Review of International Economic Indicators and Central Banks (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

If you need to understand how central banks function in the major economic markets around the world (European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada, and China), this book is for you.You might invest in overseas markets, your company might be working with overseas partners or considering expansion to new markets, or you might simply be interested in better understanding the economic events you read in the news.For us, Anne Dolganos Picker has done a wonderful service with this book.

In the first part of the book (the first seven chapters), she gives us an overview of central banks in the world today and then a specific chapter on each of the six central banks being discussed.We learn a bit about their history, their independence (or not), their transparency (or not), what they have been charged with doing (price stability or currency valuation or whatever - they are not all the same), if their objectives have been changed over time, and their track record over time in achieving those objectives.

The second part of the book looks at the economic indicators used by those various central banks in making their decisions and if those indicators are available to the public, by subscription, or not at all (China being the most closed).The United Kingdom is the most open while others are open or closed to mixed degrees.It is important to understand what these banks are tasked with doing, what their favored indicators are in order to try and get a feel for what actions they are likely to take.

Another reason to learn about these indicators is that even measures with the same names such as GDP or CPI are defined differently in different countries.For example, the unemployment rate in Germany is reported two ways, by the way the Germans measure it and by the European standard.This is because the country and the EU define employment differently.Base years for these measurements are not synchronized around the world, either.This can make comparability of changes in these measures difficult to compare without careful adjustment.

I found the book fascinating and was pleased with how clearly the author wrote the book.This subject could have easily melted down into impossible to understand jargon, but she kept it surprisingly lively.Appendix A is a terrific list of the key indicators by country and the issuing agency for each indicator (and if they are available on the web).Appendix B compares the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) used by the United States versus the System of National Accounts (SNA) used in most other countries.Appendix C discusses the various Industrial Classification Systems (which have a big impact on the usability of certain manufacturing and labor statistics and for comparison across nations).And there is a very useful glossary and index.

This is a terrific book and I am glad to have it on my shelf and expect to refer to it with regularity.



Click Here to see more reviews about: International Economic Indicators and Central Banks (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

Review of International Economic Indicators and Central Banks (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

If you need to understand how central banks function in the major economic markets around the world (European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada, and China), this book is for you.You might invest in overseas markets, your company might be working with overseas partners or considering expansion to new markets, or you might simply be interested in better understanding the economic events you read in the news.For us, Anne Dolganos Picker has done a wonderful service with this book.

In the first part of the book (the first seven chapters), she gives us an overview of central banks in the world today and then a specific chapter on each of the six central banks being discussed.We learn a bit about their history, their independence (or not), their transparency (or not), what they have been charged with doing (price stability or currency valuation or whatever - they are not all the same), if their objectives have been changed over time, and their track record over time in achieving those objectives.

The second part of the book looks at the economic indicators used by those various central banks in making their decisions and if those indicators are available to the public, by subscription, or not at all (China being the most closed).The United Kingdom is the most open while others are open or closed to mixed degrees.It is important to understand what these banks are tasked with doing, what their favored indicators are in order to try and get a feel for what actions they are likely to take.

Another reason to learn about these indicators is that even measures with the same names such as GDP or CPI are defined differently in different countries.For example, the unemployment rate in Germany is reported two ways, by the way the Germans measure it and by the European standard.This is because the country and the EU define employment differently.Base years for these measurements are not synchronized around the world, either.This can make comparability of changes in these measures difficult to compare without careful adjustment.

I found the book fascinating and was pleased with how clearly the author wrote the book.This subject could have easily melted down into impossible to understand jargon, but she kept it surprisingly lively.Appendix A is a terrific list of the key indicators by country and the issuing agency for each indicator (and if they are available on the web).Appendix B compares the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) used by the United States versus the System of National Accounts (SNA) used in most other countries.Appendix C discusses the various Industrial Classification Systems (which have a big impact on the usability of certain manufacturing and labor statistics and for comparison across nations).And there is a very useful glossary and index.

This is a terrific book and I am glad to have it on my shelf and expect to refer to it with regularity.



Click Here to see more reviews about: International Economic Indicators and Central Banks (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

Review of Decision Options: The Art and Science of Making Decisions (Chapman & Hall/Crc Finance) (Hardcover)

Great book!!! I loved reading this book! Its very easy to follow and gives a great way of understanding options and inclusion of uncertainty and flexibility. At this steal price, this should be a must have for any finance professional or business school student.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Decision Options: The Art and Science of Making Decisions (Chapman & Hall/Crc Finance) (Hardcover)

Review of The Art of Contrarian Trading: How to Profit from Crowd Behavior in the Financial Markets (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)

I am the author of "The Art of Contarian Trading. I just want to give you a little background on me and explain why I wrote this book.

The story starts nearly 50 years ago. On my way home from school on a spring day in 1961 I stopped at our local 5&10 cent store. I noticed a red covered paperback whose title told me that for 50 cents I could learn how a dancer, Nicolas Darvas, had made 2 million dollars in the stock market (probably equivalent to 20-30 million in today's economy). This little book started me on a road I have traveled for nearly 50 years now.

I started charting the stock market in 1965 and have been trading stocks and commodities since 1970. In the beginning I thought that technical analysis was the key to profits in the markets. I was wrong. Lots of people used technical analysis - but very few seemed to profit very much from their efforts.

I set out to learn what separated the winners from the losers in the game of speculation and investment. My 2009 book "The Art of Contarian Trading" tells the story of my discoveries. In it I tell you the truth about trading and investing, and what separates the winners from the losers in the game of speculation.

I wrote this book in the hope that it will help other investors and traders to shorten their paths to success. I think that good traders andinvestors are born, not made. But I also believe that if you enjoy playing competitive games, especially those like poker that involve calculating odds and "reading" the other players at the table, you may have the "right stuff" to be a good trader or investor.

You can find out if you have the "right stuff" by reading the first five chapters of my book. If you do, the next 11 chapters will tell you how you can learn to read the big players at the investment table - I call them investment crowds - and profit from their mistakes by betting the other way.







Click Here to see more reviews about: The Art of Contrarian Trading: How to Profit from Crowd Behavior in the Financial Markets (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)