Hardball With Hitchner: Tough Issues – Clear Answers is a monthly publication from Jim Hitchner that will tackle important business valuation topics in the inimitable Hitchner style.
Jim will cover the latest developments in the valuation profession, always in a straightforward manner and with an emphasis on practical application.
As the nation’s premier business valuation educator, Jim is passionate about sharing the knowledge he has gained from more than 40 years of hands-on valuation experience.
An annual subscription is $99 for 12 issues (including some combined double issues on more complex topics). As a bonus, subscribers also get access to the archive of all past issues of Hardball with Hitchner and a library of hundreds of articles from the Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert (FVLE) journal, the predecessor publication, at no additional cost. Access to the archives is limited to paid current subscribers.
Index of Past Issues
Issue 49 – November 2024:
The Dark Side of Business Valuation – Plagiarism
Issue 48 – October 2024:
Musings on Myths
Myth 21: Exit Multiples Are Preferable to the Gordon Growth Model for Calculating the Terminal Year Value in a DCF Model
Issue 46/47 – August/September 2024:
Musings on Myths
Myth 16: You Must Use Both Sets of Data (CRSP Data and the Risk Premium Report Data) When Using the Kroll Cost of Capital Navigator
Myth 17: When Using the Guideline Company Transactions Method of the Market Approach, You Do Not Need to Investigate Potential Synergistic Values
Myth 18: A Discount for Lack of Marketability (DLOM) Should Not Be Applied to the Application of DealStats Data to Arrive at Nonmarketable Minority Values
Myth 19: A Transaction Price Should Not Reflect Investment Value for Either the Buyer or Seller but Would Lie Somewhere between the Buyer and Seller’s Respective Investment Values (Absent Compulsion to Buy/Sell)
Myth 20: There Are No Good Transaction Databases That Focus Only on Small Businesses
Issue 45 – July 2024:
USPAP and C Corps
Issue 44 – June 2024:
Musings on Myths
Myth 15: All S Corps Should Be Valued Using Corporate Tax Rates with an S Corp Adjustment
Issue 43 – May 2024:
Musings on Myths
Myth 13: You Cannot Use a Capitalized Cash Flow Method When Valuing Large Businesses
Myth 14: When Preparing a DCF Analysis, Most of the Value Is in the Terminal Year
Issue 42 – April 2024:
Musings on Myths
Myth 12: To Value a Minority Interest in a Private Business You Must First Value It on a 100% Control Basis
Issue 41 – March 2024:
Basic Cost of Equity Capital Concepts and Assumptions That Are Not That Basic
Issue 39/40 January/February 2024:
Musings on Myths
Myth 8: You Can Use Year-end Financials for a Prior Mid-year Valuation Date
Myth 9: You Can Use the Mid-year Convention for a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Method but Not a Capitalized Cash Flow (CCF) Method
Myth 10: You Can Rely on a Prior Appraisal that was Prepared for Estate Tax Purposes for a New Estate Tax Valuation that is a Few Months after the Earlier Valuation
Myth 11: Pre-IPO Studies and Data Are Good Sources for Supporting a Discount for Lack of Marketability
Issue 38 – December 2023:
Musings on Myths
Myth 6: There Are Supportable Methods for Determining the Optimal Capital Structure of a Business
Myth 7: The Hamada Formula Is the Correct Method to Unlever and Relever Betas to Account for Differences in Capital Structures
Issue 37 – November 2023:
Musings on Myths
Myth 5: The Concept of “Known or Knowable” Is “Known or Knowable”
Issue 35/36 – September/October 2023:
Musings on Myths
Myth 3: Fair Market Value Cannot Include Synergies
Myth 4: Levels of Value Is a Settled and Static Issue
Issue 34 – August 2023:
Questions Posed and Answers Given
Issue 33 – July 2023:
Webinar Polls Reveal Who’s Doing What in Business Valuation
Issue 32 – June 2023:
The New Kroll Company-level Beta Module
Issue 31 – May 2023:
Pepperdine Positive Pointers
Issue 30 – April 2023
Musings on Myths
Myth 2 – Restricted Stock Studies and Data Cannot Be Relied upon to Determine a DLOM in Federal Tax Business Valuations, Whether Solely or in Conjunction with Other Methods
Issue 29 – March 2023:
Musings on Myths
Myth 1 – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Only Accepts the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) in Tax-Related Business Valuations
Issue 28 – February 2023:
Frequently Asked Questions:
The Guideline Public Company Method of the Market Approach – Part 2
Issue 27 – January 2023:
GF Data: Another Transaction Database to Consider
Issue 26 – December 2022:
Frequently Asked Questions:
The Guideline Public Company Method of the Market Approach
Issue 25 – November 2022:
Frequently Asked Questions:
The Guideline Company Transactions Method of the Market Approach
Issue 24 – October 2022:
New Cost of Equity Capital Dase Study Kroll vs. Business Valuation Resources vs. Damodaran vs. Surveys
Issue 22/23 – August/September 2022:
Cost of Capital Dispute: Damodaran vs. Kroll Cost of Capital Navigator vs. BV Resources Cost of Capital Professional – What Is Right and What Is Wrong?
Issue 21 – July 2022:
Bad Business Valuation Report Language: A Comedy of Errors
Issue 20 – June 2022:
VPS StraightTalk Webinar Poll Results
Issue 19 – May 2022:
Pepperdine Private Capital Market Report – Useful or Not?
Issue 17/18 – March/April 2022:
The Business Valuation Glossary Issue
Do You Have a BV Glossary Problem? 2001 International Glossary of Business Valuation Terms vs. 2021 International Valuation Glossary – Business Valuation
Issue 16 – February 2022:
Transaction Databases: Small- to Medium-size Businesses
Issue 14/15 – December 2021/January 2022:
VPS Quick Study Summary Outline – Navigating the Navigator
Issue 13 – January 2021:
Avoiding Business Valuation Mistakes – Greatest Hits Part 2
Issue 12 – October 2021:
Avoiding Business Valuation Mistakes – Greatest Hits
Issue 11 – September 2021:
Economic Research Report Review
Issue 10 – August 2021:
DLOM – One Foot in the Boat and One Foot on the Dock
Issue 9 – July 2021:
Webinar Polls Reveal Who’s Doing What in Business Valuation
Issue 8 – June 2021:
Websites: Facts vs. the Illusion of Facts
Issue 7 – May 2021:
Preparing for a BV Deposition – Good Answers to Tough Questions (Part two of two)
Issue 6 – April 2021:
Preparing for a BV Deposition – Good Answers to Tough Questions (Part one of two)
Issue 5 – March 2021:
Understanding Economic Data – A Business Valuation Perspective
Issue 4 – February 2021:
Business Valuation and COVID
Issue 3 – January 2021:
Cost of Equity Capital
Issue 2 – December 2020:
Income Approach – Capitalized Cash Flow (CCF) and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Methods
Issue 1 – November 2020:
Business Valuation and COVID-19: Uncertain Does NOT Mean Unreliable