October 2025
Who oversees the audits of public companies?
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is a nonprofit organization created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to protect investors and the public interest. The PCAOB conducts regular inspections of registered public accounting firms to assess their compliance with quality control standards and is subject to the oversight and approval of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Euro area inflation rate
Oct 2.1%
Sep 2.2%
Aug 2.1%
Jul 2.0%
Jun 2.0%
US inflation rate
The annual inflation rate in the US rose to 3% in September 2025, the highest since January, from 2.9% in August, after holding at 2.7% in both June and July.
Sep 3.0%
Aug 2.9%
Jul 2.7%
Jun 2.7%
PE vs IB vs M&A
Private equity (PE) firms raise money from institutional investors and use it to buy these companies, often taking control, to make operational changes, and then exit the investment after several years for a profitable return.
Investment Banking (IB) connects investors with businesses and facilitates major financial transactions, which helps the economy grow.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company is transferred to or consolidated with another entity.
top Private Equity (PE) firms
Blackstone
Carlyle Group
RedBird Capital Partners (AC Milan, Paramount)
top accounting/audit firms
Deloitte
EY
PwC
KPMG
Crowe
top (IB) Investment Banks
Goldman Sachs
Morgan Stanley
JPMorgan Chase
UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland)
Barclays
SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is an independent agency of the United States federal government and regulates private markets to prevent fraud.
credit rating BE
S&P: AA (3rd place, high grade)
moody's: Aa3 (4th place, high grade)
fitch: A+ (5th place, upper medium grade)
debasement trade
De gedachte is eenvoudig: wanneer overheden structureel meer geld uitgeven dan ze innen en centrale banken de rente laag houden, verliezen papieren munten geleidelijk aan koopkracht. Beleggers zoeken dan bescherming in 'harde' of schaarse activa die niet zomaar kunnen worden bijgedrukt. Dat kan gaan om goud en edelmetalen, maar ook bepaalde grondstoffen, aandelen met hoge prijszettingsmacht, vastgoed of bitcoin.
world's billionaire list
1. Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX)
2. Larry Ellison (Oracle)
3. Mark Zuckerberg (Meta)
4. Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
5. Larry Page (Google)
When a news article mentions a valuation, they are refering to the ______ value.
equity value
Germany 10Y Government Bond Yield
2.66%
U.S. 10Y Government Bond Yield
4.14%
What are the most common company entity types? (NL/EN)
1. éénmanszaak (sole proprietorship)
2. maatschap (partnership)
3. vennootschap onder firma (general partnership)
4. commanditaire vennootschap (limited partnership)
5. besloten vennootschap (private limited company, limited company or limited liability company, Ltd. or LLC)
6. naamloze vennootschap (public limited company, PLC)
7. vereniging zonder winstoogmerk (non-profit organisation, NPO)
Belgium 10Y Government Bond
3.20%