Cash Return On Assets Ratio

You had cash flow. Like..."cash from operations." Cash your basic business generated. That number (you find it atop the cash flow statement of most companies) goes in the numerator. The denominator is just your assets, usually the long-term ones. Like 14,000 acres of gold-laden land. Or a tractor smelting factory. Or a 98-year lease on a chrome and glass building.

Why does this metric matter? Well, if you have a ton of assets and you only return a little cash on them, maybe you should just sell your assets for cash, distribute the dough back to shareholders, and let them try to do better with it.

As for your tractors, remember: whoever smelt them, dealt them.