Middle Market Insights
Welcome! Our blog is dedicated to providing information we think you’ll find useful, thought provoking, compelling and in some cases just entertaining.
Hopefully, you will find our views insightful and relevant though at times they are likely to be irreverent, quirky or merely interesting but always informative.
Thank you for visiting, please visit us regularly.
Las Palmas, not your typical Mexican taqueria
09.02.2011 - Banquet Of Life
Las Palmas serves some of the best Mexican food in theNapaValley. The restaurant is owned and operated by Juan Lopez and his wife Maria who are both natives ofMexico. You will find Juan hard at work behind the hot stoves of an open kitchen and always with a big smile on his face. Juan genuinely loves what he does, and it shows. Maria, who does a bit of everything, makes the tamales and chicken mole from family recipes.
Much ado about a downgrade
08.26.2011 - Capital Markets
On August 5, 2011, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) lowered theUnited States long-term sovereign credit rating from AAA to AA+. This led to a massive worldwide sell-off of equities the following week and the subsequent market turmoil that continues.
The long and treacherous road ahead
08.21.2011 - Money Matters
The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently confirmed what most of us in the trenches have known for some time – the economic recovery was barely that. GDP growth for the first quarter of 2011 was revised down sharply from 1.9% to a paltry 0.4%. Its initial estimate for GDP growth in the second quarter was a whopping 1.3%, the lowest quarterly growth rate since the recovery began in 2009.
Asset based loans maximize borrowing capacity
08.07.2011 - Capital Markets
An asset based loan, or ABL in the parlance of its practitioners, is a loan secured by the assets of a company and includes accounts receivable, inventory and often machinery and equipment. Since the financial crisis of 2008 ABL’s have seen remarkable growth among middle market companies that have had difficulty meeting the increased underwriting standards instituted by commercial banks.
Private equity’s roller coaster ride
07.30.2011 - Private Equity
Since early in the first quarter of 2011 it has been our view that the spike in activity during the fourth quarter of 2010 was not a return to better days but a result of expectations that the Bush tax cuts would be allowed to expire. The Private Equity Breakdown report issued by PitchBook earlier this month lends credence to our theory as it reflects a marked decline in activity compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
Pearl is a Gem
07.29.2011 - Banquet Of Life
We are indeed fortunate to have a restaurant like Pearl in our community that serves fabulous fresh seasonal food. The warm and welcoming owners, Nickie and Pete Zeller, make everyone feel at home and greet regulars by name. It is one of our favorite haunts inNapa, especially during the summer months when soft shell crab and local tomatoes are in season.
Washington fiddles while the economy fizzles
07.26.2011 - Money Matters
The brinkmanship of the feckless politicians on both sides of the aisle inWashingtontoday is irresponsible. The economic recovery has been the weakest since the Great Depression and remains extremely fragile to this day. The fallout from a default would cause another recession. While it is important to get the deficit under control and raise the debt ceiling,it is truly a sad day when the leaders of our country posture to enhance their reelection chances in 2012 rather than compromise.
Middle Market M&A Muddles On
07.15.2011 - Mergers & Acquisitions
Our contention remains that all is not well in the M&A market despite the headlines mega transactions garner in the media. We recently read the June 2001 Monthly M&A Insider report published by Mergermarket which reinforced our thinking. In particular, the report reflected a pronounced decline in transactions globally as well as in North America for the first five months of 2011 as compared to the second half of 2010.
To default, or not to default: that is the conundrum
07.09.2011 - Money Matters
We thank William Shakespeare and his famous phrase from Hamlet, “To be, or not to be: that is the question” for the inspiration of our title. In short, it sums up the dilemma facing the European Central Bank (ECB) and the leaders of the European Union (EU) countries regarding the sovereign debt crisis embroiling Greece.
Morimoto – a culinary treasure
07.03.2011 - Banquet Of Life
The picturesque Napa Valley is a truly blessed place to live and work. The sense of community is clearly palpable with the multiplicity of activities and events that provide for those less fortunate. Leading the charge are the many world class chefs and wineries that call the Napa Valley home.