straightforward Investing
Pick your stocks carefully -- and stay invested for the long term.
That's advice from Michael Farr, president of investment-management firm Farr, Miller & Washington, who looks for growth at a reasonable price
and shuns market timing. Be patient, be disciplined, and don't lose heart.
Q&A from an expert - ask and you shall receive |
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Feature
Many believe that good works are best left to individuals and charitable organizations. Indeed, this is the deliberate design of the federal tax code. According to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, the U.S. economy includes some three million tax-exempt entities. Thus it's no surprise that individual contributions comprise about 75% of all charitable giving in the U.S., vs. the 5-6% that comes from corporations.
