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A Fortress Balance Sheet

Two seasoned treasurers say what's on their minds — and making balance sheets shock-proof is just one notion.

Edward Teach - CFO.com | US

June 18, 2009

Build a "fortress balance sheet." Maintain good credit ratings. Actively monitor your counterparty risk. And if you took out a five-year revolver in 2007, don't wait until 2012 to renew it.

That was just some of the advice offered in a panel discussion on treasury management at The CFO Core Concerns Conference in Boston on Friday. Nine months after the near-meltdown of the financial system, corporate treasurers are focused on cash and liquidity above all, said John Tus, vice president and corporate treasurer at Honeywell International.

The shift in priorities from earnings per share to cash was confirmed by a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Corporate Treasurers, said Edward Liebert, chairman of the association and treasurer of Rohm & Haas, which was acquired by Dow Chemical in April. "You can miss your earnings targets and survive, but you can only run out of cash once," commented Liebert. Treasurers voiced four other top concerns in the NACT survey: employee benefit funding, primarily pensions; capital spending; cost control, such as keeping insurance premiums and bank fees down; and maintaining or gaining access to capital markets.

Tus said he first heard the phrase fortress balance sheet from Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. "What it really means is having a balance sheet that can withstand shocks," explained Tus, particularly those that may "come out of the woodwork," such as contingent liabilities and covenant breaches. A fortress balance sheet also gives companies deal-making flexibility, he added. "Historically, companies that do the best deals do them at the trough of the market, not at the peak."

The economic downturn has underlined the importance of maintaining a good credit rating, said Tus: "During good times, ratings determine what you pay for capital. In bad times, they determine your access to capital." Honeywell, a $38 billion industrial conglomerate, boasts a single A credit rating and a tier-1 commercial paper rating, he said. Liebert pointed out that A-rated companies still issued commercial paper during the height of the financial crisis.

Both Tus and Liebert stressed the importance of monitoring counterparty risk. "Our greatest counterparty risk is with the cash we invest around the globe," said Tus. Honeywell shuns "things that are exotic," he noted; the company doesn't want to take on more risk for an extra basis point or two. Liebert said Rohm & Hass routinely tracks counterparty risk, monitoring not only balance sheets and credit ratings but also more-subjective matters, such as a bank's strategy and the quality of the banking relationship.

Finally, the two treasurers observed that many companies have five-year credit facilities coming due in 2012. That's because while banks routinely extended such facilities when money was cheap, the practice came to an abrupt end in August 2007 with the onset of the subprime panic. Liebert and Tus advised companies to consider renegotiating such facilities before they are due, say if there's a window of opportunity in 2010. If the banking industry isn't on firm ground by 2012, warned Liebert, the demand for credit could be huge — but the supply may be limited.

可能陌生的词汇：

26, fortress  ['f?:tris]
n. 堡垒,要塞
Fortress: 堡垒|城堡|福帝斯
The Fortress: 太空魔窟
Digital Fortress: 数字城堡|数字堡垒|数位密码
27, notion  ['n?u??n]
n. 观念,想法,主张
notion: 概念|观念|意见，概念
FEATHER NOTION: 羽毛挂饰
notion counter: 杂货柜
28, seasoned  ['si:znd]
adj. 经验丰富的
seasoned: 加作料的|经验丰富的|风干的
seasoned wood: 风化材|风干木材|风干木
lightly seasoned: 味淡的
29, treasurer  ['tre??r?]
n. 会计,出纳员
Fellow of the association of corporate treasurers: 公司财务长协会正式会员
30, shock-proof 
adj. 耐震的, 防震的
shock-proof: 防震的，防电击的|耐震的|要求防震
shock Sex -proof: 防震的，防电击的
shock-proof Sex: 防震的，防电击的
31, counterparty risk 
counterparty risk: 交易对手风险|对手风险|对家风险
counterparty credit risk: 风险
Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group: 交易对手风险管理政策小组
33, meltdown  ['meltdaun]
n. 熔化
meltdown: 熔化|鼠胆龙威|熔毁
American Meltdown: 终极危机
network meltdown: 网络瘫痪
34, acquired  [?'kwai?d]
adj. 已取得的,已获得的,已成习惯的
acquired: 后天获得的|已获得的|后天
acquired character: 获得性状|获得形质|获得特性
acquired assets: 既得资产
35, run out of cash 
现金短缺
36, run out of  [,r?n 'aut]
用完
run out of: 用完|用完，耗尽|用完，用尽，耗尽
run sb out of the town: 把某人逐出市外
run-out of timing gear: 正时齿轮的摆动
37, pension  ['pen??n]
n. 退休金,年金,抚恤金
v. 发给退休金
Pensions: 养老金|退休（养老）金|退休金
Pensions Expenditure: 退休金开支
Pensions crisis: 养老金危机
38, primarily  ['praim?rili]
adv. 首先,主要地
primarily: 主要地|首先|最初的
Primarily Undergraduate: 本科类|大学类|基础类
primarily primarily: 主要的
39, premium  ['primj?m]
n. 额外费用,奖金,保险费
premiums: 额外奖励|奖品|溢价
single premiums: 趸缴保费|趸缴产品
premiums reducing: 保费下降
40, withstand  [wie'st?nd]
v. 抵抗,对抗,经得起
withstand: 经受,经得起|对抗|抵挡住
Withstand VoltageKV: 耐电压
generator withstand: 发电机耐电压
41, come out of the woodwork 
从阴暗角落爬出;公开露面
Come out of the woodwork: 突然冒出了很多人
42, woodwork  ['w?dw?:k]
n. 木工,木制品
woodwork: 木工|木制品|球门框
woodwork mill: 木厂
woodwork area: 木工工作间
43, contingent liabilities 
或有债务
contingent liabilities: 或有负债|或有债务|或然负债
formal contingent liabilities: 正式或有负债
outstanding contingent liabilities: 未偿或然负债
44, covenant  ['k?vin?nt]
n. 盟约,契约
v. 立书保证
Covenant: 契约|贷款保证契约|堕落的旋律黑
The Covenant: 魔界契约|魔鬼契约|魔男生死斗
debt covenant: 债务契约
45, breach  [bri:t?]
n. 裂口,违背
security breaches: 安全漏洞
46, trough  ['tr?:f]
n. 木钵,水槽,马槽
trough: 铁水沟，排渣沟|波谷|周期的转折点
cable trough: 电缆坑|电缆暗渠|电缆沟槽
break trough: 突破，冲破|取得突破性成就
47, conglomerate  [k?n'gl?m?rit]
n. 集成物,集块,砾岩
adj. 密集而固结的,砾岩性的
v. 凝聚成一团,使结成,结合
conglomerate: 联合大企业|大型联合企业|砾岩
financial conglomerate: 金融集团|财资企业集团
basal conglomerate: 底砾岩|基底砾岩 基底轹岩|底砾岩，基底砾岩
48, boast  [b?ust]
n. 吹牛
v. 吹牛,自夸
boasts on its label that: 在卷标上声称
Every salesman boasts of his own wares.〖Hotline: 老王卖瓜，自卖自夸。
49, tier  [ti?]
n. 列,行
tier: 看台|层级|等级
tier antenna: 分层天线
Data Tier: 数据层|资料层|資料層
50, commercial paper 
n. 商业本票, 商业票据
commercial paper: 商业票据|商业 文件|商业本票
commercial graph paper: 方格纸
commercial paper payable: 应付商业本票
51, counterparty  ['kaunt?,pɑ:ti]
n. 【证券】反方(在证券交易中寻求把固定利率证券换成浮动利率证券的一方，或反之)
Counterparty: 合约对方|对手方|对应方
counterparty failure: 交易对手破产
counterparty risk: 交易对手风险|对手风险|对家风险
52, shun  [??n]
v. 避开,规避,避免
53, exotic  [ig'z?tik]
adj. 异国的,外来的
exotic: 异国的|外来,外国产的|异国风情的
exotic species: 外来的物种|外来种|外來種
exotic fuels: 高热值燃料
54, routinely  [ru:'ti:nli]
adv. 通常
routinely: 例行公事地|常规地|日常
Routinely re-order department supplies: 订购公司所需
l routinely mislabeled my arms shipments: 我经常把装军火的箱子
55, track  [tr?k]
n. 小路,跑道,轨道,踪迹
v. 跟踪,追踪
56, onset  ['?nset]
n. 攻击,进攻,肇端
onset: 开始|起始，开始，发动|发动
Sleep onset: 入睡开始|指睡眠的始发
simultaneous onset: 合病
57, subprime 
次优级抵押贷款
Subprime: 次级房贷|次级贷款|次级
Subprime Mortgage: 次级房贷|次级抵押贷款|次级按揭
Subprime Crisis: 次贷危机
58, revolving credit 
限额循环周转信贷
循环贷款
Revolving credit: 循还贷款|循环信用证|周转信贷
revolving w credit: 共关系
revolving check credit: 循环性支票信用
59, contingent  [k?n'tind??nt]
a. 或许会或不会发生的,附随的,暂时的
n. 偶然的事情,份儿,分遣队
60, underlined 
adj. 下划线的
Underlined: 下划线|加下划线的
underlined dimension: 数字下有划线之尺寸
underlined character: 加下线字符
61, credit rating 
信用评级
Credit rating: 信用评级|信贷评级|信用等级
Credit Quality Rating: 信用评级
Formal credit rating: 正式信用评级
62, pay for  ['pei,f?:]
偿还,付款
pay for: 赔偿, 付款, 报偿, 处罚|付款|偿还
pay…for…: 为……买单 为……付款
pay…for: 付…的钱|为了得到…而付钱
63, access to 
接近或使用的机会
access to: 接近|通向…的入口|进入，接近
Access control to ship: 进入船舶的控制
Access System to HSR: 高铁联外系统
64, prime  [praim]
adj. 首要的,最好的
n. 青春,壮年,全盛时期
Prime: 春心荡漾|同度音|基本的，首要的，最初的
prime mover: 原动机|原动力|推动装置
Prime Minister: 总理|首相|宰相
65, abrupt  [?'br?pt]
adj. 突然的,唐突的
abrupt: 突然的|突然,陡峭的|意外
abrupt junction: 突变结|突变结，阶跃结|陡接面
abrupt slope: 陡坡|陡坡，峭壁
66, credit facilities 
信用设施
信贷透支
Credit facilities: 信贷措施|信用便利|信贷措施来源：考试大
export credit insurance facilities: 出口信贷保险业务
generous credit facilities: 慷慨的信用贷款
67, on firm ground 
adj. 处于安全地位(有充分的根据)
on firm ground: 处于安全地位
68, liquidity  [li'kwiditi]
流动性,偿债能力

争取每天给我们贴一篇英语财经文章吧，我给你开专区

不一定都有时间每天上来贴啦，不过有一个专区也挺好的，大家一起来分享，比我一个人分享效果要更好了。
其实就是希望能养成一个习惯，每天看一两篇，慢慢看英语文章就很习惯了。
看得多，日后准备ACCA这样都是论述分析的考试就会比较轻松了。

给楼主推荐两个地方：
1，Business Finance, Best Practices for Finance Executives:  http://businessfinancemag.com/
2，CFO PUBLISHING: http://www.cfo.com

这两个网站与我们的网站定位和客户群是类似的，如果你能在上面两个地方选取一些适合国内的资讯或者专业文章推荐给大家，并加以指点，将对我们这些财务经理人与世界商业环境接轨起到很大的作用啊

恩，我现在基本都在CFO.COM上面看，Businessfinance倒是没上过，Economists上面的文章太杂，而且经济类的专业词汇看起来太痛苦。
其实我觉得这些文章大家都看得懂哦，只是没有动力每天面对这些蝌蚪文。所以说如果两位管理员能推动大家一起学习的话，是个挺不错的事情。
我有定《首席财务官》，但是感觉里面的文章时效性和内容不如CFO.COM上面的文章，比如我这两天发的，是CFO.COM组织的一个会议的总结。
要加以指点的话，我还是不够资格的。我可以协助大家来看懂这些文章，但是指点的事情，恐怕还是要两位管理员出马了。你们可以在文章后面回复一些评点和分析的文字，对大家的协助也很大呢。

就是想来看看有没有英文方面文章的，结果看到znjxxcxl 的提议，太好了，希望版主开专区！

支持

我也支持开专区，补习一下英语，大家一起学，比较有动力。

大家的生活太丰富了，跟你学。