Review of The Future of Banking In a Globalised World (The Wiley Finance Series) (Hardcover)

Chris Skinner's book is an informative and highly relevant book for understanding opportunities and challenges in today's 24*7 global financial markets. His writing is clear and entertaining. Using a fresh and innovative approach, Chris Skinner highlights the importance of technology in servicing customers across the globe, and points to a number of trends that will affect profitability if not taken into account. A must read for anyone interested in 'the future of banking'.



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Review of J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2007 (Hardcover)

I have purchased this book each year for the last 15-20 years.It is awesome.

Barbara
Jacksonville FL



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Review of Wealthy Choices: The Seven Competencies of Financial Success (Hardcover)

One of the most unique financial advice books today, "Wealthy Choices: The 7 Competencies of Financial Success" teaches sound financial advice is a very open and reader friendly manner.Instead of massive discussion of theory, the book teaches by creating short, realistic vignettes and then explaining what is going on.These vignettes are situations that are sure to strike a responsive chord for many people.For example, one of them reads "How are you, Elise?How am I? You really want to know?My 401(K) statements say I have less money; the credit card company says I owe more money; I'm not having any fun; my checkbook doesn't balance; the machine ate my debit card; I didn't get to watch the videos I'm paying a late charge for; I can't find a house I can afford; and I got a bad haircut.... I'm losing it." Author Penelope Tzougros then goes on to explain what is going on, what needs to be done or how to view the situation, and what to do.

The seven competencies discussed are Valuing, Paying the Bills, Losing, Leveraging, Dreaming, Growing, and Gifting.These are not only important competencies that must be understood to achieve financial success but they are also the areas that cause the most stress in a relationship.When two people have different value systems between money, leisure, assets, etc. things can become very stressful very quickly.Dr. Tzougros does an excellent job of helping people to see where things are just differences in style and philosophy and where they are sound financial principles.This is one of the best books available for the average person untrained in financial theory who just wants to get control of their finances and achieve their goals.



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Review of Finance: Introduction to Institutions, Investments, and Management (Hardcover)

This is an excellent overview of finance and related topics. focuises on macroeconomic factors, such as aspects of national banking and finance, international trade and currency exchange systems, etc. Also focuses on corporate and business finance. Also contains excellent exercises for math and accounting functions.



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Review of The True Cost of Happiness: The Real Story Behind Managing Your Money (Hardcover)

Stacey Tisdale and Paula Kennedy have really made me aware of "The True Cost of Happiness" in a way I did not expect. I was startled to learn that the problem I had with finances had very little to do with money! It's really about attitude, self-esteem, and accepting life on life's terms. I found it a challenging, enlightening, and encouraging read. It is a mirror that anyone, if they are brave enough to be honest, can see how they got to be in their present relationship with money. I discovered that in my early life, money had been using me instead of the other way around. This book caused to me think about how my personality controlled the way I related to money, and money had nothing to do with that. I found that, in reality, the book was reading me very well. However, it let me know that anyone, including me, can change no matter where we are today. This book requires rigorous honesty to be effective enough to cultivate this positive change in how we view money, which is, after all, just a medium of exchange. I think students at a very young age should be made aware of this book so that they can become exposed to the fact that it is their attitude about money that will determine whether they live richly, or poorly. It is liberating to know that a change of thinking can create a better way of living by putting money in its proper place.

Richard Fewell




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Review of Professional Practice for Interior Designers, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

FINALLY, a book that was written for the trained interior design professional. The author explains in detail how to legally and financially start and run a professional interior design business. The author is affiliated with the NCIDQ and definitely understands the difference between decorating and designing. Excellent read for anyone seeking or even just curious about the ins and outs of starting a business.



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Review of Paul Volcker: The Making of a Financial Legend (Hardcover)

No need to be a bellowing bond trader nor an obsessive and fetishistic day trader taking your market temperature by the minute to appreciate NY Times journalist Joseph B. Treaster's most readable biography, Paul Volcker: The Making of a Financial Legend.

In our age of cooked corporate books and perp-walking CEOs, Treaster shines an admiring and well-deserved light on the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, a man of towering financial and personal integrity.Words like honor, integrity, truth, steadfastness are thrown around like confetti these days in the political and financial world, but as Fed Chairman from 1979 to 1987, Paul Volcker's strong will and good sense were perhaps the major factors in the survival of the nation's economy through the inflationary tsunami of the Carter years and the financial wrecking ball of Reagonomics.

Standing 6'7", physically ungainly and socially reserved and stand-offish, Volcker had a commanding intellect when it came to bigtime economic and financial matters.Born to public service (his father was longtime town manager of Teaneck, NJ), Volcker attended Princeton, Harvard's Littauer School of Public Administration (it eventually became the JFK School of Government) and the London School of Economics.He was a special assistant to David Rockefeller at Chase Bank, served as an undersecretary in Nixon's Treasury Department, ran the New York Bank of the Federal Reserve and became fed chairman in July 1979 while inflation was rocketing and Pres. Carter was bemoaning the national "malaise".

Chairman Volcker was the man with the plan.He turned old economic theory upside down with his idea to drastically cut the money supply as the country's economy sweated and shuddered through the debilitating national fits of inflation and recession.Politicians and businessmen, fearful and shortsighted as usual, whined and squealed that Volcker was Dr Kevorkian or Dr. Demento, putting a noose around the national economic neck. In fact, as history has shown and Treaster explains so even the ordinary Joe can understand, Volcker had applied the ideal tourniquet to stop the bleeding and the poison.The patient lived and by the mid-90s, the country was economically healthy and prospering as never before.

Of course, like the Lone Ranger, Volcker had ridden off into the sunset by that time.Waved good-bye (and good riddance) by Reagan's Treasury Secretary and the GOP's most artful backroom Machievelli, James A. Baker III in 1987, Volcker turned his enormous economic and monetary talents to the private sector.But this principled and unpretentious public servant with his "unshakeable integrity" was not happy in this work.
These days, as the political swamp gases are once again rising and spreading their bad odor, Volcker, even at the age of 76, is being called on once again to perform his public duty.

In recent years, Volcker has admirably and successfully refereed the "battle royal" between the Holocaust survivors and the Swiss banks with their appalling Nazi connections.When Enron, the King Kong of corporate fraud sunk in its own muck, "Mr Incorruptible" Volcker took the job of chairman of an independent oversight board to try to salvage some shred of integrity for the accounting community, which had been badly tainted by Arthur Anderson, the giant accounting firm that was the handmaiden to Enron's tangled scams and schemes.And at this moment, Volcker is heading up the international investigation of the massive corruption between Saddam Hussein, various corporate greedheads and UN officials in the administration of the decade-long Oil For Food program in Iraq.

After reading this worthy biography of Paul Volcker, one can only hope they did not break the mold when they made this honorable man.




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Review of Planning and Urban Design Standards (Wiley Graphic Standards) (Hardcover)

This book is tremendously broad in its coverage of planning topics, though not in depth. Most topics get only 2 pages, though some get 4-5.References are listed for each topic to help you find more detailed information.The book is well organized and indexed.It's loaded with illustrations such as graphs, diagrams, flow charts, line art, photographs, and maps.Most are black and white, but there are 16 color plates that are grouped together and stuck in a seemingly arbitrary position in the middle of an unrelated topic.

Some information is already out of date.For example, on page 580 it says that the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) expired in 2003 and Congress was still debating reauthorization.The new act (SAFETEA-LU) was enacted in August 2005 and is not mentioned.

My only real complaint is that the type is quite small and can be difficult to read for 40+ year-old readers.On the other hand, I understand that if they used larger type this huge, heavy book would be even bigger and heavier.

I also got the electronic, online version of the book and was disappointed in that, again because of the small type.Even using a 20" monitor I had a very hard time reading it.The viewer application that Amazon uses has very limited capability to zoom in on the text so it does not help.



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Review of Rich in America: Secrets to Creating and Preserving Wealth (Hardcover)

"Rich In America: Secrets To Creating and Preserving Wealth" by Jeffrey S. Maurer studies clients of U.S. Trust to learn about wealthy Americans.

"Rich In America" focuses upon the top 1% of Americans based upon net worth ($3.75 million) or income ($300,000 per year).

We learn that about a third of these wealthy people earned their money through lucrative corporate jobs; about a third earned their money through private businesses; and about a third earned their money from professional practices.

Most of the affluent attributed their financial success to hard work. Time was also a factor. Only 7% worked ten years or less to obtain their financial status, while the average time worked to obtain their status was 21 years. About a quarter of the wealthy needed 30 years to attain their success. Today, the average, wealthy person still works 48 hours per week. So, I guess, the first "secret" to creating wealth is to work hard for a long time.

Most respondents said they felt they gave up time with family, friends, and hobbies to obtain their current financial success. We also learn other interesting statistics, such as 7.1 million households (6.6% of the population) have a net worth above $1 million. And, throughout the last 20 years, the largest gains in income and wealth have predominantly gone to the richest 1% of the population.

Maurer points out that creating wealth and preserving it are two different things. He writes: "There is an old saying: Concentrate to become rich, and diversify to remain rich."

While Maurer argues that saving (the average respondent saved 23% of his/her income) and compounding help build wealth, he says "...you can forget the notion that investing alone will make you wealthy. ... All those books that say you can make millions in real estate or the stock market overnight are not accurate, but you probably knew that already."

"Rich In America" goes on to argue against simple buy-and-hold investing (which I like). He says you need professional financial advisors today. He also argues that a private banker is nice. At this point, for awhile, the book reads like a promotion for the financial planning services industry, with a special focus on the advantages of U.S. Trust.

Maurer likes hedge funds.(Incidentally, if you read the current 2004 issue of Forbes, which features the richest 400 people, there is a good demonstration of just how rich many hedge fund managers are. Partially due to the excessive fees, I'd argue hedge funds should be avoided by the average investor, even the average, wealthy investor.)

After the promotional digression, the book returns to surveying core topics, such as:

-Taxes ("Do not let the tax tail wag the investment dog[,]" writes Maurer.
-AMT
-Estimated Tax Payments (with which nearly every businessperson quickly becomes familiar)
-Stock Options
-Insurance
-Retirement Planning
-Estate Planning

"Rich In America" does a good job covering some topics not covered in basic financial planning books--topics wealthy people might find especially interesting. For example, in addition to learning the basics of life insurance, we learn about directors' insurance (in case you're on a board of directors) and kidnap insurance (before taking that trip to scenic Baghdad). We also learn that U.S. Trust typically recommends at least $10 million in liability insurance for its clients worth more than $5 million dollars. We learn about starting your own foundation.

My favorite section of "Rich In America" deals with concentrated stock positions and how to diversify such a position. Topics covered include:

-Zero-Premium Equity Collars (huh?)

-Varying Forward Contract (You agree to deliver some of your shares in the future and you receive cash today, locking in some present value, which sounds like it could have been handy if you have billions of dollars in hot IPO Internet stock headed for a correction. There is no discussion about how this relates to restricted IPO stock, where you're locked in from selling before a certain date.)

-Tax-Efficient Diversification through Indexing and Loss Harvesting (You start off with your concentrated stock, you wind up with a diversified portfolio, and apparently no capital gains taxes are due. Sounds like a tax evasion scheme to me. Before I'd try something like this, I'd find out what the IRS says about it!)

-Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT. You probably never knew you needed one.)

Of course, if you think one of these is handy, you need professional advice. But, I'd be careful. Don't assume that just because a plan is pushed by a big, respected firm that it's deemed OK by the IRS. PBS Frontline had a nice feature about tax shelters (search google for "tax shelters Frontline" and you'll probably find it), where entrepreneurs who sold firms for millions and who should have paid millions in capital gains taxes were sold tax shelters by KPMG where apparently no capital gains tax was due. The IRS disagreed. It was kind of humorous watching these entrepreneurs whine and say they trusted the big firm.

As Maurer writes: "There are many truisms to live by in the world of investing. Probably the most important is simply to be sensible. Anything that seems too good to be true probably is. There are no real shortcuts. When some salesperson appears on television and promises that he or she can quadruple any investment in 30 days, the only person whose wealth is truly going to quadruple is that of the salesperson."

Overall, "Rich In America: Secrets To Creating and Preserving Wealth" is an informative book that helps us understand many aspects of financial planning as they relate to the affluent.

Peter Hupalo,
Author of
"Becoming An Investor"



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Review of Merton Miller on Derivatives (Wiley Investment) (Hardcover)

Merton Miller, who died in 2001, was an outstanding figure in modern economics. He was one of three financial economists to win the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1990, in his case for his work on the capital structure of corporations - a field that, with his associate Franco Modigliani, he revolutionised if not invented. His great insight was that the value of a company, other things being equal, is invariant with regard to the mix of debt and equity that makes up its capital structure - or, to invoke one of Miller's own picturesque analogies, if I take a dollar out of my right pocket and put it into my left pocket, I am no better off.

This book is a collection of speeches given by Miller in the early to mid-1990s, largely covering the subjects of the derivatives revolution, regulation and corporate governance. The subject matter sounds dry; the speeches are anything but. Miller's jokes are exceptionally good - he has great sport in particular by satirising the convoluted German system of corporate cross-shareholdings, and reflecting ruefully on the inevitable question that is always posed to professional economists ('what will happen to interest rates?' - to which the only sensible answer is 'they will fluctuate'). But underlying the wit and engaging manner is a serious and profound point. Modern finance consists principally in the management of risk. Derivatives perform an exceptionally valuable function in a modern, complex economy by enabling economic agents to accomplish this end. Ill-conceived regulation can do harm by making it impossible for corporations to manage their business risk efficiently; this will have significant economic cost, with no compensating social benefit.

Many collections of speeches are testament merely to an author's vanity, and do not last beyond the occasions for which the speeches were written. This one is different: it is the fruit of an extraordinary intellect, a fine prose style, and a formidable technical expertise. It deserves to last, and is much to be recommended.



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Review of A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management (Hardcover)

So much of a company's success today is dependent upon its profits, and few business components yield better earnings than a satisfied workforce. This is where Daniel Cassidy's book "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" (John Wiley & Sons 2006) proves an invaluable asset to benefits managers aiming to attract and retain quality employees.

An accomplished and sought-after benefits specialist in the United States , Canada and the U.K. , Dan's book spans the history of company benefit plans from their evolution in the early days of railroads right up to Sarbanes-Oxley, a legislative landmark that stemmed from the 2000 Enron fiasco. "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" smoothly clarifies the often complicated and shifting dynamics of retirement accounts, 401K plans, defined benefits vs. defined contributions, and other details and implications of employee benefit resources. Though geared for benefits managers, Dan's book also offers an up-to-date, informative resource for employees who want to keep an eye on benefit managers hired by their employer to keep an eye on their future.

"A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" is Dan Cassidy's first book, although he has written and published extensively in professional and business journals. A featured columnist for Employee Benefits Plan Review and a frequent commentator on Wall Street Journal Radio, he also regularly contributes articles to such high profile financial, management, industry and human resources publications as: Employee Benefits News, The Handbook of Business Strategy, Pension & Investments, Benefits & Compensation Digest, Employment Relations Today, and many more. A sought-after speaker on the impact of SOX, retirement planning "megatrends," pension plan management and vendor selection and management, Dan has spoken to such prestigious audiences as the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, NEEBC (the New England Employee Benefits Council), the Society of Actuaries (SOA), both national and local, and many other venues.

Dan is President of Cassidy Retirement Group of Concord MA, specializing in retirement plan consulting services for qualified and non-qualified benefit plans of clients in the US, UK and Canada. He is chair of the SOA's Smaller Consulting Firm section and a standing member of its Education and Examination Committee Executive Group. He's also on the faculty of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research.

NOTE: This review also appears on my website www.thoughtleading.com



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Review of A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management (Hardcover)

So much of a company's success today is dependent upon its profits, and few business components yield better earnings than a satisfied workforce. This is where Daniel Cassidy's book "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" (John Wiley & Sons 2006) proves an invaluable asset to benefits managers aiming to attract and retain quality employees.

An accomplished and sought-after benefits specialist in the United States , Canada and the U.K. , Dan's book spans the history of company benefit plans from their evolution in the early days of railroads right up to Sarbanes-Oxley, a legislative landmark that stemmed from the 2000 Enron fiasco. "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" smoothly clarifies the often complicated and shifting dynamics of retirement accounts, 401K plans, defined benefits vs. defined contributions, and other details and implications of employee benefit resources. Though geared for benefits managers, Dan's book also offers an up-to-date, informative resource for employees who want to keep an eye on benefit managers hired by their employer to keep an eye on their future.

"A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" is Dan Cassidy's first book, although he has written and published extensively in professional and business journals. A featured columnist for Employee Benefits Plan Review and a frequent commentator on Wall Street Journal Radio, he also regularly contributes articles to such high profile financial, management, industry and human resources publications as: Employee Benefits News, The Handbook of Business Strategy, Pension & Investments, Benefits & Compensation Digest, Employment Relations Today, and many more. A sought-after speaker on the impact of SOX, retirement planning "megatrends," pension plan management and vendor selection and management, Dan has spoken to such prestigious audiences as the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, NEEBC (the New England Employee Benefits Council), the Society of Actuaries (SOA), both national and local, and many other venues.

Dan is President of Cassidy Retirement Group of Concord MA, specializing in retirement plan consulting services for qualified and non-qualified benefit plans of clients in the US, UK and Canada. He is chair of the SOA's Smaller Consulting Firm section and a standing member of its Education and Examination Committee Executive Group. He's also on the faculty of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research.

NOTE: This review also appears on my website www.thoughtleading.com



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Review of Commercial Real Estate Investing in Canada: The Complete Reference for Real Estate Professionals (Hardcover)

The Boirons cover all aspects of commercial real estate investment in the Canadian market in a comprehensive, understandable, readable way. The walk you thru the process of decision making and selecting properties, making offers and understanding some of the less common problems that arise for investors in these properties. This book is worth its weight in gold!



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Review of Global Securitisation and CDOs (The Wiley Finance Series) (Hardcover)

Although not smooth reading, "Global Securitisation and CDOs" by Mr. John Deacon, provides a comprehensive lay of the Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) landscape - certainly the sexiest area of securitization and one of the most exciting areas of modern finance.I have worked with CDOs for over two years and find the ever evolving nature of both sides of the CDO world very exciting; their shifting asset structures and their evolving liability configurations make each deal unique from the next.

Overwhelmingly, one senses that "Global Securitisation and CDOs" was written by an industry expert brimming with superb information and an outstanding legal background.And certainly, that is exactly what Mr. John Deacon is.His genuine passion for CDOs and structured finance is self evident.However, similarly obvious, this tome was not written by a professor, professional teacher, or consultant willing to lead you on a structured path toward CDO knowledge.At times, the work reads more like a study than an actual book; information is thrown at the reader without enough connections, structure and signposting.

Fundamentally, "Global Securitisation and CDOs" is a very good (and much needed) handbook/reference guide with useful graphs and tables.I recommend it as a reference guide - suitable for a mixture of skimming and in-depth reading - and as a fantastic starting point for intelligent CDO conversation.



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Review of Getting Clients, Keeping Clients: The Essential Guide for Tomorrow's Financial Adviser (Wiley Financial Advisor) (Hardcover)

I read this book from cover to cover and dog eared nearly every page.Dan Richards thoroughly covers topics such as: target marketing, prospecting, putting the customer first, getting referrals, conducting evaluations of your service, networking, managing a large client base and even firing difficult clients; and of course, everything in between.There are so many magnificent and expertly covered ideas in this book, you might feel overwhelmed with excitement and anxiety after finishing the book.Never fear, Richards touches on how you can implement many of the ideas in his book one or a few at a time without going overboard.

I will advise that this book is geared more towards the advisor with a year or more in the business (e.g. it does not cover cold calling), however, novices will pick up many ideas that will be useful in dealing with clients from the outset and in growing a practice effortlessly.

As an aside but also important, the central tenet of this book is similar to the ideas covered in Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People."Both are highly recommended.



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Review of Making the Invisible Visible: How Companies Win with the Right Information, People and IT (Hardcover)

This is a book that I consider to be one of the most refreshing business texts that I've had the pleasure to read in a long time. It was something of an epiphany for me as concepts I had always instinctively known to exist and to be right were suddenly being detailed and consolidated in a way I have never had the vision to do, and in a way I have never read before.

Time will tell, but the methodology presented here may just provide the hitherto missing link between what we pay for information and what we get from it. Remember that by the end of 2001, the US alone will have spent the lion's share of a trillion dollars on Information Technology, and though we may not like to admit it, much of that money will disappear down a black hole of failed projects and mis-used systems.

If the case studies are anything to go by, the company that has the foresight to apply the principles of "Information Orientation" will not only offer itself the best chance of avoiding the IT gravity well, but will also be putting itself on track to derive the maximum possible value from its expenditure on information systems, in a way that will be measurable in the real business terms of growth, margin and bottom line.

That's a claim I find pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to applying it in my own environment. The authors say it's no fad, and my gut feeling is to agree. I recommend you get a copy of this book before your competitors do!



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Review of Issuer Perspectives on Securitization (Hardcover)

In the Executive MBA Program of the Wharton School, where I teach, we have instituted a new finance course on structured financial products and asset-backed securitizations, from the corporate treasurer's perspective. This book featuring issuer perspectives on securitization fits our courseperfectly, and is popular among the executive MBA students.The authorsare very knowledgable and are able to communicate well.I highly recommendthis book to anyone who wants to delve into this relatively new area offinance.



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Review of Hedgehogging (Hardcover)

I previously worked in the hedge-fund industry and now teach college students about finance. Therefore, I found Barton Biggs' anecdotes both instructive and amusing, having seen some of the poor lifestyle choices that some hedge fund managers ("hedgehogs", according to Byron) make.

However, the book's strength is not an "inside look" into the world of hedgehogs, but a series of instructive vignettes about how to be an "investor". According to Biggs, a true investor sees one step ahead, while the rest of us are responding to the "now".

The true investor pays a high price for this insight. A true investor makes mistakes, is inevitably early, has doubts, lives in a lonely world, and is abandoned at precisely the wrong time by his most loyal investors. Sleepless nights, grinding teeth, and poor digestion are just part of the price paid. (I certainly can attest to this, though I would never claim to be a true investor. I guess that I am just a "journeyman".)

The goal of people with money to invest is to find these true investors, give them their money, watch them closely, and stick with them through thick and thin. One must constantly watch, though, for the weaknesses that often come with success.

In the first half of the book, Byron provides many instructive stories, centered on his town of Greenwich, of successful hedgehogs who let their money determine their lifestyles. Inevitably, pride comes before the fall, destroying both lifestyles and businesses.

I strongly recommend this book, not as an investment guide, but as an "investor guide" -- a guide on how to be a successful investor or how to find successful investors to work for you. This book fills an critical hole in my library.

Addendum January 8, 2006: I've spoken to a few friends in the business who are quite angry about the passages in the book concerning the Breakers meeting that is sponsored by Morgan Stanley. I, too, felt that Biggs' comments were unwarranted, but they did not detract from the book for me. There are many in the hedge fund community who feel that Biggs owes them an apology. I agree.



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Review of Everybody Wins: The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX (Hardcover)

This is one of the most outstanding books I have read .It tells a story and gives an in depth explanation of the reasons for the successes.The ability and single-mindedness of the leaders of the founders, Gail and Dave Liniger have provided cohesion and impetus to RE/MAX growth and efforts. The book is an outstanding case study which I am sure will become a standard text in colleges and universities.

I was also impressed with the care taken to recruit leaders and other employees into RE/MAX.As stated,"Recruit dream sharers for skills and knowledge but select finalists for values and attitudes."It seems to me that this credo has helped to assure RE/MAX's outstanding, continued success.Also, the unceasing emphasis on "stay focused," " brand dominance" and "pace line leadership" to assure growth helps to explain why RE/MAX is the world leader.

EVERYBODY WINS masterfully explains the RE/MAX concept and operation in my view.Harkins and Hollihan's outstanding case study helps to assure that RE/MAX is a "beacon" for firms and persons seeking success.I have no doubt universitybusiness schools will seize it to make their studies current, meaningful and reflect what is possible in American business both nationally and internationally.




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Review of How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers (Hardcover)

This book is great for anyone ranging from beginner to intermediate knowledge of financial reports.I have taken accounting and finance classes in college.This book tells the same things that 600 page textbooks and hours and hours of lecture can tell you, but it does so in an easy to understand and concise manner.

Most important it explains the relationships clearly between the income statement, balance sheet, and cashflow statement.This book would be great for anyone starting an education in finance or for any investor trying to broaden their knowledge base.If you invest in stocks, you should learn how to read financial statements.This book will give you some much needed knowledge that you can use as you scour for companies to invest in.

This author takes pride in his writing.John A. Tracy is a professor of accounting, but his knack for concise explanations and the clear use of the English language is evident throughout.



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