Going Public Ain't So Great, How Accounting Rules Affect Acquisitions, and the Pros and Cons of Groupon

Nice article in CFO magazine about the difficulties of going public for companies and how investment banks (naturally) affect the process-

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14570187/c_14570395?f=magazine_alsoinside

Same magazine, different story about how accounting rules affect acquisition timing, especially when buying undervalued assets-

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14570170/c_14570395?f=magazine_alsoinside

A very good pro and con debate on the business model merits of Groupon:

Pro-http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/05/04/grouponomics/

Con-http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/05/why-does-groupon-work/238706

Finally, doesn't the whole commodity complex seem like deja vu of a few years of when we saw 150 dollar oil, then it collapsed to 30 bucks- my take is the hedge fund and investment bank worlds just love the volatility and low financing rates- the margin increases by the commodity exchanges seem like they are having an effect. Commodities are very volatile due to the leverage used- be careful when investing in something like that.

As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. One should research any investment and make sure it is suitable with your objectives, risk tolerance, risk profile liquidity considerations, tax situation, and anything else pertinent to your financial situation. Also, the CFA credential in no way implies investment returns will be superior for any charterholder.

Yale Bock, CFA