Bank Lending Troubles – Continued Uncertainty

According to a recent article in CFO magazine, the Bank for International Settlements, "the bank for central banks," issued its annual report published Monday. The article "Banks Not Out of the Woods" highlighted several points about the state of banks in the US:

Working Capital Needs: Bust to Boom

According to a recent CFO Magazine report, 2009 was one of the worst years ever for working capital performance, as companies were slow to adjust to the recession. Reviewing the 1,000 largest US public companies, average days working capital (DWC) jumped 8% in 2009 to 38 days, from 35 days in 2008. In round numbers, receivables were 10% higher in 2009, matched by an 11% increase in days payable. Coupled with companies replenishing inventories after 2008 and those holding unsellable product in 2009, days inventory outstanding (DIO) rose by 9%. This may not sound much, but further down the line to smaller privately held companies, less efficient financial management can exacerbate the problem.

Bank Lending in Doldrums and May Stay That Way

For the last 18 months, ClearRidge has published reports projecting that business lending will continue to worsen long after the end of the recession. History shows that to be true after every recession in the last century.

Oklahoma Bankruptcies Hit New High and Still Rising

There were over 158,000 bankruptcy petitions filed in the US in March 2010, according to a recent report from Aacer, a bankruptcy data collection company, which was 35% more than the previous month. This was also a 19% increase over filings in October 2009, the previous high since personal bankruptcy law was tightened in October 2005.

Impact of Healthcare Reform on Your Business?

Whether you were for or against healthcare reform, it is difficult to have an informed debate. Hardly any of us understand the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, let alone have sufficient information to debate how it may impact our businesses in Oklahoma.

Know which bank your business needs to work with

As I was preparing for the panel at the CREC Oklahoma Forecast event in OKC a few weeks ago, I made some calls to check on anecdotal data we had from bank lending in late 2009. As it turns out, we got very different answers from different lenders we spoke to.

What Shape is the Economic Recovery?

CFO.com had a recent article, which polled some of our nation’s most distinguished economists. They asked each one what letter or shape best reflects the outlook for economic recovery, from the"V" shape that described the fast recovery from the 1973–74 recession through to the dreaded "W" — twin recessions or "double dip" that keep the economy on the ropes for years.
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