Professor Elam

Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M

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  • Professor Elam

    Chipolte and SBUX Take Advantage of Price Elasticity

    Weekend April  19 2014

    CHipolte Mexican Grill CMG plans to raise prices. The CFO says the customers do not notice the difference between $7 and  $7.75. But clearly that is a huge increase to CMG's bottom line. 

    It stuck me that SBUX is the same way. Coffee shops have been around for over one hundred years I would guess. But SBUX is the first mass upcale shop. I will take some photos of the drive in line later this morning. 

    Economics teaches the concept of price elasticity. As the CMG CFO puts it, our customers are not like MCD who are quite price sensitie. This is why the burger chains offered one dollar specials. SBUX really takes this to the next level by charging a dollar more for a larger portion. The marginal cost to SBUX is probably just a few pennies. And so SBUX continues to grow. 

    Having customers who do not notice price increases while costs are fixed is a real boon to the bottom line. 

  • Professor Elam

    A Report on Tax Season

    Weekend April  19, 2014

    Tax Professionals report varyihg results in this survey. I would agree that the implementation of so many rules and increasingly negative penalties for alleged penalties makes the tax field a loser in my opinion. 

    This is fine for the large firms that charge whatever the market will bear, but as you can read, many smaller firms are having trouble. 

    There is no excuse for this level of complexity in what is supposed to be a democracy. 

  • Professor Elam

    Internship at Calumet

    Thursday April 17 2014

     Calumet (here on Brooks base),o has two internships to offer for the summer: one accounting and one purchasing (supply chain management), paid ($15-18 per hour).

     

    She would like a high-performing junior or senior for each of these positions, and would like to know their current GPA, curriculum base, current resume and perhaps a one-page essay on "Why I would like to participate in an internship" as selection tools.

     Please contact me about this if you are interested.

  • Professor Elam

    An Internal Auditing Perspective

     Linked In Plus offers some interesting articles. Here is one on who Integrated Reporting benefits from internal auditing.

     

    Integrated Reporting has advantages from an internal audit perspective.

  • Professor Elam

    On the Road Again, Can’t Wait to Get On the Road Again

    Wednesday April  16, 2014

    Way back on February 2, 2011 when we were still camped out at St. Joe, I suggested we visit a real foreign country, West Texas. Everyone laughed.

    I got the last laugh though.  The purpose of the trip would have been to get a sense of where the Eagle Frod was likely going. UTPB is the same size as TAMUSA, and now UTPB claims to be the fastest growing university in Texas.

    We don't need to go around the world to discover something old has become new again, just to the edge of the Flat Earth Society known as West Texas.

    The Boom is on.

  • Professor Elam

    Student Rating of Instructors

    Tue

    Dear Faculty,

    The Student Rating of Instruction (SRI) emails were sent to students today to their Jaguar email accounts. An announcement was also posted to Blackboard. Students can also access their SRIs via a link in Blackboard after they login. The SRIs are open now and will close on 5/5/2014.

    Students have two options to access their Course Evaluations (please feel free to copy and paste this information into a communication to your students:

    1.   Blackboard. Blackboard link Once you login you will see the "My Institution" page. Look for the "Tools" module. The course evaluation link is at the bottom of the Tools module. Click on the link for "My Course Evaluations – Please Complete" and you will be taken to your course evaluation links for each class you are enrolled in.

    2.   Student Jaguar Email accounts. Student Jaguar Email link. Once you login to your Jaguar account, you will see emails sent by A&M-San Antonio Admin. You should have received one email for each class you are enrolled in. Links to the course evaluations are contained in these emails.

    Please encourage them to complete their SRIs!

    Below is the announcement that was sent out to students. If you have any questions, please email Jane Mims at jane.mims@tamusa.tamus.edu
    ——

    Texas A&M University-San Antonio

    Student Rating of Instruction Survey

    Dear A&M-San Antonio Student,

    Texas A&M University-San Antonio values the opinions and feedback of our students. With this in mind, we would like to encourage you to provide constructive feedback on the quality of instruction in your classes through the "Student Rating of Instruction" survey system, which is now open for evaluations. 

    Click on the link below to respond to the brief survey. You will receive a separate email for each class you are enrolled in. You can also access your course evaluations via Blackboard after you login (look for My Course Evaluations link in the left hand Tools menu on the My Institution landing page).

    Please note:

    -       Surveys must be completed by 5/5/2014.

    -     You will only be allowed to complete one survey for each class.

    -       Evaluations are confidential, and faculty and administrators are unable to link student information with completed evaluations.

    -       If you have any difficulty completing your SRIs on or after 4/15/2014 but before 5/5/2014, please contact the Institutional Research office at IR@tamusa.tamus.edu.

    Please complete your SRI by clicking on this link: Login

    Note: This link is specific to you and your class – please do not share this link or forward this email to another person.  

     

    Thank you and best wishes to you for finals and the successful completion of your courses! 

    The Office of Academic Affairs

    sday April  15, 2014

     

  • Professor Elam

    Analyzing Lampert’s Moves at Sears

    Monday April  14, 2014

    This analyst examines the way owner Eddie Lampert strips the cash out of a company before spinning it off from Sears Holdings. Please read the article to see the track record. 

    Remember the definition of accounting

    Recognize a transaction

    Record the event – journal and ledger

    Summarize the entries – Trial Balance, Adjusted Trial Balance

    Report – Financial Statements Bal Sheet, Inc Statement, Cash Flow

    Explain and interpret the results

    With more rules than ever that last requirement is more difficult than ever. This is why SHLD makes a great example. Lampert was originally hailed a a great hedge fund manager. Today he holds sway over a dwindling empire, and the columnist suggests its demise is inevitable. 

    The article specifically discusses the demise of former well respected on line rtailer Lands' End LE.

    Here is the trading in LE so far from spin off.

    Screenshot 2014-04-14 08.35.09

     

    Each bar represents one day of trading. A you can see, the warning signal flashed on day one as the stock dropped from  35 to just over 28. Stripped of cash, Lampert is robbing the spin offs to keep business afloat at money losing SHLD. 

    And that is the correct explanation of what a good accounting analyst would tell potentiaal investors. 

    Accounting – sooner or later it is all about the money. 

  • Professor Elam

    Meet the USS Zumwalt

    Monday April  14 2014

    The Navy will launch its newest ship later this year, or so they say.   My recollection is that the last ship Screenshot 2014-04-14 06.14.11the Navy had built has combat survival problems.  But it was a bargain at $670 M compared to the Zumwalt at $7 B.

    Here is my take

    • The origianl cost went from $3.8 B to $7 B, apparently it is impossible to correctly estimate high tech costs
    • So the origianl 32 ship order got cut from 32 to 3, yes 3
    • All this high tech stuff means the crew was cut from 210 to  130, a continuing sign of how low interest rates beget more human displacing inventions
    • This photo of the command center looks great for say our building at Brooks, not so much for a ship that is subject to violent moves away from upright vertical, say in a submarine evasive Screenshot 2014-04-14 06.21.16
      manuever
    • If the ship has to make a hard change of course in either direction all those computer sacreens go clattering to the deck, I don't get it, all this should be secured
    • It is hard to see how just three ships world wide can be positioned across the world's oceans  to quickly respond to much of anythiing, ie, where would you put them?
    • Oh and then there is the electromagnetic rail gun, buck rogers here we come
    • I wonder what happens if the electrical system goes out on this thing, would there be any mechanical system, you know like a real gun, that would still operate, just wondering
    • Actually th is design reminds me of the first Union Iron Clad, the USS Monitor. As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun.

    Looks to me like a faiulure of managerial accounting, what do you think?

  • Professor Elam

    Student Rating of Instructors

    Weekend April  13, 2014

     

    Texas A&M University-San Antonio

    Student Rating of Instruction

    Survey Announcement

    Dear Faculty Member,

    Texas A&M University-San Antonio values the opinions and feedback of our students on the quality of instruction. The "Student Rating of Instruction" (SRI) system gives each student a brief survey for each course he or she is enrolled in at Texas A&M-San Antonio. This semester, we will be conducting the SRIs via an online platform. Paper and pencil evaluations will not be used.

    On 4/15/2014 students will receive emails (Jaguar email accounts) with a hyperlink to the SRI for each class. In addition, they can find a link to their SRIs after they login to Blackboard (in the left hand Tools menu on the My Institution landing page – NOT in your courses). Please note the following:

    -       The evaluation can only be completed once for each class.   

    -       Evaluations are confidential, and faculty and administrators are unable to link student information with completed evaluations.

          -       Surveys for Spring 2014 must be completed by 5/5/2014.

          -       Faculty members will be able to access the results for review one week after final course grades are due (after final course grades have been             posted).

    -    While you will not be able to access results until one week after final course grades are due, you will be able to view your class response rates as soon as your students begin to respond. You can view this information by clicking on this link Login. Please do not share this link with others.

    Thank you and best wishes to you for finals and the end of the semester!  

    The Office of Academic Affairs