Corporate Financial Statements Stanford, Jim.

¶ … Corporate Financial Statements

Stanford, Jim. (2003). Finding and understanding corporate financial statements. Just Labor.

Retrieved October 23, 2010 at http://www.justlabour.yorku.ca/volume2/pdfs/stanford.pdf

This article provides a useful guide to understanding corporate financial statements. It discusses the difference between public and privately-traded corporate entities (the latter of which are not required to release financial statements to the public) and the definitions of revenue flow, operating profits, special expenses and pre -- and post-tax income. Assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity (what a company owes its shareholders) are also detailed. Evaluating a company's financial health by 'reading between the lines' on financial statements regarding matters like corporate debt-to-equity ratio is essential. As well as reading a financial statement as a potential investment, the article also examines issues of social justice from a labor perspective, such as how chief executives are compensated and the extent to which profits are shared fairly, not only in terms of shareholders, but in terms of what workers are paid, as measured by labor unit costs.

Article 2: Analysis of a company's cash flow

Prinsloo, Frans. (2004, September). Free cash flow: a panacea of financial analysis. Accountancy SA. Retrieved October 23, 2010 at FindArticles.com http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5377/is_200409/ai_n21356176/

Understanding a company's balance sheets in terms of cash flow is essential. A discrepancy between cash flow and earnings can be a sign of accounting fraud. Even if after-tax earnings are strong, negative cash flow can signal potential economic trouble, which can eventually force a company out of business. Free cash flow is the cash available to the company after it has met its obligations, such as paying for its investments in ongoing operations; interest and dividends; and debt repayments. The article details how to calculate cash flow as well as makes a case for its importance when making investment decisions.

Article 3: Evaluation of high- and low- risk investment projects

Ispas, Constantin, Eduard Lovin, & Dana Tilina. (2009). Risk analysis in investment projects.

Annals of DAAAM & Proceedings. Retrieved October 23, 2010 at FindArticles.com http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7105/is_2009_Annual/ai_n53386583/

Accurately evaluating the technical, economic and social risk of a new investment project is critical. Common potential risks include errors in evaluating opportunity growth; errors in data-gathering; misevaluating the priority of the economic objective to be achieved, mis-projections of project scope (otherwise known as 'project creep'); and radical and unexpected changes in the economic environment. Evaluating risk is a multi-faceted process. It entails an understanding of the physical, functional, and staff required to realize the project; assessing vulnerabilities and possible remedies; risk adjustment; prioritizing on organizational risk hierarchies; making risk comparisons within the organization and globally; and appropriate use of risk matrices.

Article 4: Valuation of stock and stock portfolios

Lerzan, Aksoy, Bruce Cooil, Christopher Groening, Timothy L. Keiningham, & Atakan

Yalc-n.(2008, July). The long-term stock market valuation of customer satisfaction,