Quality Value Banking: Effective Management Systems That Increase Earnings, Lower Costs, and Provide Competitive Customer Service

Customer Reviews:

Depends upon the reader's background.......2007-08-23

I read this book because a Wall Street Journal story referred to it as "the" source for quality of earnings analysis. I was somewhat disappointed with the quantity and quality of new information and analytical techniques, but that's not a knock on the book. I think it boils down to your background. If you're a CFO, Controller or seasoned accountant, there may not be alot of new information here for you. The book may be much better for financial analysts that don't have a strong accounting background but need to be able to determine earnings quality. I personally found Creative Cash Flow Reporting (Mulford & Comiskey) to be more useful. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have Quality of Earnings in my library.

Still worth reading.......2004-05-18

17 years later and many things have changed. The desire of investors to accurately gauge the stability of the companies in their portfolios remains the same. The incentive of management with stock options to hide the true nature of what the reality of what the company's earnings have been remains strong. Some of the techniques mentioned will be hard to use when companies employ SPEs to hide their true indebtedness and derivative positions mask the Value at Risk. However, many of the technique still have value. The analysis of receivables and inventories can provide insight into the immediate future of the company. The techniques that have lost their clear edge are the debt and write-off analysis. Write-offs are now required by GAAP (although the "big bath" write-offs are still "non-recurring") and SPEs or variable interest entities can obscure debt. It is fascinating in light of Enron, WorldCom, Qwest, Tyco, and Adelphia the stories of companies in the 70s and 80s that were attempting to do the same thing (though often without the fraud). How little man changes through the ages.

Middle Markets.......2004-05-07

Long overdue is a middle market with different rules than those by which the traditional markets must be rated in terms of earnings, and standards, to prevent the wholesale financial shennanigans that took place during the late 90's as VC's funded IPO's and oversold them to the institutional markets. There has always been a very healthy start up market in the U.S. that has yet to be tapped for its vitality, and its uncertainty, that can be just as legitimately traded as NASDAQ and the tradtional market. Defining a method of doing that, and setting it up will provide the U.S. with the vehicle to prevent putting excess pressure on accountants and marketers to whittle away expenses and beef up assets to present healthier stocks than they are to take advantage of the speculatators that most young companies draw. In fact, there should be an entrepreneurial wild mustang market similar to the gold rush vitality that Americans come by so naturally, but apart from the traditional markets that require greater control and stability. Organizing such a market would greatly benefit both the industry, the opportunities for investment, and the many personnel who make their living serving the investment industry and its affiliates. Making such an early trader market by taking advantage of the VC interest in early entrance but allow them to cut out early would help to grow the markets exponentially.

Excellent to learn financial analysis.......2002-09-20

This book is very effective in introducing people to critical financial statement analysis. It helps to have some accounting background though. The material in this book will reinforce a lot of the important financial/accounting concepts that all investors should at least understand before committing to an investment. The author makes the accounting concepts interesting and accessible for most people. In short, the book is a great way to learn/reinforce important financial analysis techniques.

Indespensible for fundamental analysis.......2002-09-18

I got a lot out of this book. It has helped me a lot in my personal schooling of fundamental analysis. It is easily understood and comprehended by most anybody of average intelligence and belongs on every investor/traders bookshelf. You can tell that Thornton L. O'Glove knows his stuff and I only wish that he was still doing his Quality Of Earnings Report. I have owned it for a little over a month as of this review and have read it three times now getting more and more out of it every time. I obviously love it.

Book Description

CORPORATE FINANCIAL REPORTING is written for students who require an understanding of financial accounting and reporting issues, problems, and practices. It is appropriate for the second financial accounting course at the MBA level, often called Corporate Financial Reporting. This text is also appropriate for schools that offer a one semester Intermediate accounting course, at the undergraduate level, for Finance majors. Careful consideration is given to the management aspects associated with various financial reporting issues. Chapters blend issues, concepts, standards and stakeholder interests to convey the complexities, controversies and uncertainties inherent in the financial reporting process.

Customer Reviews:

Not for everyone.......2005-02-04

Materials are technical and explanations are skimpy. Some cases are excellent but most of exercises are just too mechanical. This book is for advanced courses for real accountants. In my opinion, not suitable for general MBAs.

Great Fun to Teach.......2004-01-03

Here is a secret: the study or practice or accounting may be tedious, but the teaching of accounting is fun. It's about money, power, greed, betrayal -- what's not to like? More particularly, it is one of those courses where students come in bearing such low expectations thaqt their only surprises will be pleasant.

Of all the accounting materials I've been exposed to, none is more fun to teach than this book by Brownlee, Ferris and Haskins. There is an introductory chaper of nuts and bolts. But then, the bulk of the book is made up of case studies in accounting analysis. With bright students (I use it with second- or third-year law students), you can do a whole course from the standing start.

Whenever I teach accounting, I tend to treat it as a "fraud" course--try to find the gimmick. In general, students are uncomfortable with the approach. They tend to think of accountants as nice people and their a not always happy with my seeming cynicism. Post-Enron (and WorldComm, and Adelphia, and Parmalat, etc. etc., etc.), I am tempted to call up all my former students and say -- "See? I was right all along." Meanwhile, it is wonderful to watch the student puzzle over a Brownlee problem and then say (as if with a flash of insight) -- "But that's wrong!" And of course the answer is: "That's why it's in the book."

An excellent book........2000-08-26

This is an extremely well-written and thoughtful book. The authors take a highly practical and rigorous look at accounting as used in practice by publicly-traded companies. It is an effective integration of accounting principles and real-world financial statement analysis -- helps the reader develop a sense of what is aggressive, what is conservative, etc., and what critical issues are discernible but not immediately obvious from a routine examination of financial statements. A good read for would-be Ben Inkers. For a more basic introduction to accounting, check out books by Robert Anthony.

Average customer rating:

Earnings Quality
Patricia M. Dechow , and Catherine M. Schrand
Manufacturer: Research Foundation of CFA Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0943205689

Product Description

Understanding the quality of earnings is an essential part of processing and interpreting information. The authors of this Research Foundation of CFA Institute monograph discuss the types of earnings management techniques companies use, when earnings management is most likely to occur, and the role of key players in monitoring management and improving earnings quality. They also examine how investors respond to earnings and highlight trading strategies based on earnings quality.

Assessment of Rehabilitative and Quality of Life Issues in Litigation

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Assessment of Rehabilitative and Quality of Life Issues in Litigation
Patricia Murphy , and John M. Williams
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1574441590

Book Description

Written in response to the Supreme Court's landmark Daubert decision regarding provision of expert witness scientific testimony, Assessment of Rehabilitative and Quality of Life Issues in Litigation focuses on quality of life as a means of conceptualizing and measuring pain and suffering in the controversial enjoyment of life debate. The authors make a compelling argument for a quality of life paradigm based on a rehabilitation and health economics analysis, demonstrating that qualified rehabilitationists are the best experts to provide analyses of the impact of disability or injury on quality of life over the lifespan. The extensive literature review enables attorneys and litigation experts to easily access quality of life literature.

Cases in Financial Reporting: An Integrated Approach With an Emphasis on Earnings Quality and Persistence

Average customer rating:

Don't waste your money.
It's a great book with very useful examples!

Cases in Financial Reporting: An Integrated Approach With an Emphasis on Earnings Quality and Persistence
D. Eric Hirst , and Mary Lea McAnally
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0135188466

Book Description

A collection of financial accounting cases designed to help readers become financial statement users, this book was developed from the course materials used in the past six years at the University of Texas at Austin. Each case utilizes financial statement information (balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flow and/or footnotes) and a number of topical questions. Readers use the financial statement information to infer and interpret the economic events underlying the numbers. Related articles taken from business publications accompany some cases. Information from the articles is incorporated into the case question material. This comprehensive book provides a complete review of analyzing balance sheets, income statements, statements of cash flows, ratio analysis and interpreting and understanding specific accounts. For those in financial reporting and accounting and others working with financial statements.

Customer Reviews:

Don't waste your money........2006-10-09

This book is horrible. I'm using it in my advanced accounting class right now and all I can say is that this book is a waste of time. Its exercises are backwards, not in any form you'd ever run accross in the real world. There's no explanation for the topics. You're thrown into the book expected to know all of the information it presents. If this information is new to you you'll need another accounting book anyways. Save your money and just buy a nice, well written text book.

It's a great book with very useful examples!.......1998-11-12

If you are looking for a book that will help you to understand complex Financial Accounting using cases taken form the real life, this is your book!

How To Analyze Businesses, Financial Statements And The Quality Of Earnings -

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How To Analyze Businesses, Financial Statements And The Quality Of Earnings -
Ph.D. - Dr. Doel G. Siegel
Manufacturer: Prentice Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QS8BQ6

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How to Analyze Businesses, Financial Statements, and the Quality of Earnings
Joel G. Siegel
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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How to Analyze Businesses, Financial Statements, and the Quality of Earnings
Joel G. Siegel
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000L5818C

Quality Value Banking, Effective Management Systems That Increase Earnings, Lower Costs, and Provide Competitive Customer Service

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Quality Value Banking, Effective Management Systems That Increase Earnings, Lower Costs, and Provide Competitive Customer Service
Janet L. & Harvey, Thomas W. Gray
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S7JV5K

Book Description

Blount, Thomas [1618-1679]. Nomo Lexikon: A Law-Dictionary. Interpreting Such Difficult and Obscure Words and Terms, as are Found Either in Our Common or Statute, Ancient or Modern, Laws. With References to the Several Statutes, Records, Registers, Law-Books, Charters, Ancient Deeds, and Manuscripts, Wherein the Words are Used: And Etymologies, Where They Properly Occur. London: Printed by Tho. Newcomb for John Martin and Henry Herringman, 1670. Unpaginated. Text printed in double columns. Folio (8" x 12"). Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-415-0. Cloth. $140.

* Reprint of first edition. Blount was a member of the Inner Temple. Prohibited to practice at the Bar because he was a Catholic, Blount turned to legal scholarship and lexicography. Blount aimed to correct the defects he found in Cowell's Interpreter (1607) and Rastell's Termes de la Ley (1523). In his preface, he observed that Cowell "is sometimes too prolix in the derivation of a Word, setting down several Authors Opinions, without categorically determining which is the true"; Rastell "wrote so long hence, that his very Language and manner of expression was almost antiquated." He hoped that by correcting these flaws he would create a dictionary useful to everyone in the profession from "the Coif to the puny-Clerk." The Nomo-Lexikon is clearer and more detailed than its predecessors. It is also the first English-language dictionary with entries that include word etymologies and citations. An immediate success that quickly supplanted its predecessors, it was reissued in larger and revised editions throughout the eighteenth century.

Book Description

Napoleon's Buttons is the fascinating account of seventeen groups of molecules that have greatly influenced the course of history. These molecules provided the impetus for early exploration, and made possible the voyages of discovery that ensued. The molecules resulted in grand feats of engineering and spurred advances in medicine and law; they determined what we now eat, drink, and wear. A change as small as the position of an atom can lead to enormous alterations in the properties of a substance-which, in turn, can result in great historical shifts.

With lively prose and an eye for colorful and unusual details, Le Couteur and Burreson offer a novel way to understand the shaping of civilization and the workings of our contemporary world.

Customer Reviews:

Napoleon's Buttons Review.......2006-09-28

While first scanning through Napleon's Buttons, I had expected a completely and utterly useless story that would have wasted my time. After finishing the introduction and a few chapters, however, I found myself more knowledgable. I learned numerous new things already with a few pages. Napoleon's Buttons has seventeen chapters that basically tell the story of seventeen different molecules and how they changed the world. These molecules range from birth control to glucose and spices to dyes. The book also proves how many of the things humans take for granted in modern society were things that were extremely rare years ago. Salt, for example, was something everyone wanted, but not everyone could afford. Today, people put salt on food everyday and throw bags of it on the ground when it snows outside. The book also showed how something as simple as tin buttons could alter the course of history. (You will learn about this in the introduction.) Overall, the book was alright. It was not fantastic, nor was it insanely boring. I learned a lot, and if you choose to read it, you will too. I do not recommend this to any one who is not an adult and has spare time (because it is lengthy). I am glad I took the time to read Napoleon's Buttons, however, because I did learn a lot about history and how humans take so many things for granted.

Excellent read for anyone!.......2006-06-02

What a great book! If you've ever been curious about how people came to discover, develop, and use some of the things we take for granted in our everyday lives, this book is fascinating! If you teach science, it is a must read - so many hooks to get students interested in science while seeing the chemistry connections! If you don't teach, you will still like it, and the authors wrote it on a level every adult can comprehend.

Just my opinion.......2006-05-19

but this best selling book didn't do it for me. I read the first two hundred pages and then put it down for good. It was just too monotonous. I believe that some people can find this book fascinating, but don't understand it myself. Reading this book, I just kept thinking, ok ok, pepper is great, but how many ways can its greatness be expressed? I kept thinking of Forest Gump's friend Bubba: shrimp sandwiches, shrimp Creole, shrimp kebabs, shrimp, shrimp, shrimp... Uhhrg.

Also, the story seemed to be missing from this book. I kept waiting for historical accounts of how these molecules were responsible for turning points in history. Instead, they all seem to have contributed to the evolution of society over eons. Except for the tin buttons on Napoleon's troops, which may or may not have contributed to his downfall (the evidence is flimsy,) the molecules all slowly entered into society and slowly changed the way we live.

Overall, there are better historical accounts of science and nature than this one.

Practical Real-World Chemistry.......2006-01-18

What a fabulous book! This book does a great job of showing how something as mundane(to many people) as chemical formulae can determine the outcome of civilizations. High marks for making chemistry relevant and interesting. At times, some connections seem a bit too speculative for my scientific taste, but overall a fine book. I have read it twice now. If you like this book, you'll probably like "Uncle Tungsten" by Oliver Sacks

Organic chemistry made fascinating!.......2005-10-18

This book is truly worth reading and keeping as a reference in your personal library. I stumbled on it at our local library only because it was next to the physics & math sections and what a stroke of luck that was! This is an extremely clear exposition of organic chemistry in a historical context. The writing is gripping and am not surprised that other reviewers couldn't put the book down. It is truly that good.

My personal favorite is the section dealing with olive oil chemistry where use is made of the simple molecular diagrams developed earlier in the book. They give very valuable insight throughout the book and in this section they help one visualize the physical behaviour of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids.

Lessons from the past. .(Book Review): An article from: American Scientist

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Lessons from the past. .(Book Review): An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This revision of the successful physical/historical geology text offers complete coverage of the basic principles underlying each specialty. While devoting separate sections to the physical and historical aspects of geology, historical perspectives are skillfully integrated throughout the text to enhance and deepen student understanding of historical geological developments while demonstrating the link between the two branches of the field. This edition has been updated and revised to include a new chapter on structural geology, an expanded discussion of energy, and separate treatments of metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Discussions of physical geology emphasize internal processes and products in order to expose students to the dynamics of earthquakes and plate tectonics. In addition, this edition features more illustrations designed to emphasize what students would actually see in the field. Each chapter includes a listing of key terms, a summary of major ideas discussed, numerous exercises, and suggested readings. Also provides a glossary and appendixes, including rock identification charts, topographic and geologic maps, and a measurement conversion table.

Book Description

Things haven't been going well at the Riverside Adolescent Psychiatric Center, and they're about to get worse.

When Norman Chase opened a treatment center for troubled teens and started billing insurance companies for pills and talk, he was convinced he'd found the perfect business. For fifteen years his little hospital had been spitting out cash like a giant ATM, transforming Norman from a down-on-his-luck drug salesman in an aging Chevy to a multimillionaire CEO in a Ferrari. There were only two small problems: his patients and his staff.

Welcome to the Loony Bin, where everyone is yearning to escape, and three young patients are putting the finishing touches on a plot to relieve Norman of some of his wealth. With the click of a camera shutter they set their plan in motion, with hilariously unpredictable results.

Set in Richmond and Williamsburg, Virginia, and Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, The Loony Bin Blues is the story of a crime-gone-wrong that turns out to be just the therapy its young perpetrators and their victim need.

Customer Reviews:

Blues to make you feel good.......2004-12-10

What a fine first novel by Greg Johnson! Money is what drives the whacky characters and engaging plot, but just when you think you know where the author is heading, things veer off in another direction. But for all the highjinks and escapades, the ending returns us to a moral center that makes a sense we wish was more common in our world. Johnson obviously knows the subject area as well as the machinations that might be employed by both the inmates and the staff of a mental health institution. To shape a story in this setting with humor, compassion, and sharp dialog takes a special eye, ear, and language skill. Well done. Highly recommended.

A truly engaging and entertaining read!.......2004-10-01

THE LOONEY BIN BLUES is a hilarious send-up of the mental health industry. The so-called troubled teens being treated at the Riverside Adolescent Psychiatric Center are, in fact, resourceful, determined, independent young people who easily outwit a whole bevy of corrupt and/or inept caretakers.

The colorful cast of characters runs the gamut from trailer trash to secret agents, all tripping over each other to side-splitting effect. The scenes in Colonial Williamsburg are especially entertaining, and when everyone converges on tiny Ocracoke Island for the climax, I couldn't stop laughing.

Mr. Johnson clearly knows and likes his teenaged characters, giving their dialogue snap and authenticity. He also has a great deal of fun skewering the administrators, therapists and social workers of the Riverside Center. Underlying the substantial humor is a gentle message about the decisions we make about how to lead our lives as we grow up.

This is a book both adults and young people can enjoy equally; I plan to pass it along to my 14-year-old daughter.

Just one word of warning: once you start reading THE LOONEY BIN BLUES, you won't be able to put it down.

A great read!.......2004-09-16

This book has a great story line and is a real page turner.

Fast and Funny.......2004-08-07

The Loony Bin Blues moves along with gusto taking it's colorful characters to a satisfying climax. It's a fast read, mostly because you want to keep going to find out what's coming up.

Great fun!.......2004-08-03

I thoroughly enjoyed this writer's first novel. He writes about an area of the country (Richmond, VA) and a subject (adolescent looney bins) I know well, as does he. He vividly captures a number of teenage "types" and blends them into a story line that engages and entertains. His humor is sometimes subtle, sometimes raucous, but always -- well, humorous!

While this book is fiction, the underlying theme could usefully be adopted by an enterprising, muckraking journalist who wants first crack at a "business" which could stand outside scrutiny.

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