Investment-value

ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT PLANING ESTATE PLANNING. IF YOU GOT THOSE LITTLE ONES AT HOME AND YOU WANT TO LEARN THE JOY OF GIVING. THIS IS THE BOOK. IT HELPS YOU LEAD YOUR FAMILY DOWN THE PATHOF WEATH AND CLOSENESS. THIS THE BOOK.

Through the years I have visited the financial section of book stores, somethimes purchasing a publication that looks interesting, only to find that I would need a degree in finance to understand it. What a pleasure to find "Funding Your Dreams". A book that is written so that one can understand its concepts without all the 5 dollar words that send me to the dictionary every other sentence! Carol writes with knowledge, compassion and understanding of the lay readers needs. Most of all she gives sound, solid advice with suggestions for practical application. I wish I had had this book twenty years ago but it's never to late to start. This book is a must read for everyone, regardless of monetary assets. I also appreciate the balance that Carol presents to the reader. Yes we need to save, yes we need to plan for our children, our aging parents, and our own retirement, but we can also need to give ourselves permission to set aside some funds for our own enjoyment. Carol obviously has a zest for life and her energy comes through in her writing. This book should be on the coffee table of every home, and should be read by every generation that lives with that coffee table! This book would make a wonderful gift for young couples ( or graduates) starting out as well as those of us in the baby boomer generation. Thanks Carol, for writing words that I have needed to read for years!

This is the first book that really made a difference for me financially! My family and I have met several times to discuss and plan our dreams and funds. We have been able to brainstorm and come up with ideas financially for each family member, with two of their dreams already accomplished. Even my nine year old is happy (he got an increase in allowance) and is telling all his friends to have their parents get the book!

I loved how the author "speaks directly to you" rather than just giving financial information. I hightly recommend this unique book that is simply put, direct, and actually affects changes in your financial status! It's a must for single parents like me!

Mr. Cohan's work offers something for everyone, but will be especially appealing to change-minded readers who are looking to make a real difference in their professions. One of those books where the reader will want to throttle his or her reading speed to absorb the author's wisdom and thought provoking details. Plenty of excellent examples of how real world practicioners; Goldman Sachs and Southwest Airlines just to name a few, are utilizing the full breadth and depth of value creation and delivery to sustain industry leadership. Mr. Cohan introduces the "Value Quotient", a comprehenive tool for tracking value leadership initiatives. Value Leadership is a necessary prerequisite to building a culture that truly binds and motivates stakeholders to value creation.

It has been my experience that most business leaders are smart, thoughtful, competent and ethical people. I have also met those who 'live and die by the numbers' or conversely see their major responsibility as building a 'culture where the business can thrive'. Both sides of this leadership spectrum have great value but when a leader chooses to focus on one side it is at the expense of the other.

Peter Cohan, in his book Value Leadership, brings together the numbers people and the culture people with a rationale and clear treatise. He then offers an effective tool to measure the results of this balanced and effective leadership stance. He takes the traditional business analyst's quantitative factors (market share, revenues and profit, balance sheet strength and more) and combines them with critical qualitative factors (quality of communications, employee satisfaction, customer service and more) to create a numeric score which can be used to assess current business functioning and to plan for strategic and tactical improvements. This measure alone is a great tool for business leaders and their managers, but it is what is measured that defines this books common sense standard. Mr. Cohan has created a way for business leaders to understand and measure their business' value. For anyone who has bought, sold or merged a business, or who invests in stocks, knows that the most elusive question is "what is the value of this business?" Mr. Cohan's "Value Quotient" is the most complete answer to the value question that I have seen. It works well for active business managers and for investors.

It is my belief that "value' will emerge over the next ten years as the most important factor in determining a business leader's success. Value encompasses the quantitative and qualitative factors that often appear to be at war with each other. How do you run a highly profitable business while also maintaining an effective culture? Short-sighted business leaders who are under performance pressures often boost their numbers at the expense of their people, while the great business leaders can effectively manage both their numbers and their people. In my new book Corporate MVPs I had the opportunity to talk with many great business people who spoke of the importance of building and conserving their most valuable performers. These business leaders focus on building value as their prime responsibility. Peter Cohan's Value Leadership is the book that will help all business leaders build the value of their businesses and of themselves.

Often, CEOs feel their executives do not share the same understanding of the critical drivers of their business's performance. Cohan's book is a useful tool for getting a management team "on the same page" and enabling them to clearly define the key levers that contribute to their business's success.

Cohan's framework makes it easy for managers in even the most complex companies to identify where their weaknesses are and address them. The book lays out a detailed, step-by-step guide that walks managers though all the activities and tactics that need to be considered in order to noticeably impact their company's bottom line. As a former general manager in a software company, I feel that sections of this book, such as "experimenting frugally," can really inspire a company to be more creative in identifying profitable paths to growth which it might not otherwise consider.

The book is invaluable as it enables managers to rise beyond the daily responsibilities of their jobs to identify levers that can have a truly significant impact on their companies.

'Value' has grown up considerably from the time that merely announcing that the company was analyzing some backwards-facing measurement formula wowed the Value Setters. Such half measures never impressed those who determine your corporation's value, and don't now. Steve Neill and I developed this management guide for those CEOs (like some of our clients) with vision AND the guts to pursue those few key actions that make all the difference-- all the difference between merely taking about theorhetical value and tangible corporate value improvement: Managing for MAXIMUM value.

There are a number of terrific books available that spell-out the fundamental's of Economic and Shareholder Value-Added; however, none provide the roll-up-your-sleeves instruction and advice as Clark and Neill have in "The Value Mandate". Where else will you find a detailed discussion of the role of manufacturing, production, and product development in value creation? This should be an essential component of every CEO's business library. For U.S. executives not interested in a do-it-yourself approach, rumor has it that Clark and Neill are working to establish a U.S. branch of their London-practice. In the meantime, grab a handful of highlighters and dive into their terrific book!!

Clark and Neill got it right. Should be mandatory reading at all Business Schools.

I feel that this book has been the most outstanding work ever done in the financial services sector. I recommend this highly especially for people involved in the financial services business. I have used this book immensely in my business too. My heartiest congratulations to all the four authors of this book. I look forward to another book from them in the future.

It is a superb book which has a total grip of the latest in the financial services sector globally.

A "MUST READ" for all financial services participants and strategists. I have read the book three times over and everytime I read this book I find a new angle which I could apply to my business.

A very useful book describing a variety of approaches to creating value, such as strategy, products, technology, logical and mathematical modeling frameworks for analyzing a firm's strategy, technology, and process choices.

A must read for managers of financial service firms, and consultants as well as researchers who work in the area of strategic planning, technology choice, process design and process re-engineering.

Belmont has done an exceptional job at communicating the importance and practical application of risk measures for today's business environment. The book offers the reader a thorough assessment of what banking executives face everyday and how best to manage these risk and regain the control necessary for any banking executive to grow its business without putting into jeopardy the best interest of its shareholders, which in no small measure is a testament to Belmont's clear understanding of the challenges faced by most executives and the demands they face in terms of managing near term performance goals with long term stability.

Given the dual pressures banks face from regulators and investors to address the challenges of Basle 2 and create shareholder value, this book is highly relevant and timely. It provides practical, concise and real world guidance to any senior bank executive seeking to add value in his institution by optimizing the usage of economic capital. Economic capital based performance measures are clearly presented and illustrated with real life examples. Additionally, anyone implementing Basle 2 must ask how this can be done and what value it creates for the organization. This book provides the answers.

The book quickly gives a real world context the value of risk management information to bank CEOs, CFOs, institutional security analysts, and investors. It then goes on to demonstrate theoretically and practically how risk management information can be used to address key strategic decisions faced by senior bank management.

Any risk manager, CFO, or CEO in a financial institution should find this book valuable if they seek to create shareholder value in their institution. Similarly, anyone seeking to rise to the executive suite must understand the issues addressed in this well written book.

Why wasn't "Money Doesn't Grow on Trees" around when I was growing up? Sure, I heard the expression plenty of times, but I didn't learn the practical values behind the words. Now thanks to Ellie Kay's wonderful new book, this fortysomething kid is finally learning the value of a buck! Although this book is geared to parents and kids, you don't have to be a parent OR a kid to glean valuable--and practical--monetary lessons from it. Thanks, Ellie, for showing me it's never too late (or too early) to learn how to handle money wisely. And thanks for making it so much fun in the process! Gotta run go set up my budget now...

Ellie Kay offers practical, creative ideas for building financial responsibility and generosity into kids. With topics like delayed gratification, discretion-building, choices and natural consequences, Money Doesn't Grow On Trees is a home-based Finance 101 course, taught the fun way! Jam packed with great quotes, age-appropriate guidelines for chores and choices, I highly recommend this book.

Brenda Waggoner, Licensed Professional Counselor

Ellie Kay has done it again. In this book Ellie lays everything out on the table when it comes to teaching your child about finances. Funny thing though, I learned a thing or two myself! Every aspect is broken down from age zero to eighteen and beyond!
I immediately applied what I had learned on my children and saw a dramatic change within one week. You must get this book along with her other books, "Shop, Save and Share" and "A Womans Guide to Family Finance". Your family will thank you later!

I bought this book to replace an older valuation book also by Damodoran. I'm a professional analyst and am quite familiar with valuations, and this book provides a very thorough and comprehensive guide. I bought it just in time to serve as guidance through a very heavy and comprehensive research project.

Everything I needed for the project was in the book, however one thing surprised and disappointed me: the organization. I simply don't see much of a logical flow in the chapter structure, so I think it would be more difficult to someone who wasn't already familiar with the basic structure of the valuation process. Why is market efficiency jammed between unrelated chapters? Why is the discussion and examples of the pro-forma capitalization of R&D split between distant chapters? Throughout a single project, one would have to keep the book marked in several diffent places, not neccessarily in the order that one would have to deal with the questions if one were doing a valuation. The result is that this book is less easy to use as a practical guidebook than it could be, and will keep one busy in the index looking for where subjects are addressed.

This is nit-picking however. Professor Damodoran is to be congratulated for producing such a high quality and comprehensive text on valuation.

For investors subscribed to discounted cash flows valuation (DCF), there is no other books that offer the kind of in-depth anlaysis (both in step-by-step description and available scenarios using real companies) like this book does. Plus, Professor Damodaran maintains a free website where Excel-based valuation models and industry data are periodically updated. These features make the book invaluable. In short, if I am allowed to buy only one investment book, this is the one.

But since I can buy as many books as I want, it would be more important to tell what this book does not do. First, it's always important to get a second opinion. In this case, it would be something other than DCF. Currently, DCF and relative valuation (such as PE and PV) are the dominent valuation methods used in the U.S. And yes, they are both covered in-depth by this book, in addition to the Economic Value Addded method which is gaining momentum in recent years. But this book essentially dismisses the income statements in favor of cash flows statements for valuing securities, preferring DCF to relative valuation. This is certainly understandable in lights of recent manipulation of GAAP income by offenders like Enron, WorldCom and Tyco. But I believe it's important for investors to hear the voice for income statements valuation method. For that investors should get James English's Applied Equity Analysis - another must-have - as a second valuation reference book. Secondly, this book uses CAPM model for finding the discount rate. Again, it is true that CAPM is the most widely used model in the U.S., but I came to a conclusion, after reading close to a hundred critically acclaimed articles published in the last fifty years as part of my MBA requirements, that factor models provide better tracking of stock prices than CAPM does. Unfortunately, there is no good book available. For institutional investors, they can have models from BARRA and Wilshire, etc, but individual investors would have to construct their own, probably (like me) using the Fama-French three-factor model. Description of their model is available mostly from theirs and other published papers. Data are available from Kenneth French's own website at Dartmouth. Now since you read all the way through my review, here is your reward: go to Damodaran's website and download the manuscript of this book for free if you are really frugal.

I have both the 1st edition and 2nd editions. It is the most logical and complete valuation text around. Takes you through valuation processes as well as compares various methods step-by-step, logically and rationally. I also have the McKinsey edition and although it's good, it cannot compare with Damodaran's in clarity of language and logical reasoning.

I was not sure what to expect when I picked up the book, but for [the price] why not check it out. It was much better than anything I expected or have read in similar titles. The author gives the reader a solid foundation for entering and exiting low priced stocks. The book is filled with lots of good examples of the right time to buy beaten up stocks. The primary focus of his selection technique is technical analysis, although there is a fundamental bent thrown in. If you are thinking that there are bargins to be had after the past 2 years in the market, this is a title well worth checking out.

Very helpful in determining what, where, and when to buy stocks that have experience significant correction. Since the latest 2000 correction in the market, one would think that people will pay more attention to this type of thinking rather than simple momentum investing.

Excellent details, charts, graphs and explanations of how to chart the beginning of a turnaround for stocks that have been corrected or depressed.

The title of this book is a bit misleading in that it mentions the words "hidden values" which are usually associated with fundamental analysis. In fact, this book advocates stock trading based on charts. Everybody knows that we should "buy low and sell high". But when is the price of a stock "low"? This book will give you an answer.

Hard to believe that a financial how-to-book like this would be a page
turner. But, I thoroughly enjoyed this easy-to-read, timely and well
written book.

Leder's tactics and strategies for lay investors are
invaluable. She provides the insight and perspective of a professional
analyst.

"Bottom Line" a book well worth the investment.

If you're the type of investor who loved Quality of Earnings, this is a must read! It's smart and sophisticated, yet easily understandable for even novice investors. By explaining in vivid detail the different "red flags" that investors need to be wary of, the author, who writes from the point-of-view of the average investor, makes her points clearly and concisely.

What's particularly charming about this book, when compared with some of the other accounting-related books out there, is that you don't have to be a CPA or have an MBA or some other advanced degree to understand this book. Yet, the book is sophisticated enough to also be appealing to people who do.

I can't help but wonder now, as proxy and annual report season gets underway, how many investors would find this book incredibly useful. The chapter on related party transactions, which is cleverly titled All in the Family, is worth the book's price alone. For any investor who picks or invests in individual stocks, this is truly a must read!

The investment club that I'm in wound up losing a lot of money on Healthsouth, so we've been very cautious over the past year. But with the market rising, we know that all of this caution has wound up costing us money. Luckily, one of our members received Financial Fine Print as a Christmas present this year. Over the past month or so, this book -- now dog-eared -- has made its way to all 15 of us and we now feel as if we're better investors as a result. I finally decided to buy my own copy because I think it's one of the best books available for individual investors who are looking to do their own research on stocks. There's so many great examples of the sorts of things companies try to hide from their investors in their SEC filings -- information investors need to have before they put their money on the line.

One of the things our group has done over the past month is to go back and look at Healthsouth's SEC filings to see if we would have made the same mistakes. Now armed with Ms. Leder's expert advice, we found numerous "red flags" that would have prompted us to sell the stock before Healthsouth's problems became so apparent. Yes, hindsight is always 20-20, so it's easy to say that now. But we all still feel that we've learned so much from this book that we can now invest with a lot more confidence, instead of being pre-occupied with the fear that we're buying another company that's much more interested in enriching its executives at the expense of their shareholders.

Most of the other accounting-related books our group has read -- and we've read a bunch -- all seem to be aimed at a professional audience and can be a bit dry unless you're the type of person who thinks FASB is fascinating. Not this book. Using easy to understand language and examples that help you put the complicated accounting into perspective, this excellent book is an individual investor's best friend!

I'm now suspicious of this book based on the duplicate entries with 5 stars obviously written by the same people who didn't even bother to change their text in their reviews ...

Mr. Jean-Jacques lead an insightful and meaningful discussion on value investing at the local book store. After picking up the book, it took me just three days to read it and I am glad I did. To be honest, I did not know what to expect prior to reading the book because from his discussion, Mr. Jean-Jacques came across as an extremely bright but private person. Also, I had never heard of him before. He seems to be non-promotional. However, after reading it the book spared nothing and explained the basics of value investing very well supported by very good and real-life examples. Anyone who enjoys following the stock market and value investing in particular will truly cherish this book.

If you are interested in value investing. This book is for you. I can't help reading it over and over again in order to dig more information from the book. Invaluable and easy to understand. Read it and use it.