But it also based its new criteria on issues of corporate governance: assessing the openness of a capital market, the sorts of protection offered to investors, and how effectively a market is regulated.

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But companies will recognise it, says Mr Steinhardt, because they already think in such terms when assessing product liability, employment law or raising capital.

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Clear Capital applies an equal wieght across all price points, assessing percentage changes regardless of price rather than looking at total property value.

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"In view of the uncertainty generated by Moody's' surprising announcement, Ambac is assessing the impact of this action on the company's previously announced capital plan, " the company said in a statement.

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Comparative ratios demonstrate nicely how EV works better than market cap for assessing companies with differing debt or cash levels or, in other words, differing capital structures.

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The ramp up in profits from GE Capital paired with the corporate intention of shrinking its finance operations compounds the difficulty in assessing a fair price for GE shares.

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