Math Archives – Page 2 of 4

April 14, 2021April 15, 2021

L is for Liabilities

Why do people always make liabilities sound so complicated?

An online lesson making liabilities simpler. Photo from Youtube.

For example, *ahem* the semiannual interest payment for a five-year, $1,000 par-value bond with an annual 8% coupon is $40: ($1,000 x 0.08) / 2 = $80 / 2 = $40… or… if the bond was issued at a premium of $200, the semiannual amortization using the straight-line method is simply $20: ($200 / 5) / 2 = $40 / 2 = $20. Therefore, debit interest expense by $20 ($40 – $20), credit cash by $40 and debit premium on bonds payable by $20.

See? Nothin’ to it.

Easy for you to say.

Liabilities are complicated because people are forward-thinking. Humans do not live on cash flow alone. There must be accrual. And accruals are the stuff of science fiction because they suggest the future.

April 9, 2021April 10, 2021

H is for Hedge

“Greed is good,” trader and arbitrageur Ivan Boesky told our MBA class of 1984. He arrived with a stretch limo and an entourage, wearing a fur coat and an expensive Italian suit. He explained that his job was to find opportunities that others missed and that the trade-off in risk and reward was real. Those willing to accept more risk–the risk of losing money because a ship sinks or a drug fails–should get the bigger payout when the exotic cargo comes into port or the cure for disease proves successful.

The risk part is the problem. How can you minimize the risk and still receive high enough payouts to cover costs? Entourages aren’t cheap. One answer is a hedge fund.

English hedge maze. Photo at atlasobscura.com.

April 6, 2021April 7, 2021

E is for Earnings

While we look for harmonious balance, we are also creatures of change and achievement. We yearn also to count. Any youngster who approaches a pond with pebbles will toss them in and count the skips or try to hit the lily pad ten times. Or a crew rows by us on the river and we count the strokes. Well, maybe I just do because I was raised on Sesame Street. Remember The Count? Vun…doo…tree bats… ah.ah.ahh…

The river of time flows by, but we are compelled to stop and take reckoning every so and often, after a month, the year. What comes in, what goes out? Are we draining our resources or building a surplus?