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Old 10-27-2008, 11:14 PM   #387
Nancy
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Sunnyvale nursing home
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois View Post
I don't get either of those statements but they sound smart. What do you mean?

There very much is a liquidity problem, though I suppose the underlying cause was a few trillion in debt that can't be repaid, which is maybe what you mean.
SOLVENCY: Ability to pay debts.
LIQUIDITY: Ability to convert assets into cash.

What does most businesses in is cash flow issues. You can have a money losing business, but so long as you are able to make you current obligations, you can continue operating. On the other hand, you can have a very profitable business, but if you aren't able to pay all of your current obligations, your creditors will shut you down. There is a famous B-school case of a department store chain that went bankrupt in the early '70s even though they had a positive income statement. Problem was all of their money was tied up in inventory and they got caught in a situation of not being able to pay their short term debts.
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