CFOs Say Yes To Seven Proven Value Drivers
I've spent years interviewing CFOs at companies ranging from $100M to several billion in revenue. Every conversation eventually leads to the same question: what actually gets you to say yes? The answers consistently land in seven categories. Cost reduction. Productivity improvement with a clear P&L outcome. Efficient revenue growth (more revenue per dollar spent acquiring it, not just more revenue). Risk mitigation or regulatory compliance. Employee satisfaction. Customer satisfaction. And for companies on an IPO path, anything that accelerates readiness for that event.
Forecasting Starts with Workflow, Not Model
Most people learn forecasting wrong. They start with models. They should start with the workflow. The model is step 4. Want help? 🚨 On May 20th, I am hosting a free workshop to build high performance forecasting systems (that companies will actually use). 👉 Register here...
CFOs Must Track and Budget AI Token Spend Now
Budgeting for AI: The Free Ride Is Ending I recently held a tech CFO meetup. A major topic was the rapid growth of AI usage and token spend. Some of the larger orgs are seeing material internal token spend. Others...
NASDAQ100 Hedge Fails as Growth Correlations Decouple
Strategy change - portfolio management & hedging For years, we successfully hedged our concentrated growth portfolio by shorting NASDAQ100 futures. It was simple, liquid and highly effective - a reliable offset during stock market downtrends when correlations between our holdings and...
Paycom's Optimistic Outlook Masks $675M Debt‑driven Buyback
Every quarter, the same opening lines from Paycom's CEO: "Sales are ramping." "We serve 5% of TAM." "Bookings inflection coming later in the year." In Q1, Paycom took on $675M of debt to retire 15% of its shares. What it means ($): https://steadycompounding.com/investing/paycom-q1-2026/
MSTR Secures 5.5% Yield Debt, Financed at 11.5%
Essentially the company bought back debt at 5.54 fiat yield which they raised proceeds at 11.5% So here's the math. $MSTR paid 92 for these bonds That price is calc by dividing what they paid 1.38BN by the notional they bought...
MicroStrategy Spends $1.5B on Bond Buyback, Not BTC
$MSTR just bought 1.5BN of its 0's of 2029 for 92. Paying up 3% over prior close While funding with ATM stock and 11.5% $STRC they "bought back" a bond with a 4% yield to put. The "good news"...
Anthropic Boasts over 500% Net Dollar Retention
Anthropic CFO just said they have a Net Dollar Retention ratio of over 500% by the way
India May Scrap Tax on Foreign Bond Investors
India is apparently considering removing tax on fiis investing in Indian bonds. This is a good thing. Why? Foreign investors pay tax on all capital gains made in India. India is different from all major economies who follow residence based...
China FSD Approval: Tesla's Top Financial Catalyst 2024
Approval of FSD in China is the most financially material event of the year for $TSLA
Margin Reversion Threatens Elevated P/E Valuations
High margins justify elevated P/E ratios. However, if margins mean-revert toward historical norms (~10–11%), it would be a significant negative catalyst for equity valuations.
Apple Can Absorb 5× DRAM/NAND Hike, Margins Unfazed
I think consensus is overestimating the degree to which DRAM and NAND pricing will impact Apple’s products gross margin. In yesterday’s Above Avalon update, found below, we went over a simple financial exercise that showed how Apple can absorb a...
NDLS's Turnaround Makes 5x EBITDA a Bargain
$NDLS at 5x 2026E EBITDA. Turnaround continues well into Q1. Comparable restaurant sales up 9.1% system-wide. EBITDA up 218% vs last year, that's the scale of the transformation here. Multiple activists holding ~40% of the float. All of this progress since Mill...
Jio Financial Invests ₹4.95 Cr for 50% Stake in JAGIL
Jio Financial Services Limited incorporated Jio Allianz General Insurance Limited (JAGIL) in partnership with Allianz Europe B.V. on May 12, 2026, following a joint venture agreement disclosed on April 22, 2026. The company will invest ₹4.95 crores for a 50%...
Treasury Sells $25bn 30-Year Bonds at 5.0% Yield
From the Financial Times: "The Treasury department issued $25bn of new 30-year bonds on Wednesday, with the high yield at auction reaching 5.046 per cent." #economy #markets #debt #bonds #ust @financialtimes
Korean Chip Giants Dominate EWY, Prompt US Rebalancing
Given that Samsung & SK Hynix have now exceeded 50% of $EWY, there will need to be some "rebalancing" to satisfy US Diversification requirements by end of month @IBDinvestors @marketsurge charts here: https://t.co/XW54gpjWXm Similar to today, South Korea's weakness very...
Brookfield, Qatar to Earn $273M From 2 Manhattan West Refi
Spectacular $273M to accrue to #Brookfield, #Qatar on refi of #2ManhattanWest. Yes they have to pay it back but that's years from now+refi sh/be an option. 97%-occupied+avg in-place rent a nosebleed $132/sf. #realestate #CRE #mortgage #NYC #ManhattanWest https://t.co/BTu6KOSQar
US Plans T‑Bill‑Backed Stablecoins to Fund Deficits
"It's fine - we'll just shift issuance to the front end, have Warsh cut rates & flood the world with T-Bill backed stablecoins to finance US deficits..." https://t.co/pC68U8KAWt
ESF Funds Favor Wealthy Allies,
if the $212b (counting ~ $175b in SDRs that Republicans historically haven't liked using) Exchange Stabilization Fund is going to be given to allies without a financial need (like the UAE) not everyone is going to be able to get...
Series B Secures $50M, Paving Sales Future in Monaco
We're announcing our $50M Series B led by Benchmark. Founders Fund and Human Capital are tripling down in the round. We gave Benchmark a sneak preview of our upcoming GA release. They saw the future of sales. We had a term...
Mortgage Rates Hovering Between 7% and 7.6% Now
Hug a mortgage spread today, because Mortgage Rates in the past few years would have been between 7.05%- 7.65% today
Three Crypto M&A Deals Signal Winter's End
Three crypto M&A deals in one week. Mega raises at Circle, Canton, and Haun/a16z. Is crypto winter actually over? DITC: @kkirkbos, @TuongvyLe12 and @JoshR_GSR on the @SECPaulSAtkins speech, the Clarity Act, and the rise of the corpo token. Tune in Today...
Spirit's Double Bankruptcies Cost $110M, Left 17k Jobless
Spirit Airlines filed bankruptcy twice in one year and spent $110M+ on advisors. The first Chapter 11 cost $33M and changed nothing. The second is at $80M (still billing) and ended in liquidation. 17,000 employees out of a job. The advisors will...
CME to Launch Compute Futures Market This Year
CME Group $CME just announced plans to launch "compute futures market later this year, pending regulatory review."
Complex Recap Unnecessary; Simple Share Buyback Suffices
The company has capex needs, expects minimal growth next year. Costs will rise. Raising ¥250bn to buy back shares raises debt/EBITDA by more than one turn. This is easy. Buy back stock at X. Re-issue it years later at X...
UK 30-Year Gilt Yield Hits 1998 High
The yield on the UK 30-year gilt is at its highest level since 1998 https://t.co/zXuKq5q17b
Europe's Banks Deploy Smart Bond Contracts on Blockchain
European milestones for natively digital debt: 1️⃣ 🇩🇪: DZ BANK & KfW mapped the full lifecycle of a crypto bond on a public blockchain - proving Smart Bond Contracts can autonomously handle payments. https://t.co/3WAevr3yBs 2️⃣🇨🇭: Keyrock issued an on-chain corporate bond via Sygnum...
Transform FP&A: Faster Reports, Deeper Insight, Less Manual Work
FP&A transformation starts with a promise: faster reports, better insight, less manual work. Ji-Hyun Hwang, Ph.D., shares lessons from system transformations and what happens after go-live: https://t.co/Z2XyX3sHkP #fpatrends #financetransformation https://t.co/ppdmbwIRKL
Geopolitical Turmoil and Political Instability Drive Global Yield Surge
The rise in long-term gov't bond yields isn't about any one thing. There's unstable global geopolitics, with Iran the latest symptom. There's the collapse in politics as usual, with the UK in focus. All this pushes up 10y10y forward yields...
RIGL to Sell Approved Veppanu for ARVN, PFE
$RIGL will sell the newly approved Veppanu for $ARVN and $PFE. Modest financial terms https://t.co/9RsbSMzxBf
UK Political Uncertainty Drives Gilts Yield to 5.10%
Uncertain British politics = another step up in UK government bond yields. (This morning's selloff is sizeable, pushing the 10-year yield to 5.10%.) #economy #Markets #Gilts #UKEconomy #bonds #uk
EQT Raises Intertek Bid to $12.5bn, Ending War
EQT lifts Intertek offer to $12.5bn in fourth bid, signals end of escalation Read more here: https://t.co/yUmdVcX3hJ https://t.co/Z1nv3XwZW4
U.S. Debt Dominates Global Markets Thanks to Dollar Reserve
The global debt story is more concentrated than people think. The U.S. alone holds around $35.8 trillion in debt - more than double China and larger than the next several major economies combined. That says something important: Not all debt is viewed equally. Reserve...
Proposed CGT Threatens Startup Equity Compensation Model
Few things close the gap between labor and management/capital than access to equity ownership of what you yourself help build. Proposed #CGT changes basically erase the equity-based compensation system that makes #startups thrive internationally.
Elevra May Signal Start of New Lithium Upcycle
Is Elevra the first in this cycle? The last upcycle was marked by a hot period of three or four months where producers realised that the worst was over and they now needed to invest in supply. In a short...
Sega's Rovio Acquisition Becomes Massive Financial Disaster
3 years later, and the Rovio deal turned out to be the expected disaster for Sega. In their financial report from today, Sega mentions Rovio 15x in 62 pages, all in negative context (massive write-downs, losses, restructuring, declining sales etc.):...
AST's $30M Insurance Can't Cover $155M Loss
So if the satellite was only insured for $30M, how does AST claim on Apr 19 that "The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy" but then disclose in the 10-Q that "The...
Close on Three Paid Holidays, Save Money
Three consecutive paid holidays just landed on the calendar. Staying open all three days will cost you more than closing will. (What can SME business owners do?)
Payward Raises Capital, Fuels $2.65B Acquisition Spree, Eyes IPO
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange @krakenfx, is raising new capital at a $20 billion valuation. The fundraising is tied to an aggressive acquisition spree. Most recently, @Payward acquired stablecoin-focused payments firm @reapglobal for $600 million and digital asset derivatives platform...
Rigorous Due Diligence Transforms Deal Outcomes
the due diligence process: – financials verified independently – customer concentration assessed – key person risks identified – real earnings established preparation here changes outcomes significantly
$214M Funding Covers Only Four Months of Fuel Hikes
Just a gentle reminder that raising $214 million to "save Spirit" is enough for about four months of cash to cover just the INCREASE in jet fuel prices and nothing else. This is not a cheap business.
Know Deal Structures, Keep More Deals Alive
the deal structure options: – vendor finance: seller carries note – 60/40 blend: bank and seller share – rollover equity: seller stays invested – earn-out: performance tied payment understanding these means fewer deals fall over
SaaS Metrics Evolve, Not Die, for AI Models
SaaS metrics are “dead”? Not quite. They’re evolving for AI, usage-based, and hybrid revenue models—not disappearing. Watch: https://t.co/UGikVX6j0S #SaaS #AI #Finance https://t.co/Ml59ZyLWCz
AI Agents Cut Month‑end Close by One Day
We shaved 1 day off our already fast month-end close with accounting AI agents Here is how we built them... https://t.co/e7DsRg4Pcb
Anthropic Flags Illegal Secondary Market SPV Fraud
One of the things I'm most interested in knowing right now is how big the multi-layered SPV scam really is. Talk to folks directly on the cap tables of these companies, and there's not very many entities that would be enabling...
KKR's BDC Suffers $560M Loss, Private Credit Warning
While Wall Street obsesses over Micron's parabolic 38% week and Nasdaq racing toward record highs, the most important market story today is buried in a 7am press release. FS KKR Capital, the second-largest publicly traded BDC and flagship of KKR's...
Dividends Come From Cash Flow, Not Free Money
Dividends are not free money. They are paid out of free cash flow. Let’s look at the example pictured below. We see three example stocks listed with their 2025 dividend per share listed and their 2025 free cash flow per share listed. When someone...
Integration Costs Shift to RPA as APIs Become Liabilities
Software ships at near-zero marginal cost. The maintenance tail does not. Every API is a liability the moment it ships, and a finite R&D budget can only service so much of yesterday's surface area before next quarter's earnings call wins...
Free Bloomberg Terminal Clone Built in Minutes, No Setup
A Bloomberg Terminal costs $30,000 a year. Someone just built one for free. In minutes. With no local setup.
AI Writes Code, Humans Run Forecasting Operations
AI can generate forecasting code. AI cannot install a high-performance forecasting operation inside a company. That still requires a person. Learn how to implement a Forecast Operating System (that your company will actually use). 👉 Register here (500 seats): https://learn.business-science.io/join