Advising, Consulting And Mentoring Greater Houston Area Business Since 1986
From the Editor...
Richard Hendee
Last week I was waiting in a large office building in the Galleria area to meet with a client and I saw something that reminded me of one of the greatest experiences and opportunities that I ever had. What I watched unfolding before me was a father taking his young son to work with him. The father had a folder of work that he had likely taken home the day before to work on at night. The boy had a lunch box which probably had more treasures in it than a sandwich and a cold drink. They walked through the front door together hand in hand both looking like they were going to conquer the world, or at least close the deal of the century. I could see the individual pride both shared but for different reasons. They proceeded to the elevator to make the ride to the floor that would be their base of operations for the day's activities.
Is The Balance Sheet Enough To Understand A Business?
By Jaime Stein, Ph.D. and a Silver Fox Advisor
No one would argue that a company's financial statement contains essential information on the health of the business. It tells about the value of the company, its assets and liabilities, its money flow and free cash situations along with many other critical metrics. However, there is one thing it does not tell and that is its long-term future performance. This fact is well captured in the disclaimer found in any financial prospectus: "Past Performance is Not Necessarily Indicative of Future Results".
It is comforting to us to think that past performance data can be used to predict future performance; however it is well documented that this is not the case.As recently as 2014 Aye Soe, Director of Global Research & Design for S&P Dow Jones Indices published the results of a blind test conducted on the performance of 687 U.S. (equity) mutual funds. Data from a fixed business cycle was used to predict the performance of the funds in the next cycle. The predicted results where then compared to the actual ones from the same cycle. The results where devastating: the prediction failed 96% of the time.
Texas is a community property state. This means that most property acquired during the marriage is owned jointly by both spouses and is divided upon divorce. Texas law provides for the possibility of proving property as your separate property by tracing it with "clear and convincing evidence".
Examples of community property may include:
Wages earned by either spouse during the marriage
Home and furniture purchased during the marriage
Mortgages and the family home
Examples of separate property may include:
Property that was owned by a spouse prior to marriage
Inheritances acquired during marriage, if held separately
Silver Fox Advisors Silver Fox Advisors are current and former business owners, entrepreneurs and executives dedicated to assisting business owners to improve their enterprises through mentoring and consulting. Advisors have been sharing their knowledge, experience and skills since 1986. To work with a Sliver Fox Advisor, please visit our website at www.silverfox.org and select your advisor.
Upcoming Events
Lunch & Learn
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Guest Speaker: Andrew S. Fastow, Former Enron CFO
Topic: "After Enron: What's Legal and What's Right in the Corporate Environment"
