Book Description
Deal Terms is the first ever in-depth look at valuations, preferred stock, stock options and other variables that affect deal structure, written by Alex Wilmerding (a venture capitalist at Boston Capital Ventures and best selling author of Term Sheets & Valuations). Written from a venture capital perspective, however applicable for all types of financings, Deal Terms includes actual term sheets, valuation methodology and analysis, assessment of stock option programs and their impact on valuations and capital structures and other real world documents used by leading venture capitalists and lawyers analyzed from multiple perspectives. A must have book for any executive, entrepreneur, or financial professional, this timeless classic is an unprecedented resource that will help you avoid costly mistakes, understand various structures and terms, and understand wording and language from other deal sheets to help you get deals done.
According to Graham Anderson, General Partner at Euclid SR Partners, "Deal Terms provides critical, in-depth, first-hand perspective on the crucial terms and factors which influence financing decisions." Clifford Schorer, Entrepreneur in Residence, Columbia Business School remarks, "Deal Terms is an indispensable reference for entrepreneurs and finance professionals." And Andrew McKee, General Partner at Webster Capital notes, "Deal Terms is a really important resource."
Download Description
Deal Terms is the first ever in-depth look at valuations, preferred stock, stock options and other variables that affect deal structure, written by Alex Wilmerding (a venture capitalist at Boston Capital Ventures and best selling author of Term Sheets & Valuations). Written from a venture capital perspective, however applicable for all types of financings, Deal Terms includes actual term sheets, valuation methodology and analysis, assessment of stock option programs and their impact on valuations and capital structures and other real world documents used by leading venture capitalists and lawyers analyzed from multiple perspectives. A must have book for any executive, entrepreneur, or financial professional, this timeless classic is an unprecedented resource that will help you avoid costly mistakes, understand various structures and terms, and understand wording and language from other deal sheets to help you get deals done.
Customer Reviews:
A Quick Guide to Venture Capital Thinking.......2006-06-21
This book, one claimed by the publisher to fall into the need-to-read category rather than the nice-to-read, is aimed at giving the businessman the information he needs to know to be able to hold an intelligent conversation with a venture capitalist.
It's a pretty quick and easy read, but the businessman who has gotten his business up to the stage where outside money is needed is probably not a financial type but an engineer, or scientist or perhaps just plain businessman. This book, written from the venture capitalist standpoint, will explain to him such things as how to value a company, verious types of stock, dilution of the ownership, in short, all of the things that will need to be understood when a big time financial deal goes down.
It's not an in depth book, each of these subjects can and has several books describing them 'in depth.' Instead it is a small book that gives you what you need to know quickly.
Great Book - But Even Better is Author DVD Called Negotiating Term Sheets & Valuations in VC Deals.......2006-05-17
This author definitely knows his stuff - but even better is author's new product called Negotiating Term Sheets and Valuations in Venture Capital Deals (ISBN 1597010987). It is a 100 minute DVD that has a lot of different material in it that is critical for doing venture capital deals. It also covers specific negotiation strategies and roles and motivations for each key deal participant - which is not covered in this book or the authors other book (Term Sheets & Valuations).
Very Disappointed.......2006-05-15
After enjoying his first book, Term Sheets and Valuations, I was looking forward to this one. I regret to say that I found it a big waste of time and a bigger waste of money.
It appears as if the marketing of the book by the pblisher sought to take advantage of his first book by raising the price by 500%, giving the impression that this book was better or more comprehensive. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Solid reference for entrepreneurs.......2005-12-29
'Deal Terms' is a solid reference for entrepreneurs with 'need-to-read' (as opposed to 'nice-to-read') information regarding venture financing deals. I find Wilmerding's interviews with various relevant players (e.g. legal counsellor, venture capitalist, entrepreneur) to be a good differentiator of the book; the quick analysis of actual term sheet is also pragmatic. The 'Valuation' section is relatively generic & is the weaker part of the book.
Helpful, practical, and brilliant!.......2004-05-07
I recently finished your book "Deal Terms" and found it extremely
helpful as we are looking into our first round of financing.
This book showed me numerous issues that I would have definitely overlooked or simply not thought of.
Thanks for writing Deal Terms. Definitely an invaluable
reference for anyone in business!
Book Description
Karen Blumenthal, like most people, is mystified by the stock market. Just why is it, she wonders, that seemingly good news can send a stock plummeting and bad news can send it skyrocketing again?
In Grande Expectations, she shows how money is made and lost by following one of America’s hottest growth stocks, Starbucks, through a year of rapid store openings, fancy new drinks, and clever promotions, revealing how the many players—big and small investors, company management, analysts, and the media—propel its shares up and down.
Blumenthal pulls back the curtain on the stock market to expose its quirks and inner workings, from the power of a penny of earnings and the unexpected impact of a stock split to the image-enhancing effects of a brand of bottled water. With a fly-on-the-wall, character-driven narrative, Grande Expectations not only makes investing interesting but also will help you make smarter and savvier investing choices by:
•Understanding how big pension and mutual fund managers decide whether to buy more Starbucks—or dump it
•Seeing the unique ways that analysts and other finance professionals assess an investment—dissecting not only the numbers but also the company’s management, demographics, and global opportunities
•Learning how Starbucks executives manage our expectations and keep excitement percolating about the business—and the stock
•Watching how a stock is traded and how that might affect your buying or selling
•Gleaning how multibillion-dollar private hedge funds make money on infinitesimal changes in a stock’s price
•Entering the dark, strange world of the short sellers
•Realizing how different people can make absolutely opposite bets and all still come out ahead
You’ll come away with new insights into how the stock market really works—the power of expectations, stock buybacks, and profits—and explore Starbucks’ phenomenal growth and whether it is sustainable. By unraveling the market’s mysteries, Grande Expectations shows how investing can be both profitable and understandable. Get ready for the ride of your life—and a lifetime of fruitful stock market success.
Customer Reviews:
Steve Forbes Loved It and You Will, Too........2007-08-04
Steve Forbes reviewed this book and loved it, and I think it appeals equally to people who understand the market well, and those who don't. Blumenthal details all the information you wish you had, but don't have time to gather, when investing in a stock. Mostly, though, it's a fascinating, fun read, and that's the reason to pick it up!
Otherwise dry material rendered frappalicious.......2007-08-04
I seldom go to Starbucks and can rarely stomach lengthy financial analysis, so I never expected to be so consumed by a book that I just happened across and then couldn't put down. As a liberal-arts-type reader, I was as riveted by this utterly charming biography of a stock as I routinely am by a great man's life story. As originally unappetizing to me as the thought of 300 pages detailing a company's year-long stock performance was the sheer pleasure here of following the author's wide-eyed pursuit of answers about why stocks rise and fall. As Ms. Blumenthal chases down a broad swath of individuals to learn all she could about the history and future prospects for Starbucks, I found the questions she put to Howard Schultz and other company execs, to security analysts and fund managers, to small DIY investors, and to many others, were exactly the kind of questions I wanted asked. Assuming you're not already a full-time securities pro, reading this book -- although it won't instantly certify you as a financial guru -- will, for less than the cost of a few macchiatos and frappucinos, make you far wiser about this amazing company and the ways of the market. Concentrating so deeply on one company enables the author to show how stock buybacks, black-box trading operations, analyst reports, and dozens of other abstract concepts actually work in a real-world case history over an extended period. Thus material that would otherwise seem academic and dry becomes far more palatable and understandable. Kudos to Ms. Blumenthal for wonderful reporting and making stock-tracking acutely interesting and intelligible.
Cramer Recommended It?!.......2007-08-03
I am very surprised that Jim Cramer likes this book. There's really nothing to it. If you've owned a few stocks before, and paid attention to them, this book will offer you nothing new.
Aimed at beginners.......2007-06-11
One can see that there is already 40 used books, it's quite impressive for such a "young" book. I think there is a deep misunderstanding about this financial opus; Jim Cramer, I like him very much incidentally, in his review of the book emphasizes that it's gonna be a "in depth" study of how the stock fluctuates month in and month out... it's a lie, as a profesionnal analyst, I did not learn anything and I'll take a bet that people in the institutional world will not either.
As a pro, I was looking forward to reading the chapters titled "investors" and the second one even more "traders". Let me get this straight: the first one digs into the ROE, the P/E and Philip Fisher, quite enthralling for novices but for a financial adviser, this is too simplistic. And the second chapter is mostly about black-boxes and somewhat of a market maker. However, if you want to learn any "trading secret" or a mere "trading idea" out of them, forget it, you assuredly won't.
All in all this is a fun read, entertaining but just interesting for people not knowing anything about the company Starbucks (my case; I know sorry), about its resilience during a stunning bear market or for people not knowing anything about the stock market.
But if you're an institutional analyst, trader or broker, this is a lie by Jim Cramer, the "in-depth" of this book is more in the other reviews above and Jim's.
To wrap things up, there is one thing that is extremely annoying in this book, which has already not much of an exciting style into it per se (this is not a Michael Crichton, that's for sure) someone must talk to the author and tell her about the "present" tense to spice a story up a notch, all the book is written "in the past" and it gives all the more a boring feeling of what could have been a far better book if wrote with the present tense, as it is habitually the case in financial opuses.
5 stars for novices, 2 stars for pros (to read on a plane or on the beach to take a breather). I'm certain that's why there are so many "used" books for sell already. Beginners will love it, seasoned pros will wind up with the fun, only.
Grande Explanation.......2007-05-16
This is a highly readable and interesting story about a cultural phenomena. The author gives us a "year-in-the life" story about Starbucks and its stock price fluctuations, while engaging the reader in behind the scenes details. She has woven a fascinating story without losing the reader to arcane financial jargon. The book is very balanced and a fun read. I highly recommend it -- Steve
Average customer rating:
- A bit hard to understand
- This is a Terrific Resource for Practitioners Not Investors
- Super
- An Excellent Private Equity Valuation Primer
- Good technique, directed at the professional practitioner
|
Valuing A Business, 4th Edition
Shannon P. Pratt ,
Robert F. Reilly , and
Robert P. Schweihs
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ASIN: 0071356150 |
Book Description
First published in 1981, Valuing a Business is today the world's most widely followed valuation reference. As more professional associations than ever offer valuation education and credentials, this Fourth Eidtion - with 10 new chapters that significantly expand the book's scope - promises to appeal to an even broader market. This easy-to-use reference features increased emphasis on vlauation court cases and decisions; new information on arbitration and mediation; updated data on stock option valuation; and much more.
Download Description
This easy-to-use reference features increased emphasis on valuation court cases and decisions; new information on arbitration and mediation; updated data on stock option valuation; and much more.
Customer Reviews:
A bit hard to understand.......2004-12-02
I had an older edition of this book, which wasn't very helpful, so I bought the new one hoping it was an improvement, but came away rather disappointed because, for an instructional manual, this one is hard to follow. Apparently, the authors have been in the valuation business for a long time, but it's not always easy to translate experience effectively into words. For most, this is a how-to project with potentially big consequences, so the instructions should be more clear than this. I liked "Unlocking the Value of Your Business" as an alternative. Once I read that book, I understood better what these guys were talking about.
This is a Terrific Resource for Practitioners Not Investors.......2004-09-16
I am a lawyer who has tried valuation cases and this book is a terrific resource for valuation experts and attorneys. I used it to defend and to attack witnesses. It is respected. It is used at the Federal Judicial Center as training for judges on these issues. It is not at all appropriate for people who are trying to value companies for investment purposes.
Super.......2003-01-08
This book, guide, reference, ... or what ever you name it. is essential for all business, financial and investment guides.
An Excellent Private Equity Valuation Primer.......2002-04-08
I have found Mr. Pratt's book to be an outstanding and practical general reference guide to valuing privately-held businesses. Due to the book's breadth of material and balanced focus on both the science and art of valuation, I have found "Valuing A Business" to be an excellent professional reference for anyone entering the field of business valuation. I highly recommend it.
In addition to the common "science side" valuation techniques, issues, and approaches that are found in many valuation textbooks, Pratt provides unique, valuable insight into the "art side" of valuation. The book also includes real life project execution considerations for litigation support, expert witness testimony, and taxation. "Valuing A Business" offers solid information to assist a practitioner in building a quality framework for conducting a comprehensive private company valuation.
Good technique, directed at the professional practitioner.......2001-10-18
I take issue with the reviewer who suggested that Tom Copeland/McKinsey's book "Valuation" is better than this one or is more directed at valuaing big businesses. ... On the other hand, it should be said that valuation techniques do not differ between big companies and small companies (especially if big/small companies are publically traded). Valuation techniques vary depending on (a) what sort of asset is being valued (public equity, vs. private equity, vs. business assets as a whole, etc) and (b) why valuation is being done (for M&A, litigation between business partners, divorce, ESOPs, for equity investment/divestment). If an investor is valuing a $50 Billion public company and a $50 million public company, the technique used for both is (probably) the same.
If anything, this book does an excellent job in reminding us of the diversity of valuation techniques in use, and the diversity of reasons for doing valuations. Given the frequency with which privately held companies are bought, one would think that knowing how to value companies whose stock is not publically traded is useful for general businesspeople, not just accountants and attorneys. But if you absolutely insist that you just want to know how to value publically traded companies and don't give a hoot for calculating "private equity discounts" or "minority shareholder discounts", then I would recommend Aswath Damodaran's books "Damodaran on Valuation", "The Dark Side of Valuation" or "Investment Valuation". Damodaran, professor of Finance at NYU, actually uses the same techniques taught here, but applied to public equity investing and with different names (for example, what is called the "Market approach" here is just what Damodaran calls "relative valuation" in a different context).
Book Description
Applied Equity Analysis treats stock valuation as a practical, hands-on tool rather than a vague, theoretical exercise—and covers the entire valuation process from financial statement analysis through the final investment recommendation. Its integrated approach to valuation builds viable connections between a firm’s competitive situation and the ultimate behavior of its common stock. Techniques explained include EVA, newer hybrid valuation techniques, and relative multiple analysis.
Download Description
Applied Equity Analysis treats stock valuation as a practical, hands-on tool rather than a vague, theoretical exercise--and covers the entire valuation process from financial statement analysis through the final investment recommendation.
Customer Reviews:
great book for those in finance.......2006-06-20
This book is great if you're in the field of finance. This is not for the average consumer looking for investment advice. I've been in corporate financial planning and analyis for the past five years and always wondered how equity analysts built their models. This books will give you insight into their thinking and also give enough detail to build your own models. I would have rated it five stars if the book included a CD with his examples in Excel. The author does have website where you can download sample models.
for SELL-SIDE analysts only.......2006-01-14
I bought this book based on the strong reviews as a complement to Damodaran's classic on valuation, but felt disappointed.
To qualify my comments: First, I am not a sell-side analyst, and secondly, I haven't finished the book. After about 50 pages, I threw in the towel.
My first stylistic objection to the book is its low content density. There is tremendous repetition and examples are trotted out in excruciating detail, even where the conclusions are fairly obvious. For example, on p. 34: "At competitive equilibrium, the firm can identify no incremental investment opportunities likely to generate returns in excess of capital costs. Competitive equilibrium is often defined as a condition in which investment opportunities generate returns equal to capital costs, but existing investments continue to earn abnormal rates." To me these two sentences are already redundant. But in case you still didn't get it, further DOWN on the SAME PAGE: "...This situation is called economic equilibrium, or economic parity. What does equilibrium mean? When returns are forced down to capital costs, then economic rents and/or abnormal earnings disappear and no further incentive to enter the business exists".
But the most frequently repeated point of the first two chapters, is best summed up on p. 19: "As I say many times in the coming pages [and he's not kidding, there], equity analysis is not prophecy; it's opinion. It was never meant to be objective description, but it is strong advocacy." If you're the sell-side analyst, having to "dress up a pig" to help your firm gain some banking business, this book might offer some ideas. But where does this leave the consumer of such analysis? "It's the investor's job to 'diversify' by considering a variety of analysts' positions." (p.9)
I think better advice for the investor might be to learn how to perform sound analysis themselves. For that, I recommend Damodaran's book. I lost my faith in this book's intent to provide balanced (let alone predictive) analysis.
One of the Best.......2005-11-01
There are reams and reams of investment valuation books on the market -- that is obvious.
In my opinion, the three no one should be without are Applied Equity Analysis, Stephen Penman's monster tome "financial statements and...", and lastly, Aswath Damadoran's book, "investment valuation."
Most hyperventilating MBAs default to Damadoran; I really enjoy the simplicity behind Applied Equity Analysis.
Caution: Neither of the 3 are what you'd call "light reading."
If you have any money left, honorable mention goes to Cooke's "security analysis on wall street."
Probably the best.......2004-07-15
I've been looking for a practical step by step book on equity analysis from a practitioners viewpoint. This is it. Other books try to take shortcuts. This book does not take short-cuts, but neither is it bogged down with unncessary academic exercises. If you really want to understand how to do valuation and applied equity analysis I can't recommend any book more highly. It is head and shoulders above anything else out there. Penman's book (from Columbia Business School) is also good but it is a VERY serious and weighty book that probably should only be attacked after you have read this one. Get this book by English and you will not be sorry. I have spent way too much time reading hundreds of other books that weren't nearly as educational. Again, however, it is only for the serious investor.
Very readable, very insightful, and extremely practical.......2001-09-23
James English's "Applied Equity Analysis" is a how-to manual on evaluating stocks based on his 20 years of experience at JP Morgan. The book is very well-written and readable since the author employs plain english (no pun intended) to make his three major points: 1) accounting numbers--while by no means perfect--are excellent tools in evaluating stocks, 2) accounting-based stock valuation is superior to (but does not neccessarily supplant) cash flows, and 3) competition ensures that eye-popping financial performance doesn't last forever.
Contrary to another reviewer, English employs excellent examples to clarify and explain his points. Some examples: Gateway 2000's earnings history was used to explain how to find and interpret non-recurring items (NRI) on financial statements. Ratio analysis was demonstrated by looking at the PC industry in 1998. Emerson Electric was the company chosen to show why mature companies were still good buys. Many other examples abound, and English does a successful job in tying their relevance to his arguements.
But successful use of examples is not just the only strength of the book. The author also tackles a range of topics complete with insightful and clear discussions: the flaws of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), Economic Value Added (EVA), financial statement analysis, fundamental analysis, etc.
A quick glance at the table of contents below gives you an idea of the scope of English's book. I highly recommend this book to not just Wall Street analysts, anyone who is interested in finding fundamental value in evaluating stocks instead of following the crowd.
Pt. 1 Getting Started
Ch. 1 A Day in the Life
Ch. 2 Fundamentals of Equity Valuation
Ch. 3 Strategy and Competition I: The Firm's External Environment
Ch. 4 Strategy and Competition II: The Firm's Internal Competitive Resources
Ch. 5 Fundamentals of Stock Behavior
Pt. 2 The Basic Tools
Ch. 6 Reading a Financial Statement: The Accuracy, Sustainability, and Predictability of Financial Information
Appendix 6-1 Gateway Financial Statements
Ch. 7 Reading a Financial Statement: the Composition of Returns
Appendix 7-1 Comparative Financial Analysis: Personal Computer Industry
Ch. 8 Reading a Financial Statement: Early-Stage Companies and Investment Capacity
Ch. 9 Reading a Financial Statement: Later-Stage Companies and the Transition to Maturity
Ch. 10 Economic Value Added: An Alternative to Traditional Analysis Techniques
Appendix 10-1 Gateway's Cost of Capital
Pt. 3 Financial Models
Ch. 11 Financial Modeling: Base Case Assumptions and Model Design
Appendix 11-1 Dell Computer Corporation Consolidated Statement of Income
Ch. 12 Financial Modeling: The Income Statement and Balance Sheet
Ch. 13 Financial Modeling: The Statement of Cash Flows
Pt. 4 Equity Valuation
Ch. 14 Valuation: Foundations and Fundamentals
Ch. 15 Combat Finance: Relative Methods and Companion Variable Models
Ch. 16 Hybrid Valuation Techniques
Ch. 17 The Quirky Price/Earnings Ratio
Ch. 18 Valuation of Speculative Stocks
Ch. 19 Equity Analysis and Business Combinations
Pt. 5 Getting It Down on Paper
Ch. 20 Financial Writing: Don't Bury the Lead
Bibliography
Index
Book Description
Maintaining the high standards of prior editions, Security Analysis puts at your fingertips the authoritative guidance on analyzing securities that generations of investment bankers have come to rely on.
Customer Reviews:
The 1934 edition is the last edition you should buy........2007-04-08
My star rating is for the 1934 edition, but this review may appear for other editions of the book.
The 1934 edition came out before the creation of the SEC and deals with a lot of accounting irregularities that are not such a problem today. I suggest you buy a newer edition.
Some people seem to have a preference for the 1940 edition. The 1951 edition was the first one written after the Great Depression, so it dealt with businesses in a more normal economic environment. The 1962 edition was the last written directly by Graham and Dodd, but it is currently unavailable. The 1988 edition is the most recent edition of Security Analysis, but it was updated by other authors years after Graham had died. The 1988 edition is the one currently used as a textbook for Columbia University's Security Analysis course.
Best Book on Stocks.......2007-01-16
The best book for stock analysis. The thing that impresses me the most is that it takes investors emotions into account--the main reason people don't make money in stocks.
Best investing book I've ever read.......2006-01-17
Yes, this is the best investing book I've ever read, but I never read the 2nd or 3rd editions so maybe they are better? I do know that the 5th edition is absolutely horrible, it wasn't written by Graham and has nothing to do with this book, and you won't learn anything about investing from reading it.
You do need a strong background in accounting to understand this book. There are some archaic accounting terms used in the book that no longer apply today. A law school course in Corporations Law is helful here too.
Nevertheless, every more modern book on "value investing" never really explained it as well as this book written in 1934.
Yes, the book is long, but who said investing should be easy? If you want easy money, go to Vegas. I made hundreds of thousands of dollars in the stock market after I read this book. This book is more valuable than a college education and a lot cheaper.
A MUST read.......2005-08-10
Security Analysis is the most important book ever written about the subject. (...)
Sven Klein, Santa Barbara, CA
A MUST read.......2005-08-07
Security Analysis is the most important book ever written about the subject. It should be mandatory to read this book prior to getting any security license.
Sven Klein, Santa Barbara, CA
Book Description
"Here is an essential tool for the investor: clear, practical, insightful, and concise. This book should have a long, useful life in a professional's library."
—Jeffrey P. Davis, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Lee Munder Capital Group
"This book provides a clear, comprehensive overview of equity valuation concepts and methods. It is well suited for finance practitioners who want to strengthen their understanding of equity asset valuation and as a supplemental reading in advanced undergraduate and graduate courses addressing security analysis and business valuation."
—Professor Robert Parrino, CFA, PhD, Department of Finance, Red McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin
"CFA Institute has done it again. This will be a 'must' reference book for anyone serious about the nuances of equity investment valuation."
—Robert D. Arnott, Chairman, Research Affiliates
"Equity Asset Valuation concisely and clearly explains the most widely used approaches to equity evaluation. In addition to thoroughly explaining the implementation of each valuation method, there is sophisticated discussion of the commonsense financial economics and accounting issues underlying the methods."
—David Blackwell, Head and RepublicBank/James W. Aston Professor of Finance, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University
Customer Reviews:
An important reference book in CFA curriculum.......2007-04-10
It is an extremely important reference book because I am preparing for CFA Level II exam. I've found the book an introductory one to illustrate basic concept in investment industry. Any one who wants to enter the investment banks,mutual funds,asset manangement corps. should have this book in hand.
I strongly recommend it to all candidates on the road to getting CFA charter, and other partitioners in investment field may also find it helpful.
Book Description
Convertible securities, combining aspects of both stocks and bonds, truly create a "best of both worlds" investment. This instructive book uses everyday terms and illustrations to explain types of convertibles, reveal high-return investment strategies, and decode pricing, hedging, and risk/return considerations.
Customer Reviews:
Content free.......2003-11-10
To even to most junior quant, this book would be content free. What's more, he promises the revolutionary new Calamos valuation method (now, not even Nobel prize winners name their theories after themselves, they let other people do it for them, so already, suspicion) but again, nothing, just some snapshots from the screen of his software. The book blurb is misleading, it actually promises the method, not just an advert for it. Do not buy this book, you will learn nothing.
Converted to Convertibles.......2003-03-01
Upon reading this book I realized what I was missing from my portfolio. Investing in convertible over the past 3 years has enabled me to keep my head above water since the market peaked back in 2000. My portfolio was only down 4% in 2001 and 5% in 2002 because of the addition of converts.
Author's Conflicted Intentions Evident.......2000-09-09
The table of contents and size of this book suggests a real winner, perhaps even a Graham & Dodd treatment of the convertibles arena. The wonder is how such a long-winded tome can leave the convertibles student so wanting. The book's problem is probably the author's conflicted intentions: "Do I want my readers to go out and find some nice convertible bonds, or do I want them to pay me to go find them some nice convertible bonds?" Guess who gets short shrift?
The introduction to convertibles section is reasonably well written. But the analysis and strategy sections of the book are suspiciously hazy. I say " suspiciously " because the book's author delivers just enough information so one might be comfortable handing over portfolio management to the author's investment management firm, but not nearly enough to implement a portfolio for oneself. Even Calamos' simple price model is insufficiently described.
Thus, after a windy, winding road of nearly 400 pages, CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES reads as a mediocre introduction to convertibles imbedded within an advertisement for the Calamos firm (for which I had to pay $65!).
A Pedestrian Discourse on an Interesting Topic.......1999-06-03
This book's jacket promises "The Latest Instruments, Portfolio Strategies, and Valuation Analysis." A pretty tall order which, not surprisingly, this book does not deliver, in my humble opinion.
I found the analytical sections particularly incomplete and essentially unusable.
Convertible securities combine the appeal of simplicity with the opportunity for serious quantitative analysis. When this book deals with the simple ideas, it does ok. When it ventures into quant-land, I found the short-comings unbearable.
I am sorry to have such a negative opinion. Perhaps other, more enlightened, readers will find redeeming attributes in this book that excaped me.
Basics, History, Develops Strategies, Pricing models.......1999-01-25
Calamos begins by describing the convertible securities markets underpinnings, both historically and fundamentally. Then, the reader's understanding is developed through dissecting many common convertible securities' structures, when and why they came to market, and their benefits to investors, their issuers, and the investment bankers that brought them to market.
To close, Calamos identifies the issues with investing in convertibles including those concerning: pricing, liquidity (retail vs. institutional), hedging strategies (when so desired by the investor), some discussion of portfolio mixes, and comparisons to major market and custom indices to demonstrate convertible security market performance.
This book was a tremendous help as fundamental underpinning for my own education into convertible securities. The pricing models for the components of convertible securities were alone worth the purchase of the book. Comparing and contrasting the several convertible securities discussed also went a long way to understanding their drawbacks and strengths.
Personally, I felt that the opportunity to expand the book further exists in a couple of areas. First, the convertible hedging strategies were my highest interest in obtaining the book, but I felt that they were left with a shorter than necessary analysis. Only one or two real-life examples were given, and the decision-making criteria of a hedging strategy vs. bond's (relative) price seemed to need more expanded discussion.
Second, the descriptions of the marketplace for these securities was left only at a high-level. In defense of the marketplace description, it's clearly an institutional, dealer-driven market that would probably require another edition to describe that market's inner workings. Perhaps that's a worthy follow-up, Mr. Calamos. "The Mechanics of the Institutional Convertible Securities Markets"??
BUY this book. Calamos' years of experience are clearly demonstrated within the chapters. This is not one of those meritless, sham investment books so often written solely to benefit the author. This is a quality educational tool and long-term reference.
Book Description
Cutting-edge insight from the leader in trading technology
In Cybernetic Analysis for Stocks and Futures, noted technical analyst John Ehlers continues to enlighten readers on the art of predicting the market based on tested systems. With application of his engineering expertise, Ehlers explains the latest, most advanced techniques that help traders predict stock and futures markets with surgical precision. Unique new indicators and automatic trading systems are described in text as well as Easy Language and EFS code. The approaches are universal and robust enough to be applied to a full range of market conditions.
John F. Ehlers (Santa Barbara, CA) is President of MESA Software (www.mesasoftware.com) and has also written Rocket Science for Traders (0-471-40567-1) as well as numerous articles for Futures and Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazines.
Download Description
Cutting-edge insight from the leader in trading technology
In Cybernetic Analysis for Stocks and Futures, noted technical analyst John Ehlers continues to enlighten readers on the art of predicting the market based on tested systems. With application of his engineering expertise, Ehlers explains the latest, most advanced techniques that help traders predict stock and futures markets with surgical precision. Unique new indicators and automatic trading systems are described in text as well as Easy Language and EFS code. The approaches are universal and robust enough to be applied to a full range of market conditions.
John F. Ehlers (Santa Barbara, CA) is President of MESA Software (www.mesasoftware.com) and has also written Rocket Science for Traders (0-471-40567-1) as well as numerous articles for Futures and Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazines.
Customer Reviews:
Excellente product!.......2007-02-16
This is a book clear and very easy to read, for me as physics research, and to my development is very useful.
Strongly recommended.
Brain Surgeons Can't Trade Stocks Like Ehlers Can.......2006-07-01
John Ehlers newest title is sure to make even the brightest of brain surgeons quiver for fear of closing the renal artery prior to completing the operation. Other reviewers may diss this author but his latest book truly reaches for the stars and makes it. The chapters while short, are to the point and exquisitely illustrate the concept being taught. If you are new to trading systems the shortness of the explanations may be too short but for experienced traders and developers of trading systems they are long enough.
Aspects of many indicators are reviewed with fresh insight added for several new systems not talked about in print before. Removing the lag is the traders dream. Many of the indicators shown do work although errata in the code does spoil some of the implementations given. Ehlers has provided for the keener updates on his website that corrects the mistakes, kudos here for doing the right thing.
Overall Ehlers has done it again and this book should be a staple in any traders library. As for the wannabees wanting all the answers and sure fire methods, choose brain surgery as your career option. No one said trading would be easy but Ehlers has given more toolsets that a successful trader can use in a concise to the point book.
Excellent and a must if you desire to succeed.......2005-09-13
I have been trading for nearly 10 years now and have spent countless amount of time and money on books, systems, software and must say this the best book I have come across. With little creativity one can easy adopt ideas from this book to come up with a profitable mechanical system.
Holy Grail has failed.......2005-08-31
The computerization and digital signal processing development let improve classical indicators essentially due to application of modern methods of information processing to prices. Indicators began to smooth better and to delay less. However . First, the prices are non stationary, i.e. the characteristics of filters are varied during the time. Second, as different from technical problems, the kind of a signal and noise distributions for the price are unknown, i.e. nobody know what to filter actually. Third, being filtered by means of Fourier and similar methods prices change the previous values to the addition of the new data: we receive ideal trends under a history data but we can only trade them from right hand to left hand.
Fourier transformation is based on representation of initial series by the infinite sum of sinusoids with a various phase, amplitude and frequency. Recently wavelet transformations was widely adopted in various areas of data processing in which initial series are represented as the sum of some locally defined functions named wavelets. They are constructed by shifting and vertical and horizontal scaling of certain the prototype function. Wavelet transformation, in essence, is fractal that allows the effective using it in the technical analysis. First, it allows to carry out the multiscale analysis of prices, objectively identify trends on various scales by duration and amplitude, separate traders to various groups: scalpers, day traders, swing traders, position traders and long-term investors. The multiscale analysis can be interpreted as the analysis on various time frames. Second, it allows determine noise as the insufficient for reception of the profit amplitude and frequency movement of the prices that effectively allows filter the price series simply subtracting the lowest scale wavelets from it. Third, the additional filtration of white noise without delay is possible. Fourth, long-term trends are defined objectively. Fifth, wavelets do not contain optimized parameters in construct to standard indicators. Sixth, the used wavelets type is adapted to deal with the time ordered data and does not distorted on the last price values. Seventh, the used wavelet transformation is very effective computationally that allows use it in real time for the large massives of tick data. Eighth, it is effective to use wavelets as input data for neural networks and other methods of forecasting and recognition.
John Ehlers Does It Again.......2005-08-21
John Ehlers new book covers much of the same ground but goes beyond his previous book Rocket Science for Traders. Again the reader is given the explanations and theory for his indicators, smoothers and systems along with the Easy Language code for use in the Tradestation platform.
These indicators can be used as presented or can be easily adapted and combined with countless other indicators that a trader may currently be using. Certainly, the goal of any trader is to identify market tops or bottoms or at least to determine if markets are trending, behaving cyclically or entering a period of sideways or volatile movement. These indicators, alone or combined with others, can help one achieve that goal.
The reviewers of his previous book that had negative comments I believe, for the most part, missed the point entirely as it concerns John Ehlers subject matter and style. Hence, I am concerned that they will also make the same mistake when considering this book. Some believed the analysis was sophmoric while others were concerned with advanced theoretical questions concerning the mathematics presented. Since traders come from all backgrounds books like these need to be written to appeal to as many of them as possible. An electrical engineer will understand the concepts and why they might apply to equity and commodity markets and then can make any changes he/she sees fit with the code. Other readers that understand the problems with trading in trending vs non-trending markets can skip the DSP discussions and immediately use the indicators presented or use the code that determines cycle length to make their own indicators much more responsive to market conditions. Theoretical arguments aside, even the simple indictors included in this book take one way beyond the world of simple moving averages and stationary stochastics.
If nothing more, anyone burning the midnight oil searching for a way to beat the markets will be given endless, state-of-the-art ideas to keep him busy for a long time.
Average customer rating:
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Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation 2007 Yearbook: Valuation Edition (Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation (Sbbi) Yearbook (Valuation Edition))
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Stocks, Bonds, Bills, And Inflation Yearbook, 2007: CLASSIC EDITION (Stocks, Bonds, Bills and Inflation (Sbbi) Yearbook (Classic Edition))
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