Are Your Family Finances Sustainable?
Corporate Knights, a Canada-based
sustainability-focused media firm, publishes a unique list every year that
predicts the world's most sustainable large corporations. Started in 2005, the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in
the World is a list of publicly traded companies that, based on research
and analysis, are best equipped to manage the environmental, social and
governance (ESG) risks and opportunities they face. The idea is to look at the
company today and predict the company's future ability to thrive.
Predicting the financial future
of a company is tricky business. Of the original 100 announced in 2005, ten
companies on that list are now inactive. Another good example is Eastman Kodak,
which appeared on the Global 100 list in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Kodak is synonymous with photography, and has a long and proud history. Kodak
practically invented the amateur photography market back in 1888. Kodak is also
responsible for the first digital camera in 1975 and developed cell phone photo
technology. Unfortunately, in recent years Kodak has not changed fast enough to
keep up with the changing marketplace. Kodak's shares once soared to an
all-time high of $95 in 1997 and was a mainstay member of the Dow Jones
industrial average for 74 years. In September 2011 its stock plummeted to close
at $.69 a share.
Eastman Kodak is a lesson of how
quickly the financial outlook of a company can change. Individuals, like companies,
sometimes make bad decisions that can lead to financial trouble. Other times,
circumstances happen that simply cannot be predicted. Fortunately, what looks
bleak today can be better tomorrow. That is a hope that bankruptcy offers to
individuals who are struggling with overwhelming debt. Bankruptcy offers the
individual the "do over" opportunity to discharge or restructure
debts.
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