Capital Investment & Financing: a practical guide to financial evaluation

Book Description

The requirement to maximise value for shareholders is at the core of any corporate investment or financing decision. The intrinsic value of proposed investments should be assessed before deciding how much capital to allocate; the benefits and risks associated with each available source of finance should be considered when capital is being raised; and capital, and any associated financial risks, should be managed in a way that continues to maximise value. At every stage, an analysis should be carried out to ensure the decision is optimal for shareholders and other capital providers.

This book provides practical guidance on the application of financial evaluation techniques and methods (mainly covered in Appendices), as well as comprehensive coverage of traditional corporate finance topics, discussed in the context of capital investment, raising and management and financial risk management (using derivatives). Models, formulae and other quantitative techniques are illustrated in over 100 examples (using only basic mathematics).

Topics discussed include the following:

* business appraisal using financial ratios

* corporate valuation (mainly discounted cash flow and real options)

*investment appraisal techniques

* acquisition structuring and evaluation

* the nature of loans and loan agreements

* features and pricing of bonds (straight and convertible)

* leasing (including leveraged leasing)

* equity raising (Initial Public Offerings)

* long and short term capital management

* basic pricing of derivatives (forwards, futures, options, swaps)

* interest rate and currency risk management using derivatives

Capital Investment & Financing provides a comprehensive, in-depth coverage of concepts, methods and techniques involved when evaluating acquisitions and other investments, assessing financing opportunities, and managing capital. The core chapters provide practical guidance on key corporate finance topics; the Appendices contain more quantitative material, focusing on pricing techniques. Examples are used throughout, and an integrated case study (fictional) in the final Appendix uses many of the techniques discussed.

*Discusses all key areas of corporate investing and financing, focusing on key financial issues
*Concise, thorough and technical, it enables to reader to acquire knowledge effectively
*Can be used in everyday analysis and decision making

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Customer Reviews:

clear definitions of terms.......2007-05-09

Agar offers what appears to be a suitable book for a business or accounting course, perhaps at the graduate level. While covering the basic concepts, he goes quickly into detailed explanations, often accompanied by good examples that flesh out the ideas. Take the idea of a loan. This might be with one lender or a group of lenders. The latter is called a syndication, and often has agent banks that put together the group and arrange the contractual details. Often, there is a Term Sheet, an oft-heard phrase.

The entire book is like this. Stuffed with clear explanations that you can quickly absorb. The maths level is perhaps considered "intermediate". Not at the level of economics or finance journals, certainly. Papers in those journals might be considered excursions in applied maths. Whereas the book, you are given formulas like Black-Scholes, which you need to use. But you don't have to know the derivations of these.

Average customer rating:

Good primer on the high-level process

The Book I Always Recommend To Friends

The Ultimate Guide to Buying and Selling Coops and Condos in New York City
Neil J. Binder
Manufacturer: Nice Idea Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Buying & Selling Homes | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving

Real Estate Investing in New York City: A Handbook for the Small Investor

Everything You Need to Know Before Buying a Co-op, Condo, or Townhouse

Tips and Traps When Buying a Condo, co-op, or Townhouse (Tips and Traps)

Keys to Purchasing a Condo or CO-OP (Barron's Business Keys)

ASIN: 0967924944

Book Description

A must-read for anyone thinking of buying or selling an apartment in New York City, The Ultimate Guide is clear, concise and packed with authoritative industry-insider information. The product of Bellmarc Principal Neil Binder's 26+ years of experience in New York residential real estate, the guide walks buyers, sellers and real estate brokers through the entire sales process. The third edition is newly updated for 2005! BUS054000

Customer Reviews:

Good primer on the high-level process.......2007-04-16

The pros:
- This book describes the high-level buying process for condos and co-ops.
- Gives good overview of closing costs.

The cons:
- I later found almost all of the information I used in this book on-line.
- Advice is mostly high-level and generic. This info is still useful, however, if you're completely new (as I was) to the New York market.
- No advice on how to find recent comparable condo/co-op sale info in New York.
- Little to no advice on the negotiating process.
- The chapter on how to decide if it's better to rent or buy is completely stacked in favor of buying. For example, the author fails to mention the 6% broker's fee you're going to incur when you sell your place (unless you choose to sell it on your own). He also fails to compare buying a house (which he correctly notes is a highly leveraged investment) to the returns of similarly risky and leveraged investments in other assets (e.g. stock portfolios bought on margin). He also fails to mention how much money you're likely to have to spend updating and upgrading your home to be able to sell it for a price you're happy with.
- Much less advice regarding selling than buying (silver lining: knowing some of the advice the author gives to sellers - e.g. how to sell a dark apartment - can be useful to buyers as well)

The Book I Always Recommend To Friends.......2006-11-28

This book is short and to the point. If you learn and understand what's in here, you'll know more than 90% of the real estate brokers out there!

Walks you through the basics of the process, each step of the way.

Average customer rating:

A MUST READ FOR THE NEW HOME BUYER
Missing vital piece of info for existing homeowners
A MUST Have Book
"New-Home Buying Bible"
GREAT BOOK

The Ultimate New-Home Buying Guide
Jeff Treganowan , and Susan Treganowan
Manufacturer: Maple Leaf Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Buying & Selling Homes | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Purchasing & Buying | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Design & Construction | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0970673701

Book Description

This book is absolutely necessary for anyone even thinking about buying a new home. The authors are new home experts and are telling all of the builder's secrets in this one-of-kind guide. The reader of this book will learn Insider information that will allow him to negotiate the lowest possible price for a new home. The book also gives complete instructions on how to find a good builder and guarantee a quality built new home.

Customer Reviews:

A MUST READ FOR THE NEW HOME BUYER.......2007-04-17

I am a licensed real estate agent in the state of Florida. I must say that this is the most informative book that I've read for the new home buyer. Obviously the authors did their homework. Do not and I repeat do not purchase or build a new home until you read this book!

Missing vital piece of info for existing homeowners.......2006-12-24

This was a good book with a lot of valuable information but was missing the one thing I was looking for...how to buy a new home when it's contingent on your existing home selling. I've visited many new home communities that didn't want to give me the time of day when they found out I had to sell my existing house in order to purchase a new home. I had hoped the authors would have discussed the options available for the many people in my situation.

A MUST Have Book.......2006-01-16

I work in a Real Estate office and am recommending this book to the agents who work there. Most Real Estate Agents don't know how to represent the New Home Buyer. Most will find the property for you, help write a contract (standard one from the home builder) and then wait for their commission check. Oh sure, they'll give you some advice and may even order a independent home inspection, but I have never seen one do all this book says they should. Even if you are buying a resale home, I would recommend this book, every home was new once and the points of researching the builder and development is invaluable. Buy this book along wih a highlighter -- there are gems on every page.

"New-Home Buying Bible".......2003-05-22

This is a must have book if you are buying a new home! I read this book in two days and loved every minute. It tells you everything you need to know to get the home of your dreams built correctly. I highly recommend you read this book and have anyone else who wants to buy a new home read it too!! Two thumbs way UP!!

GREAT BOOK.......2002-01-04

This is a great book for the average Joe, easy to read and understand. I read it in one weekend and was truly enlightened. This is a must have for the informed new home buyer.

Customer Reviews:

A Challenging work.......2002-03-31

Instinctively, most decent people don't like to see anyone singled out and denigrated unfairly. To most, it seems particularly distasteful if the denigration is on the basis of race, gender or (to many, at least) sexual orientation. Yet the authors of this book, all of whom are active in campaigns for equality as well as for civil liberties, see codes on US campuses which prohibit and punish such speech as a threat.... Why?

Their book examines the arguments for and against such codes and the issues that underlie them. Objections to these codes include that :

They are a threat to basic free speech principles. In particular the idea that speech should be protected regardless of its content or viewpoint -- a principle intended to prevent the law from favouring one interest over another.

They have a chilling effect on wider discourse. Nadine Strossen points out that : Regardless of how carefully these rules are drafted, they inevitably are vague and unavoidably invest officials with substantial discretion in the enforcement process; thus, such regulations exert a chilling effect on speech beyond their literal bands. (1)

They put us on a "slippery slope". Ideas not originally intended to be the subject of the codes will be penalised. Throughout the book examples are given of this happening. Strossen points out that in Britain the "No Platform for racists and fascists" was extended to cover Zionism (whereby its victims included the Israeli ambassador to the UK). (2) In Canada the victims of restrictions of free expression have included the black feminist scholar Bell Hooks, and a gay & lesbian bookshop in Toronto. (3)

Much the same issue was raised from the floor of an LM sponsored conference in London at which one of the authors (Nadine Strossen) spoke; it was pointed out that the UK Public Order Act of 1936, which was ostensibly introduced to control the followers of British Fascist leader Oswald Mosley, had been invoked time and time again to ban demonstrations by leftists and trade unionists. Similarly, police tactics used against the National Front in the 1980s to prevent their coaches from reaching demonstrations were later employed against striking miners.

The book's authors note that the codes give power to institutions and government. Can we trust them with these new powers? As David Coles, a law professor at Georgetown University, wrote :

...in a democratic society the only speech government is likely to succeed in regulating will be that of the politically marginalised. If an idea is sufficiently popular, a representative government will lack the political wherewithal to supress it, irrespective of the First Amendment. But if an idea is unpopular, the only thing that may protect it from the majority is a strong constitutional norm of content neutrality. (4)

Donald E. Lively questions how new powers will be exercised :

Reliance upon a community to enact and enforce protective regulation when the dominant culture itself has evidenced insensitivity toward the harm for which sanction is sought does not seem well placed. A mentality that trivialises incidents such as those Lawrence relates is likely to house the attitudes that historically have inspired the turning of racially significant legislation against minorities. (5)

But perhaps Ira Glasser puts it best in her introduction to the book :

First, the attempt by minorities of any kind -- racial, political, religious, sexual -- to pass legal restrictions on speech creates a self-constructed trap. It is a trap because politically once you have such restrictions in place the most important questions to ask are: Who is going to enforce them? Who is going to interpret what they mean? Who is going to decide whom to target?
The answer is : those in power. (6)

Another condemnation is that the codes are an exercise in self-indulgency, a trivialisation of real racial imperatives by the pursuit of relatively marginal and debatable concerns....
Donald E. Lively states :

As a method for progress, however, protocolism (1) seriously misreads history and disregards evolving social and economic conditions, (2) is an exercise in manipulating and avoiding racial reality; and (3) represents a serious misallocation of scarce reformist resources. (7)

Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex doesn't just put the arguments against speech codes -- it also deconstructs the arguments put in their favour. The three most interesting arguments in favour of such codes are, in my view, (1) that racist expression is not about truth or an attempt to persuade and so is not worthy of protection; (2) that racist declarations are in fact group libels; and (3) that racist expression is akin to an assault.

All three arguments are dismissed by the authors. In the first case, Justice Douglas is approvingly quoted :

(A) function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have unsettling effects as it presses for acceptance of an idea. This is why freedom of speech, though not absolute is nevertheless protected against censorship or punishment, unless shown likely to produce a clear and present danger of a serious substantive evil that rises far above public inconvenience, annoyance or unrest. There is no room under our Constitution for a more restrictive view. For the alternative would lead to standardisation of ideas either by legislatures, courts, or dominant political or community groups. (8)

The second argument -- that racist, sexist or homophobic statements are group libels -- is likewise dismissed. The authors point out that libel involves the publication of information about someone that is both damaging and false. Apart from the obvious fact that group libel doesn't refer to an individual does it fit the definition? Henry Louis Gates Jr. states that it does not. He points out that racist statements may be right or wrong but cannot in many forms be judged true or false. they are often statements of what the individual thinks should be or an expression of feeling. As Gates points out : You cannot libel someone by saying 'I despise you', which seems to be the essential message of most racial epithets. (9)

The last argument -- that such speech represents an assault or words that wound -- is examined, and also dismissed. The authors accept that words can cause harm. Their concern, however, is that no code can be drawn in such a way as to punish only words which stigmatise and dehumanise. They point out that the most harmful forms of racist language are precisely those that combine insult with advocacy -- those that are in short the most political. (10) Attempts to deny that racist speech has a political content also deny that they are part of a larger mechanism of political subordination.

So, can we combat hatred on grounds of race, gender or sexual preference whilst cherishing and nurturing civil liberties? Can we encourage a diversity of thought as well as of population and lifestyle? The answer given by the authors of this book is an emphatic 'yes'. They don't see equality of opportunity and freedom of expression as being at odds. As such, their ideas are refreshing in contrast to the many who seem to have quite unthinkingly accepted that we must sacrifice our freedom on an altar of (faked) equality...

Book Description

From the authors' preface: "As we enter the era of intelligent materials and embark upon a new approach to material design, synthesis, and system integration, certain groups of materials will emerge as champions." Standing high among these champions are conductive electroactive polymers (CEPs), which appear destined to play a central role in the development of intelligent materials. Although recent advances have enabled the design and assembly of polymers from the molecular level, creating sophisticated structures requires a solid understanding of the structure-property relationships. Building on the standard-setting first edition, Conductive Electroactive Polymers: Intelligent Materials Systems, Second Edition provides a thorough, up-to-date introduction to conductive electroactive polymers. The authors discuss the parameters that affect the formation of important CEPs, including polypyrroles, polyanilines, and polythiophenes. They show how to use these parameters to manipulate the properties of the polymers, and they clarify the chemical and energy parameters that determine the structure and its properties. New in this edition are more details on polythiphene and polyaniline systems, an update on progress in polypyrroles, and reports on recent advances in CEP processing techniques and device fabrication. As the use of intelligent materials grows, it becomes increasingly important for scientists and engineers in fields ranging from materials science to electronics and biomedicine to understand the properties and potential of CEPs. This book is an outstanding introduction to conducting polymers and a valuable reference that brings you quickly up to date on recent developments.

Book Description

Semilinear elliptic equations play an important role in many areas of mathematics and its applications to physics and other sciences. This book presents a wealth of modern methods to solve such equations, including the systematic use of the Pohozaev identities for the description of sharp estimates for radial solutions and the fibring method. Existence results for equations with supercritical growth and non-zero right-hand sides are given.Readers of this exposition will be advanced students and researchers in mathematics, physics and other sciences who want to learn about specific methods to tackle problems involving semilinear elliptic equations.

Amazon.com

The comic phrase "Wherever you go, there you are" is the bane of Monk and Jo's existence in this hilarious romantic novel by the owner of a renowned chocolate boutique in Washington, D.C. They can't escape the tragedy of their own lives.

Monk is a "Home-Mart Man" ("I can do anything I want") whose vision, on his good days, is to open the first Mega Home-Mart. Jo bakes at the Cake & Coffee and dreams of making "the cake of a lifetime ... a cake to lay down and die for ... a cake I would offer to God." Jo and Monk get together because of a mutual addiction to Hotline Heaven, a volunteer crisis line. What they both have in common is a rather tentative hold on life itself. Both have lost a close family member in the past, and neither seems able to let go of "if only." If only Monk's son hadn't been so crazy about seeds, the crunching of which undoubtedly caused his brain tumor, then Monk would be a sure success. If only Jo's father hadn't gone out in that boat and shot himself, then she wouldn't want to end her own life by leaping into Great Falls. Hotline Heaven is a quirky, dark romance; it isn't until tragedy threatens their life together that Jo and Monk discover that they really do have a reason to live.

Customer Reviews:

a play of reality and poetry.......1999-12-26

Hotline Heaven is a work which must not be read solely for its story, although the plot is most interesting and well-crafted. Instead open the novel to the first page and relax into the poetry which Ms. Park infuses with a personal magic into the voice of the female narrator. Here are articulations from the loneliest and most fragile dimensions of the human spirit which emerge in the darkness of a sleepless night. Ms. Park has a very rare ability to produce a story which begs to be read several times for the pleasure of both its beauty and its insights. To truly savor its richness, one must approach it with some experience of the uncertainty and unexpected beauty life has to offer. I await the next world she will create with great anticipation.

An insightful examination of the inner heart.......1998-10-27

This book deserves a very careful reading as Ms. Park displays a rare gift for the articulation of inner landscapes of loneliness, hope and reconciliation. The book has layers of meaning which are woven together through the poetic and evocative talents of its author

Fantastic!.......1998-06-21

I was moved and heightened by Frances Park's novel "Hotline Heaven". Turning each page, I can only compare it to rising higher and higher to another plane where only the inspired go.

Average customer rating:

Absolutely Hysterical!!
Highly recommended

Hotline To Heaven
Darrell Bain
Manufacturer: Lighthouse Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

jp-unknown2 | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0971191557

Book Description

Ed Tanner is a shady character with an unwholesome past. He's down on his luck and between capers, so he ends up at the Salvation Army shelter where he meets Violet, a sweet young thing too beautiful for words and as pure as a newborn day. In this amusing and unpredictable romance, she becomes the Muse to inspire Ed's next project and biggest scam ever - a Fan Club for God. If you liked Damon Runyan's comically sly characters in "Guys and Dolls", you'll love the mixed-up shenanigans of Ed, Violet and the assorted members of God's Fan Club!

Cheering all the way, you'll wonder if Ed will manage to seduce sweet Violet into the material world she's never known or whether her pure heart will convert him from his evil ways. A nice twist brings this delightful comedy to a satisfying conclusion. Once again, Darrell Bain, has charmed us with his offbeat view of men and women and the cross-purposes they run into as they seek to find soul-mates.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Hysterical!!.......2005-02-17

Hotline to Heaven is simply hysterical! Parts of the book had me laughing so hard I had tears coming from my eyes. There's some romance, some mystery, an interesting plot, and a lot of publicity for the Salvation Army. All in all, a great book.

Highly recommended.......2001-02-03

Darrell Bain pushes the envelope of plausibility in this lighthearted, entertaining tale of a con artist and the woman who steals his heart. HOTLINE TO HEAVEN is the story of a con artist who falls victim to his own weaknesses in this humorous tale of love and duplicity.

Ed Tanner just pulled off the greatest con. Too bad that he took a bimbo to Las Vegas to celebrate and she absconded with the money. With very little left in his pockets, Ed drops a quarter into the Salvation Army's coffers and meets the beautiful, extremely innocent Violet. Soon his finds his way to the Salvation Army's shelter, and into the heart of Violet.

Despite other's protests, Violet invests her life savings in Ed's new scheme. While she believes he's sincere, Ed has a brilliant idea to line his pockets yet again. He starts God's Fan Club with Violet at the forefront, looking like an angel. He isn't, however, prepared for his heart to be swept away by the innocent.

Ed introduces Violet to the simple things of life such as pretty clothes, jewelry and alcohol. Soon she finds herself swept away on the publicity and excitement of her new life, completely unaware that the man she loves is planning to leave her high and dry.

While Violet's innocence is almost unbelievable, the sharp contrast she provides to the Ed's world provides the reader with sparkling entertainment. The book is a quick read, with a wonderfully deft voice that leaves the reader quite satisfied by the end. Darrell Bain's cast of characters and fun plot will have the reader looking for more of his work!

Average customer rating:
Hotline to Heaven
F. Hunter
Manufacturer: Hunter Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Pentecostal | Protestantism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Charismatic | Worship & Devotion | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1878209140

Average customer rating:
Hotline to Heaven
Frances Hunter
Manufacturer: Hunter Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PARTJK

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