Future Books

My son and his girlfriend are both elementary ed and special ed majors. He bought this book for her for Christmas. She read it cover to cover and loved it. So, I bought it for my son. He was thrilled!

Working with Special needs children can come with quite an array of challenges. Jim has taken the journey of teaching them, and brought out the humor and lessons learned daily. Even when aggression and untimely behavior are issues, he has a way of putting one's self at ease and is able to cope with these matters in creative ways.

Once I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down. I loved the way Jim shares the joys and struggles of working with kids with Autism in such a unique way. As he tells real-life stories, sometimes humorous and sometimes not so much, one can see the absolute love he has for this unique group of individuals. I highly recommend this book even if you are not a special education teacher. It makes for good reading for anyone. "Laughing and Loving With Autism" by Wayne Gilpin, also offers light-hearted reading for a sometimes very challenging syndrome, and through his stories, gives a much needed understanding.

Excellent book--a book you can laugh out loud at. True stories about the special education classroom that educate readers on how to handle situations that can happen every day. It shows that teaching special education is never dull and keeps you on your toes. It also shows an educator who is ready to give whatever it takes to make the most out of education for every one of his students.

Jim Yerman has put into words the wonders of daily life with persons who are disabled! As the parent of a mentally handicapped child, I know all too well the wild ride we climb on when we meet a disabled child. Jim tells his stories with humor, love and incredible respect! How wonderful to have someone like him teaching our children--and now sharing with us the lessons he has learned!! This is a must read for families with disabled children and an absolute must read for anyone in special education!

As a manager for the advanced technology practice of one of the world's leading executive search firms, I found Dr. Canton's book comprehensive, illuminating, and deeply insightful. It is a beautiful work of art, a majestic tour de force of what is to be, detailing how technology will impact our lives beyond our wildest expectations. The material is comprehensive, yet easily understood. I came to appreciate life in this era of aggressive change and discovery. Dr. Canton's book is a must-read for any inquisitive mind, young or old, and is actually difficult to put down. I have purchased additional copies as gifts for clients.

Technofutures is an eye-opening experience into the world we live in today and the world we will live in soon. If you have any desire to know how life will be on earth and in the heavens, this is the book to read.

Dr. Canton is Heinleinesque in the way he weaves a coherent, congruent, knowledgeable and thoroughly entertaining story about the future of technology and its influence on our lives. I believe his predictions serve as a blueprint for where to position your career, investments and personal interests over the next half century. I was blown away by his insight into the future of medicine, specifically and quite selfishly, his prediction that I may clone my favorite dog right down to its personality. Dr. Canton forced me to my learning and dreaming edge, right where you want to be if your goal is to endeavor into the technological fray, but aren't sure exactly how and where.

TechnoFutures is written by Dr. James Canton. Dr. Canton is one of the leading technology futurists, and he is editor-in-chief of the Canton Technology Report. This book is about how technology will continue to bring impacts and changes, both economically and socially, to our lives. With the evolution of technological development, the interaction between human and technology will become inseparable.

According to the author, in terms of economic changes, e-business will eventually dominate the traditional business practice. The industries that will be transformed by e-business included stock brokerage, insurance, travel, auto, chemicals, media and entertainment, computer and electronics, telecommunications, real estate, medicine and health care, etc. As Dr. Canton suggested, if we want to survive through the 21st century, we must learn how to adopt e-business technology.

In terms of social impacts, technology will bring impacts at both the personal and collective levels. In the future, our personal lives will involve computers, robots and virtual reality. Robots and computers will play a role as a companion such as a housekeeper, a secretary, or even a friend to human. And as for human, we will engage more activities via virtual reality such as playing golf. For the latter one, educational changes will be a good example. Educational institutions will change their formats of teaching. Instead of the traditional classroom learning, students and teachers will meet via virtual schools.

By means of frequent sidebars, the author has provided readers an insight of our evolving technological world with vivid scenes and dialogues amongst the robots, cyber companions and human. However, the design and placement of these sidebars, often of similar fonts right in between the texts proper, could sometimes be confusing. Also, the author could have arranged the hierarchy, if any, of the sub- and sub-sub-titles of his chapters better, so that the readers can better digest the often far-fetched subject matters. Indeed, the subject matters discussed sometimes verged on science fiction rather than scientific prediction. This is most evident in the author¡¦s discussion of cyborgs and androids, all, perhaps coincidentally, also prominently featured in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I do appreciate, however, the author¡¦s efforts in making technical matters easier to understand for lay persons. There is, as far as I can see, no one single formula in the book. The author is also good in presenting moral issues for deeper thoughts, such as that concerning eugenics.

Although Dr. Canton¡¦s future world may seem too advanced for most of us, we are in fact living in an information society. This book has provided me a chance to be aware of our technological developments and dare me to envision our future world from a non-traditional perspective. Overall, I enjoy reading the book.

This is one futurist in a million that has it right! From the future of electronic commerce, robots, bioscience, computers and more--it is a comprehensive tour of the next century written by a noted futurist who makes sense. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in preparing for the future and in understanding the tech chaos all around us. Easy to read, accessible and imaginative for the CEO or college student.

This self-proclaimed technologically challenged individual, who is guilty of previously evaluating technology soley for it's immediate effect, found Mr. Aznar's book to be not only very useful, but intensely thought-provoking. Evaluating technology in terms of his nine basic questions, makes it more manageable and less intimidating. My 80 year old mother in law was delighted to discuss this book in regards to evaluating the technological changes that have occured during her lifetime. My 9 year old daughter recently used Mr. Aznar's nine basic questiong to spring board her science fair project.

As a professor at a University surrounded by passionate technology users, I found Aznar's book inspiring. I have adopted it for use in the Technology Innovation course. - Raymond Blackwood, Univeristy of Advancing Technology. www.uat.edu

This is an important book for students, concerned citizens and policymakers for the following reason. Today, we are still guilty of "technological sleepwalking", especially in the United States. This means that we are not thinking critically about technology and its impact, and therefore, we are not making proactive decisions about which technologies we should countenance and which should fade away.

Rather, we're leaving it in the hands of advertising, marketing, PR and other people to drive technology - and this leads to a host of problems, such as: inferior technologies winning out (e.g., VHS as the dominant standard instead of Betamax; QWERTY keyboard over Dvorak, though this may have more to do with market inertia); a lack of standards (cf. wireless phones in Europe & Japan versus the hodgepodge of standards (CDMA, TDMA, GSM, EVO, EDGE, etc.) that we have in the US, resulting in incompatability issues); and not to mention social implications (e.g., becoming a Prozac nation; living under the dark cloud of mutually-assured destruction).

Adam Smith's Invisible Hand of the free market is great for ditributing resources efficiently, but it doesn't seem to be good at evaluating technology. That takes educating people to a point where they understand technology (at least in broad strokes) and how it impacts our lives. This book fills that gap by giving us the tools to properly evaluate technological change and make informed decisions. Only then can we be masters of our own destinies.

To ensure you perceive this review as credible (and I do hope you will), I first must state my bias. I know, respect, and work with the author.

So given that connection I realize it's not surprising that I would highly recommend the book. But truthfully, I both enjoyed it and learned from it, and am glad to have it on my bookshelf.

First, this isn't a how-to book about using technology. (So if you buy the book for that purpose, you'll be disappointed.)

No, the book is about challenging the way we as individuals and as a society think about technology, techies and non-techies alike. What Aznar does is show how all technology is simpler than we think, past and present technology and even technology yet to come. He provides a simple nine-step approach that will stand the test of time.

Each step of that approach is a chapter of the book, and Aznar illustrates those steps using a wide variety of stories and examples that span history, science, politics, even pop culture. Who would have thought our "system" of money was a technology?

This is a great book to help you relate to technology, to understand its cyclic and reusable nature, and to understand the principles that guide it.

Aznar writes in a clear, simple to understand style and uses this to describe the ICE-9 approach to evaluating technology. He makes a big deal out of the nine essential questions on Identity, Change, and Evaluation that go to make up ICE-9 and shows how it can be applied to any technology varying from legostorm which we'd recognise as a technology, to soccer which I didn't.

Today we live in a sea of readily available books, especially in my business, information technology. Mostly, they simply tell you what to do. They very rarely help you understand the technology. Rather, they just say what it is and how to operate it and leave you to make the big jump to understanding it. This approach doesn't work longer term, increasingly as technology gets more complex in its drive for simplicity, we risk losing the skills to understand it.

Aznar asserts, and I agree, that critical thinking on costs and benefits becomes more important as technologies become more powerful and have greater societal impact. This book and the ICE-9 approach will help you apply that critical thinking.

Aznars' knowledgecontext has a pretty good web site that will give you a lightweight intro and the book fills in all the rest! http://knowledgecontext.org/

I've been a teacher for many years and a life-coach to many young people and I found John Malinchak's book incredibly helpful, not only in the area of motivation, but he systematically creates an applicable, operational plan for teenagers to use to help them prepare for college and the fulfillment of their dreams. His approach is pragmatic, yet incredibly personal. I loved it and I highly recommend it, not only for teenagers, but for anyone wanting to find the road to success.
Tamra Nashman- author of the book series, 'Shoes For The Spirit'

I volunteer as a Big Brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister Assoc. and I purchased this book for my "Little Brother" as a way to help complement what I was trying to teach him.

My Little Brother really responded to James' book and is already doing better in school and he is now setting some goals and making a plan for his future -- something that he never was interested in before reading Teenagers Tips for Success.

Any teenager who wants to be successful, needs to read this book. The author gives a simple to follow game plan for achieving success.

"Teenagers Tips for Success" is a wonderful book but does nothing for me personally as I am not a teen. My favorite book by James Malinchak is "Success Starts with Attitude: 50 ways to Refuel, Recharge and Reenergize Yourself in Business and Life."

This is a thumb-through motivating booklet that stresses the importance of self. Re-energizing one's self with motivation and enthusiasm makes us better able to pursue our goals and become more successful. Consider these points by the author:

#1 "Success begins with our internal state of mind. What we focus on through the attitudes we choose to maintain is who we become and what we achieve, both positively and negatively."

#5 "As you pursue dreams and goals, accept the fact that you will face adversity. Be thankful for the adversity. It can make you wiser, stronger and better. Past failures, disappointments and rejection can only be used in two ways: To pull yourself up or to pull yourself down. Which way you allow yourself to be pulled is your choice."

#14 "Open your mind to new ideas and opinions by reading books, attending workshops and meeting new people. Make a consistent effort to continue your own personal learning process."

#23 Enjoy success, but always keep your family your top priority."

#43 The thrill of achieving a goal is knowing that you put in the time and worked hard for it. Whether it's helping a charity, receiving a promotion, landing a big account or reaching a higher income level. The satisfaction of knowing that it was your dedication, commitment and effort is what makes achieving a goal worthwhile."

#50 Whether you achieve your dreams and goals is solely up to you. No one can do it for you. No one can promise or guarantee what level of success you will achieve. However, by following simple success strategies you will begin to achieve the level of success you desire." "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." -Wayne Gretzky

James Malinchak has done it again! I knew that after I read Mr. Malinchak's first book, "From College to the Real World," it was a must-read for college students, but I must say that "Teenager Tips for Success" is just as strong for teens. Moreso than the great content and sound strategies for success James outlines in his book, I found myself more impressed by the tone of it. He talks to teens, not at them. And I'm sure every teenager or parent who reads the book will appreciate that. Teenagers are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for, and James has a clear understanding of that in his book. I would venture to say that it would almost be impossible for a teenager to fail if he or she follows the road map that James outlines in this short, but life changing book. All I can say is that his tips and strategies would have saved me a lot of pain and frustration if I'd gotten a copy of it when I was a teen. If you're a parent, GET THIS BOOK for your teen. As a college professor, I can assure you, this type of message won't be in any textbook (and the cost is MUCH cheaper).

I really thought I was just going to pick up another book to be a tool in my 'writers' tool box. I had no idea that I would definably pick up the sharpest tool in the tool belt, and begin a journey of self discovery and encouragement.
To be told is an invitation to seeing that your life has a purpose and bringing hope to your future, all at the end of your own pen.

This workbook is an excellent companion and continuation of the To Be Told book written by Dan Allender To Be Told: God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future. This companion workbook further explores the significant events in ones life by using questions that help you search your life for common themes. For anyone wanting to take the journey of understanding how God uses past experiences in life to determine ones calling, this workbook is a must have.

Dan Allender in his book, "To Be Told" presents both the tools and the inspiration for each of us to understand the stories that God has written in our lives. By understanding the story that God has written in the past, he contends that it will help us to understand the direction that God would have us to take for the future.

Allender does a great job in this book of presenting a method for understanding the difficulties of our past. His sharing of his own difficult background shows that he personally knows of that which he speaks. And since he keeps it simple it is accessible to anyone.

One area that I wish Allender had done a better job of was to broaden the application of understanding our stories. Although dealing with the past and understanding the direction for the future are both important applications, I think that there may be a whole host of others.

However, that small difference aside, Allender's book is well-written and includes powerful practical ideas on how to understand how God is writing your life. I highly recommend it and the accompanying workbook.

For a longer review, go to the blog listed in my nickname and click on the 'Reading' category.

(...)

I am helping people review their lives, and assess how their story made them who they are. This book is awesome. The questions are aimed at this goal. What a resource

In his latest book, TO BE TOLD, Dan Allender encourages readers to examine their lives in a search for the story that God is telling through their existence. Allender says we often don't know our own stories because we doubt their existence, dismiss their importance, or we're distracted.

"Too many people are missing their story because they're watching the stories of others. We live vicariously through television, sports, magazine, and talk shows. Such stories may occasionally educate us, but most often they sedate us. They free us from admitting that our own life is dull and lifeless. They attract us because they offer life without risk. They are deathly safe."

Fans of John Eldredge's writing, especially THE SACRED ROMANCE, will find similar themes of brokenness, revelation, desire, and narrative redemption here.

"Something must awaken us to the fact that we are asleep. And what awakens us is usually a moment of exposure when we see that the conventions that guide our steps and promise us a good life are nothing more than illusions."

"The stories told in most families are a kind of propaganda."

"You must listen to the heartache and hope that etched in the narrative of your life. And you must find the meaning God has written there."

"Your plight is your redemption."

"Desire is both our greatest frailty and the mark of our highest beauty."

Allender has a humble and disarming tone that is humorous and relatable. It can be hard at times to wade through the jargon of "story" --- feasting on story, editing together, writing your destiny ... what does all that mean? But the effort to truly understand what Allender is getting at is worth it. In essence, he's trying to get people to remember. It sounds simple, but it's not given that so many people have a dysfunctional relationship with the past. Whether good or bad, it can be hard to deal with, and so people tend to forget. But by entering into the past, Allender says that we can understand the present and help write our futures.

"God is the Potter, and we are the clay. Even the word human --- derived from the Latin word humus, meaning "dirt" --- shouts loudly about our origin. We are dirt. The name Adam (Hebrew 'adama) means "red," the color of clay. God shaped, molded, and formed us to reveal something about himself. He is a Being who loves to reveal and who invites us to join the process of revelation by calling to ask, seek and knock. God always intended for his children to join him in completing creation. We are no inanimate entities that merely reveal glory but living stories that are meant to create glory."

In other words, by seeing and understanding the stories God is telling through our lives, we can be more alive.

TO BE TOLD will provide insight for just about everyone interested in living an intentional Christian life. In addition to his wise observations about life, Allender gets practical in his suggestions for knowing one's story, including fasting, prayer, and of course, writing. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a bit of a memoir-writing fad ensues. And frankly, if Allender is right, we'd be better off for it.

--- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel

“This book traces the common thread binding together much of financial thought – arbitrage. Distilled to its essence, arbitrage is about identifying mispricing and developing strategies to exploit it. An inherently simple concept – the act of exploiting different prices for the same asset or portfolio – arbitrage is as important as it is commonly misunderstood. This is because arbitrage is so often presented in financial arguments that are long on technical detail but short on economic intuition. Many business professionals’ exposure to the concept is limited to the media occasionally associating arbitrage with high-profile financiers, like foreign currency speculator George Soros, or former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Robert Rubin, once head of arbitrage at Goldman Sachs. Yet such casual mentions do not convey the pervasive importance and usefulness of arbitrage in the world economy or in financial thought. Hence, the goal of this book is to emphasize the intuition of arbitrage and explain how it functions as a common thread in financial analysis. In so doing, I’ll provide concrete examples that illustrate arbitrage in action (from the Preface).”

In this context, Randall S. Billingsley divides this invaluable book into following seven chapters:

1. Arbitrage, Hedging, and the Law of One Price: This chapter explores the relationship between arbitrage, hedging, the Law of One Price, the Law of One Expected Return, and the structure of asset prices.

2. Arbitrage in Action: This chapter illustrates the nature of the Law of One Price, the Law of One Expected Return, arbitrage, and hedging using several examples. These concepts are first illustrated using the example of a discrepancy in the price of gold in two locations.

3. Cost of Carry Pricing: This chapter presents the cost of carry approach to identifying and exploiting mispriced positions. This useful, simple framework portrays the appropriate relationship between spot and forward or future prices. Properly priced forward/futures contracts reflect the cost and benefits of carrying a spot market commodity or security over time. The cost of carry model is illustrated in this chapter using the examples of a commodity, silver, and interest rates.


4. International Arbitrage: This chapter shows how arbitrage influences the relationship among currency exchange rates in light of international interest rate and inflation differences. Foreign exchange rates are structured by arbitrage pressures through international parity relations. Furthermore, this chapter describes various arbitrage strategies involving international interest rates and exchange rates.

5. Put-Call Parity and Arbitrage: This chapter presents the put-call parity relation, which relies on arbitrage to portray the relationship between call and put prices, the underlying stock price, the exercise price, the risk-free rate, and the time to expiration for European options. This chapter also shows how put-call parity lends insight into basic option/stock combination strategies such as the covered call and protective put.

6. Option Pricing: This chapter explains how arbitrage forms the backbone of modern option pricing.

7. Arbitrage and the (Ir)Relevance of Capital Structure: This chapter explains the role of arbitrage in assessing the relevance of capital structure decisions in the context of the Nobel Prize-winning Modigliani-Miller (M&M) theory. The chapter also shows how the firm may be viewed as put and call options and used the put-call parity framework to explain how a firm is valued from the distinct though linked perspectives of bondholders and stockholders.

Highly recommended

Arbitrage is one of those words that many people use with only a vague sense of what it means and the vague sense is too often wrong. Many believe it has to do with some kind of crooked speculation in the stock market. In reality, it is a very important idea that allows prices to be set for bonds, stocks, futures contracts, and all kinds of other things.

The basic idea is that if you could go into your local grocery store and see ketchup being actively purchased for $10 a bottle, but you could also buy it across the street for $2 a bottle, you would buy all the $2 bottles you could and take them across the street and sell them for $10. Of course, your bringing more supply might cause the grocery store to lower its price to compete with you. And the $2 store might notice their entire inventory walking out the door and therefore conclude that they can raise the price. This process would continue until both stores were selling the ketchup at nearly the same price. While this isn't pure arbitrage because I have to buy the ketchup first and have some risk of losing my inventory, the idea holds.

There should only be one price in the market for a given thing. However, for a variety of reasons, some of them still not completely understood, there are simultaneous mispricings that traders will seize on and simultaneously buy and sell the good to take advantage of the different prices and continue the trades until the prices again balance. For example, you do not expect to see $100 bills lying in the street. At one time or another you might see one and you would immediately pick it up. Then there would no longer be $100 bills in the street. The principle that you don't expect to see $100 bills in the street is similar to the idea that you should not see different prices for the same thing in the market. They might come along, but when they do they will instantly be traded away (usually by computers programmed to watch for them), so you shouldn't plan on making a living trading for them. However, being aware of the possibility might allow you see the odd $100 when it, rarely, is on the ground right in front of you.

However, the real purpose of knowing about arbitrage is more for learning about how to value equities, bonds, forward contracts, and futures. This book provides excellent supplementary material for a course in these subjects. General textbooks on the subject do cover the material, but rather quickly. Sometimes trying to get your mind around this stuff for the first time is like trying to draw looking in a mirror with someone waving her hands in front of your eyes.

Now, there are mathematical formulas in this book. That might lead some to wonder why the approach here is called intuitive. That is because what is provided here is given the reader as a tool for understanding the ideas. If you were to take a course in deriving and proving the material simply asserted here, well that is much heavier lifting. So, the reader does need to be able to read some basic math symbols such as delta and beta and some basic concepts along these lines. The author points the reader to glossaries and helps for those who need them.

So, this is NOT a book teaching you how to make a killing trading in arbitrage opportunities. It is a fine effort to help you understand why the market tends towards one price for a given thing and how those prices are derived. It is ideal for MBAs taking a course in this area and needing some extra help. However, the general reader interested in this subject can also find this very valuable.

Over the years, I have heard of hedge funds and the principal of arbitrage, but until I read this book, I had no idea what they really were. The fundamental definition of arbitrage is where there is an unjustifiable difference in the price of an asset in two separate markets. When this is the case, one can buy in the low market and sell in the high market with no risk whatsoever. Furthermore, the investment is being carried out with someone else's money.
That by itself is easy to understand, but there are several different ways in which an arbitrage situation can be created. Recognizing a true arbitrage situation is difficult and often requires detailed knowledge of the formulas for comparing the values of assets. Therefore, several mathematical formulas are used to demonstrate that an arbitrage condition exists. None of the formulas are difficult, although the basics of algebra are needed to understand them.
Chapter 1 starts with the definition of arbitrage and chapter 2 gives some simple examples of situations where an arbitrage situation exists. The examples are not necessarily found in the real world, but they serve as an excellent introduction to what arbitrage is. Chapters 3 through 6 explain examples of arbitrage situations that can exist in the real world. They are:

Chapter 3: Cost of carry pricing.
Chapter 4: International arbitrage.
Chapter 5: Put-call parity and arbitrage.
Chapter 6: Option pricing.

The seventh and final chapter deals with arbitrage and the essence of the theory of capital structure.
This was one of those books where I was ignorant about the subject before I read the first page and once I completed the last page felt that I had gained a fundamental knowledge of what arbitrage is. That new knowledge has been especially helpful when I have been watching news stories on international monetary markets. This book is an excellent introduction to a topic that is growing in importance as the world economy becomes ever more interconnected.

In this short but highly interesting book the author discusses a concept that it is fair to say is an axiom of modern finance: the principle of arbitrage. Even though this principle is not without controversy and has been hotly debated in recent financial research literature, its use in deriving some of the main results in mathematical finance, such as the Black-Scholes equation, is undisputed. To derive the Black-Scholes equation requires somewhat formidable mathematics, and even though it is used, makes the principle of arbitrage seem somewhat artificial. It is not apparent that the principle of arbitrage has any practical significance or indeed has any use outside of the realm of the esoteric field of mathematical finance.

The author of this book is very aware of the need for explaining the concept of arbitrage that is "intuitive" and is accessible to those readers who do not have the deep mathematical background that usually surrounds it. In addition, he also explains the role of "market frictions" in limiting arbitrage opportunities. All of the examples that the author discusses in the book have found application in hedge funds, credit departments, and trading desks throughout the world.

The central theme of the book is what the author calls the `Law of One Price' and which defines the level at which the prices of assets revert to. Arbitrage is then the "action" that brings prices to this level. The author calls this level the "resting place" which reminds one of the notion of equilibrium in economics, but this is somewhat misleading since the price level is due to the intentional actions of agents who are doing everything they can to take advantage of the "free lunch" of an arbitrage opportunity.

The author describes arbitrage opportunities as being "rare" and short-lived, but there are hedge funds and "arb" units all over the globe that make their living finding and exploiting them. Their search has involved the use of highly sophisticated mathematical models and machine intelligence, and critics have charged that this has actually created great instability in the financial markets and levels of risk that are very difficult to manage. Whether this is the case is still unproven, but a strong case can be made that the volatility of the markets is much greater than what it was a few decades ago. Arbitrage opportunities will still come and go in the years ahead, and the level of expertise needed to find them will increase dramatically. It is fascinating that the simple concept of arbitrage that is delineated in this book has resulted in the movement of trillions of dollars and employed thousands of analysts. It will be interesting to see just what kinds of new tools will be deployed to assist in the search for new free lunches.

Here is another outstanding book published by the Wharton School, the nation's first collegiate business school, dedicated to publishing books that will have the highest value and impact on the theory and practice of business and management. Randall S. Billingsley, Ph.D., CRRA, CFA distills financial arbitrage to its essence: identifying mispricing and developing strategies to exploit it.

The discussion on arbitrage is often long on technical detail but short on economic intuition. Drawing on extensive (technical and intuitive) experience, Billingsley gives concrete examples of arbitrage in action; his insight into this complex concept is invaluable not only for the sophisticated investor, but for the risk manager, investment analyst, and portfolio manager.

At the end of each chapter, the author gives us a concise Summary and detailed Endnotes which makes the complex subject matter accessible and easily understood.

As a career outreach coordinator for schools in four counties, I have found this book to be a tremendous resource. It helps students in the early stages of thinking through potential future careers by examining their interests and abilities. Although most teens will change their career interests (probably many times). There is great value in beginning this process early because when students give serious thought to future careers they begin to make the connection to the importance of their education. I believe this can help be a motivating factor for helping them apply themselves to their current school endeavors.

This book uses Hollands theory of interests to help the teen discover what they want to do. The book helps prioritize interests and translate them into potential careers. This book is an excellent resource from self-discovery to building your resume to interviewing and negotiating an offer. This book is easy to read and understand and the information is useful and current. I highly recommend this book to any teen trying to determine their career path or any adult working with teens with plans to help them determine their career paths.

I read this book back in the 80's and found it very helpful. When my aged college daughter was questioning her major, I shipped her this book. I think it should be a "must read" for all high school students.

it is an easy guide to help others and yourself to overcome daily crisis.

As a part-time personal career coach for college students trying to identify their major, I was thrilled to see the "What Color Is Your Parachute" franchise has created a version for the late teens/early twenties demographic. Despite the best efforts of college career counseling offices, I still encounter many young people needing help identifying career options that complement the person they are. Resources such "What Color Is Your Parachute" provide young adults with critical learnings they can use to educate themselves about the importance of their personal interests, their strengths, and their skills to ultimately make an informed career decision. And it doesn't hurt if the parents of the young person have read this (or similar) works, as well, so they can be educated coaches for their young adult. In many cases, parents have invested time, emotion and money into getting their child into an institution of higher learning and keeping them there, so their participation in this stage of their child's life is a logical next step. Trust me, parents - they want your involvement more than they let on.

As a HR Manager, the regular version of "What Color Is Your Parachute" has been a resource I've relied on and recommended for the past 15 years to those affected by unexpected downsizings and by the `I want to do something different but I don't know what' bug. After reviewing this new version, I feel confident young people will benefit as much from this work personally as I have professionally. Highly recommended for young people who seek answers to the simple but complex question, "What's next for me?"

When I saw this book,I thought that it might be for women only.Well I was wrong,I am a man and I when I read it I was taken in by it.It encouraged me to see how no matter what life brings your way,Old or young,male or female no matter how tragic ,there is Hope,things can change,turn around for the better.Mrs Finley tells from her own personal experiences ,when there seemed to be no hope,no where to go,no one to turn to or trust,that there is away out.Your life can turn around,I dont want to give away all the hope in this book,but I have read it twice already.It is hard to put it down once you have started reading it.Even if your life is perfect(?) you should invest in this book so maybe you could help some one else.I give it 5 Stars!

Sincerely,B.K.

I have known Deborah and her husband Kirk for at least 20 years.
They are a wonderful couple, I always, felt they were soul mates. After reading the book this was verified for me.
When Deborah told me that she finished her book and was ready to be published I was so excited and happy for her, because through the years knowing her, I always felt she had a specific purpose in life, by her looking down all different roads and areas of wanting to help people.
I did not know about her childhood though, and when I began to read the book, I could not put the book down till I read it all the way to the end.
This is a very sincere, inspiring, and very spirtual book of the story of her life. She has written the book from you inner most being in the simpliest way for everyone to understand.
Everyone who, is in dispair, thinking that they are alone and no one to understand what they are going through in an abusive relationship, mentally or physically, they need to read this book, and know that God loves us all, and the way to God is through his son Jesus.
I liked the way Deborah quoted scripture, in the simpliest way for everyone to understand and to reference to the exact phrases in the Bible.
This is a wonderful inspiring book for everyone.

Once I started reading this book,it was very hard to put it down.Its a true life story of a tragic start to a very young life.A life with seemingly no hope.A life that I believe alot of us would have given up on.But not Deborah,she openly shares the adversities that could have destroyed her,and shows us the way out of them,that dramatically turned her life around,and got her off the path of bitterness and despair,and put her life on the path to hope,peace,and a bright successful future.What a story.WHAT A TURNAROUND IN A LIFE!!! A MUST READ! The information in this book can help anyone.If you think life can't get any better,you need to read this book!

Deborah Finley's style is simple, yet her message is profound. Her relationship with the Lord is sincere and compelling. I appreciate the simplistic applications of scripture to real life situations.

Deborah's story is one that instills hope for all of us in the power of forgiveness. The book follows a step by step process of forgiving and accepting God into your life. Along the way, she quotes many scriptures and shares her experiences with us, to demonstrate how her strong faith in God changed her life. "WHAT YOUR FUTURE HOLDS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO CHANGE IT" is a book you most definitely want to read.

I really found this book to be a superb combination of practically and vision. It is a great read, precise and thought provoking. It makes you really want to jump out of your seat and participate in the creation of the future. One really important point among many is that we cannot move forward, adapt and be innovative by relaying on the past as a point of reference. The only way to really be successful and prosperous is by dropping our old parameters, learning from future and applying it to the present. I have read this book twice. I highly recommend it to those who do not want some else eating their cheese. I look forward to Mr. Grulke next book.

I really found this book to be a superb combination of practically and vision. It is a great read, precise and thought provoking. It makes you really want to jump out of your seat and participate in the creation of the future. One really important point among many is that we cannot move forward, adapt and be innovative by relaying on the past as a point of reference. The only way to really be successful and prosperous is by dropping our old parameters, learning from future and applying it to the present. I have read this book twice. I highly recommend it to those who do not want some else eating their cheese. I look forward to Mr. Grulke next book.

I really found this book to be a superb combination of practically and vision. It is a great read, precise and thought provoking. It makes you really want to jump out of your seat and participate in the creation of the future. One really important point among many is that we cannot move forward, adapt and be innovative by relaying on the past as a point of reference. The only way to really be successful and prosperous is by dropping our old parameters, learning from future and applying it to the present. I have read this book twice. I highly recommend it to those who do not want some else eating their cheese. I look forward to Mr. Grulke next book.

'Ten Lessons from the Future' is the ideal books to help MBA students conceptualize the challenges of the future and to break open the prison of contemporary thinking. Grulke's first hand knowledge of trends that will shape the next decade, as well as his keen synthesis on how disruptive technology will shape the future makes this book one of the best business books on the shelf. Any predication of the future is precarious at best, but Grulke paradoxically paints a believable picture of an increasingly fractal environment. This book needs to be compulsory reading at any Business School who wishes to prepare their students for the challenges of the future.

As the rules for personal and business success change it is increasingly tough and indeed risky to take lessons from the past. I have yet to read anything so clear, simple and yet impactful on the future. Anyone serious about living and succeeding in the future needs to invest in this book. It challenges, excites, scares and motivates one into really looking forward to tomorrow. It synthesizes traditionally complex issues. It enables individual and corporate action. A must for anyone who intends to be around in the future!

Pithy quotes summarize profound truths in memorable ways. One is able to retain the essence of a truth when it is presented in a context whereby memory is aided. Using a Christian worldview, these editors have compiled a substantial amount of wisdom and framed it in a format that helps one in referring back to it. The format of the book is the compilation of quotes from people covering a 100 year period. The power of the written word is reinforced in this collection. Contributors are people who have left their mark. Regardless of age or background this collection has something of value to add to the quality of anyone's life.

This is a wonderful book. Every page truly speaks to you. It is a perfect gift book for everyone on my Christmas list especially my teenage grandchildren. A perfect look at the past and a prayer for our future. This book is really a treasure - what a wonderful find! PS: I can only find 3 books and I NEED 10 more.

This is an excellent book. It makes an ideal holiday gift, which by the way is how I found it. Great quotes and sage advice galore.

I read this book with my children, not only to give them a sense of the timeline of the last century, but also to give them an appreciation of our spiritual lives, and the spiritual lives of our leaders and newsmakers. These are quotes that aren't typically found in their history textbooks.

As we read about the Wright brother's flight in 1903, we thought about how much has changed. And as we read about the work of Mother Teresa late in the century, we realized how little has changed.

We read some famiiar voices and some that were new to us, but always voices that inspired and challenged us.

This isn't a book that we have read and placed on a shelf, we go back to it again and again.

This is a wonderful book. Every page truly speaks to you. It is a perfect gift book for everyone on my Christmas list especially my teenage grandchildren. A perfect look at the past and a prayer for our future. This book is really a treasure - what a wonderful find! PS: I can only find 3 books and I NEED 10 more.