The world certainly suffers no shortage of accounting texts. The many out there help readers prepare, audit, interpret and explain corporate financial statements. What has been missing is a book offering context and discussion for divisive issues such as taxes, debt, options, and earnings volatility. King addresses the why of accounting instead of the how, providing practitioners and students with a highly readable history of U.S. corporate accounting. More Than a Numbers Game: A Brief History of Accounting was inspired by Arthur Levitt's landmark 1998 speech delivered at New York University. The Securities and Exchange Commission chairman described the too-little challenged custom of earnings management and presaged the breakdown in the US corporate accounting three years later. Somehow, over a one-hundred year period, accounting morphed from a tool used by American railroad managers to communicate with absent British investors into an enabler of corporate fraud. How this happened makes for a good business story. This book is not another description of accounting scandals. Instead it offers a history of ideas. Each chapter covers a controversial topic that emerged over the past century. Historical background and discussion of people involved give relevance to concepts discussed. The author shows how economics, finance, law and business customs contributed to accounting's development. Ideas presented come from a career spent working with accounting information.
SOMEONE WILL MAKE MONEY ON YOUR FUNDS-WHY NOT YOU? «This book is a treasure trove of practical research and pithy thoughts based on Gastineau's decades of experience; a valuable guide for the thoughtful investor.» —Harold Evensky, Chairman, Evensky, Brown & Katz «Someone Will Make Money On Your Funds – Why Not You? will jar armchair mutual fund investors out of their PJ's. If you think checking out your funds in Morningstar and Lipper has you covered, you best read this book.» —Maureen Nevin Duffy, Editor/Publisher, The Turnaround Tactician «This book is a must-read for fund investors. Gastineau carefully discusses many important factors such as taxes, capital gains overhang, trading costs, turnover, benchmark selection, active management, expense ratio, and aggressive trading by market timers. These factors significantly affect fund performance but may be ignored by investors. Gastineau goes on to build a strong case for choosing ETFs over mutual funds, especially for long-term investors. I strongly recommend this book for investors.» —Vijay Singal, J. Gray Ferguson Professor of Finance and Chairperson of the Finance Department, Pamplin College of Business of Virginia Tech, and author of Beyond the Random Walk: A Guide to Stock Market Anomalies and Low-Risk Investing «Gastineau's message is very powerful. He not only challenges some conventional wisdom on investing, but truly emphasizes how to add value to a portfolio. What is unique is his ability to move quickly from the big picture to implementation strategies offering investment solutions to both investment advisors and individual investors. Portfolio adjustments discussed can potentially have significant impact on a long-term investor's standard of living.» —Dan Dolan, Director, Wealth Management Strategies, Select Sector SPDRs
"Read it for no other reason than to learn Bob's Seven Immutable Laws of Business. . . . This is vintage Bob-contrarian, thoughtful, and he's really fun to read." —Forbes In this edition of Bob Lutz's bestselling account of the business philosophy with which he revolutionized Chrysler and much of the automotive industry, Lutz reveals his unique brand of creative management. Readers will learn many lessons herein, including why the key to success in any business is maintaining a positive tension between the creative minds and the buttoned-up financial minds, and how to attract, motivate, and strategically deploy each type throughout an organization. This book features a new introduction and an epilogue in which Lutz introduces an eighth law that helps today's business leaders put his famed Seven Immutable Laws of Business into sharper perspective. Robert A. Lutz (Scarsdale, NY) is General Motor's Vice Chairman of Product Development and Chairman of GM North America.
Managers at all levels are constantly challenged to do more with fewer employees, to motivate diverse groups of people, and to face up to tough people problems in their workforces. An important key to managers' success is accomplishing these goals while protecting themselves and their companies from legal liability. Yet some in management tend to blame legal requirements for hindering progress toward solving problems. U.S. law, however, provides managers with broad discretion in many employment situations and in most cases helps ensure that managers perform their essential functions in a way that is fundamentally fair while still supporting company goals. A Manager's Guide to Employment Law will help managers make day-to-day decisions on how best to manage their employees and handle issues of legal liability. Expert author Dana Muir identifies the subtle and unnecessary mistakes managers make that cause legal headaches and shows how becoming familiar with basic principles of employment law will enable them to develop an internal compass to help make the right decisions. Each chapter focuses on legal concepts of broad application in today's workplace, providing real examples of problems managers face and offering strategies for addressing those problems.
Praise for Options Theory and Trading «I've had the pleasure of teaching with Ron Ianieri at numerous live seminars for traders and investors, and one thing is for sure-Ron knows options! Now Ron has created a thorough, easy-to-read guide that you can benefit from in many ways, whether you are experienced in options trading or just starting out. I believe you will find Options Theory and Trading like Ron himself . . . full of knowledge, entertaining, fast-paced, and a joy to be around.» —Price Headley, CFA, CMT, founder of BigTrends.com «I've had the pleasure of knowing and working with Ron for many years now. When managing funds in our asset management company, Ron has always been our 'go-to guy' on anything options-related. I've also taught a number of seminars side by side with Ron over the years where I've always come home knowing more about options than when I left! The man is truly the 'pitbull' of derivatives.» —Peter Reznicek, Chief Equity Strategist, www.ShadowTrader.net «What a pleasure to read Ron Ianieri's new book, Options Theory and Trading. As a market technician for the last thirty-three years I am always looking for technical moves in stocks, and I rely on Ron's expertise for the optimum options strategy needed for each specific move I perceive happening in the markets. Ron's 'in the pits' experience serves to correct the misinformation in much of the published material and classes currently available to the unsuspecting options trader.» —David Steelsmith Elliott, Wallstreetteachers.com, World's #1 Market Timer, USIC «Ron's expertise in options is as high as there is and his experience is unparalleled. Ron not only knows the answer but can explain it in a '101' fashion that is simple enough for even a novice to understand. His book is written in the same fashion. Ron not only explains the 'how to's' but also the 'how and why' which other books just don't seem to do. As a day trader/swing trader by nature, I also appreciate Ron incorporating real chart examples for us directional traders. For these reasons, I would highly recommend Ron's book to anyone interested in using options.» —Chris Rowe, The Trend Rider, www.tycoonresearch.com
The Forex Options Course is a practical, hands-on guide to understanding and trading forex options. Designed to build a trader's knowledge base in a step-by-step manner, this reliable resource moves from the straightforward to the more sophisticated with discussions of everything from basic plain vanilla calls and puts to intriguing first-generation exotic binary options. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, The Forex Options Course will help you develop the skills and strategies needed to succeed in today's dynamic forex market.
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams. Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale serves as a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does insight. Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams even the best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Just as with his other books, Lencioni has written a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional team leaders.
In this stunning follow-up to his best-selling book, The Five Temptations of a CEO, Patrick Lencioni offers up another leadership fable that's every bit as compelling and illuminating as its predecessor. This time, Lencioni's focus is on a leader's crucial role in building a healthy organization–an often overlooked but essential element of business life that is the linchpin of sustained success. Readers are treated to a story of corporate intrigue as the frustrated head of one consulting firm faces a leadership challenge so great that it threatens to topple his company, his career, and everything he holds true about leadership itself. In the story's telling, Lencioni helps his readers understand the disarming simplicity and power of creating organizational health, and reveals four key disciplines that they can follow to achieve it.
WINNING IS THE GOAL, THE CORPORATE SEASON IS ENDLESS, AND THE PRESSURE TO PERFORM IS 24/7 Winning isn't easy. The world is becoming more and more competitive, with a greater need than ever for people to work together effectively in teams to make organizations successful. There is no better model for success in business than the world of sport, with its bottom-line performance culture and its relentless focus on creating winning teams. In Why Teams Win, renowned sports psychologist Dr. Saul L. Miller-the man who teaches elite athletes and top sports teams how to be successful-uses sport as a powerful metaphor for the world of business. Why Teams Win distills Dr. Miller's work with hundreds of high-performance teams-in the worlds of sport, business, healthcare, and the arts-into lessons to help business teams perform. Why Teams Win: Identified the 9 key characteristics of successful teams. Describes how to improve personal, organizational, and team performance in each of these 9 areas. Explains how and why to apply different strategies to different types of teams. Outlines how to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the team. Helps people work together and perform to the best of their abilities. Shows how to get the maximum potential out of a group of individuals. Features advice, quotes, and interviews from high-profile athletes and coaches, as well as from business leaders. Includes self-evaluation and team-building exercises. Why Teams Win offers anyone wanting to improve their personal and team performance a proven and accessible formula for success.
Fiduciary Management offers an in-depth explanation of every facet of this fast-growing approach to organizing the management of an institutional investment portfolio. Expert author Anton van Nunen begins by outlining the historic shift that has brought this strategy to the attention of the investment community and quickly moves on to illustrate fiduciary management in practice; giving advice in terms of asset-liability modeling and financial markets, constructing portfolios, selecting and overseeing investment managers, benchmarking and performance measurement, and reporting.