The article presents commentary on valuation in general and valuing structured credit products such as credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations in particular. Topics include features of difficult-to-value assets, illiquid and complex assets, where hard-to-value assets derive...

The fact that 92% of the world's 500 largest companies recently reported using derivatives suggests that corporate managers believe financial risk management can increase shareholder value. Surveys of finance academics indicate that they too believe that corporate risk management is, on the...