Keys to Reading an Annual Report (Barron's Business Keys)

Book Description

How to cut through the public relations jargon and analyze a company's financial health and future prospects as it's spelled out in an annual report. Sound advice for non-expert investors in the stock market. New topics covered and explained in this edition include annual reports on the Internet, materiality, and financial derivatives. Titles in the easy-to-understand Business Keys series are directed at consumers and non-professionals, with advice on saving, investing, protecting assets, and increasing wealth through prudent money management. The books define terms, cut through business jargon, speak in plain language, and take the mystery out of business.

Customer Reviews:

Succinct and Informative.......2003-06-11

This book is very succinct and the explanations for each accounting concepts are very easy to understand and easy to remember. The "Red Flags" after each concept are very useful in pointing out all the possible problems that may arise. While the strengths of this book is his conciseness, it does require you to have some basic accounting background. Otherwise, some of the explanations may seem confusing. Having said that, if i am reading an annual report, I would definitely want to have this book beside me. Happy reading!

Great Little Book To Help You Understand Financial Reports.......2002-03-05

"Keys To Reading An Annual Report" by George Thomas Friedlob and Ralph E. Welton is a wonderful, little book for all investors. Each of the fifty, three-or-four-page sections covers a key concept that investors should understand when reading a public company's annual report and other financial statements.

"Keys To Reading An Annual Report" is no substitute for a complete text about financial statement analysis, such as "The Analysis And Use of Financial Statements," but "Keys To Reading An Annual Report" is an excellent first read for new investors who are learning to understand financial statements. And, experienced readers of annual reports will probably find this book a useful review.

Some of the fifty key topics covered include:

--SEC Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and the 8-K
--Current Assets
--Cash and Receivables
--Cost of Goods Sold and Inventories
--Property, Plant, and Equipment
--Depreciation
--Intangibles and Other Assets
--Depletion and Amortization
--Current Liabilities
--Bonds and Amortization
--Owner's Equity
--Classes of Stock
--Treasury Stock
--Discontinued Operations
--Ratio Analysis
--Taxes and Tax Deferrals

Many of the topics "Red Flag" things to which investors should pay special attention. For example, the chapter about Depreciation Red Flags: "The basis for long-lived asset valuation is historical cost. Because depreciation does not measure actual decline in value, the net book value of a long-lived asset (historical cost - accumulated depreciation) is not a good measure of the cost of replacing the asset. Neither is net book value a good measure of what the asset would bring if sold." (i.e., depreciation expense is a way of expensing the long-lived asset. And, the balance sheet only lists the so-called "unexpired cost.")

The red flag also discusses the difficulty in comparing depreciation across different companies because of the different ways depreciation may be computed.

The section about Treasury Stock tells us: "Stock Issued by a company may later be reacquired by the company. In some cases, the company may retire or cancel this stock. When reacquired stock is not retired or canceled, it is referred to as treasury stock." (there is a nice glossary at the end of the book.).

Friedlob and Welton point out that treasury stock is not an asset. "A company cannot create an asset by holding stock in itself."

However, because the reacquired stock may have been reacquired at a different price than it was originally issued, the wealth within the company can change in such a treasury stock transaction. For example, suppose stock is issued for $20 per share, but reacquired for $2 per share (it's an internet company!), then, somehow, the company has taken in $18 per share on the transaction. How is this accounted for in the financial statements?

Friedlob and Welton explain: "Just as treasury stock is not an asset, a loss or gain cannot result from treasury stock transactions. 'Things' happen that you and I would call a 'loss' (reacquiring treasury stock for $20 per share and later reissuing it for $12) or a 'gain' (reacquiring treasury stock for $30 per share and later reissuing it for $40). But it is illegal for a company to produce a gain or loss transacting in its own stock. When total stockholder's equity is decreased by treasury stock transactions (a loss), the decrease is generally taken directly from retained earnings. No loss is taken... When total stockholder's equity is increased by treasury stock transactions (a gain), the increase is recorded as a separate source of capital called Paid-In Capital from Treasury Stock Transactions."

So, by reading a little, two-page section about treasury stock in Keys To Reading An Annual Report, you probably now know more than 99% of all investors know about treasury stock!

"...If you are new to investing, you might also want to pick up a copy of Barron's "Keys To Investing In Common Stocks," which is an excellent first read for investors.

Peter Hupalo, Author of "Becoming An Investor"

Keys to Reading an Annual Report.......2001-12-30

This small manual concisely and succinctly presents the major elements of financial statements in easy to read, line-by-line format. It is not only ideal for the average investor without an accounting background, but also for the accountant who needs to explain financial statement concepts and presentations to others. Its examples are easy to relate to and quite illustrative. I regret this wasn't available when I tried to decipher "Accounting 101".

A CUT ABOVE ONE OF MY FINANCE COURSES.......2000-07-02

Even thought this book is five years old, the information still applies to the year 2000. As a person who now works iin finance, I know that detail is extremely important. This book certainly does its job by being very detail oriented. I graduated froom a very pretigious business school in which finance is actually the best subject taught, and I have to admit I think this little guide puts many pricey finance/accounting and finance professors to shame. It's also probably a good little guide for kids as well, to give them a headstart in the world of finance.

Book Description

This Fundamentals text introduces the beginning student to Autodesk's Architectural Desktop software. The text covers the Layer Manager, Design Center, Structural Members, Doors, Windows, and Walls. Step by Step lessons take the student from creation of a site plan, floor plan, space planning, elevations, all the way through to creating a video of the finished building - a standard three bedroom, two bathroom residence. Educators will appreciate the quizzes and practice exam included in the text.

Students are provided with in-depth coverage of toolbars, dialog boxes and commands. Drawings and a sample chapter are available for free download from the publisher's website.

Customer Reviews:

Just say no...........2002-02-09

Despite the author's own glowing review, this book was really disappointing. I am currently reviewing the majority of ADT book offerings for my own use and to recommend/sell to my students at the ATC I am an instructor at. I would recommend Ed Goldberg's or Paul Aubin's book before you think of this one.

This book offers little past the basics. For example, the chapter on roof slabs consists of putting a basic ADT roof on a building and converting it to slabs. Cut a hole in it. Youre done. For this youre expected to pay ...? Dont even bother...a very lightweight effort to a very complex program.

Confusing Autodesk Manuals provide more Information.......2001-11-07

Sorry, Elise Moss and Chris Fox but I found this book a waste of my time, explaining less than an Autodesk manual. This book explains nothing I can't find under the program's help. This book skips over area boundaries, simple customization and has yet to answer any of my questions. I don't even think I'll ever reference this book for anything.

Very Disapointing.

Great Tutorial for Beginners!.......2001-08-04

Written by Elise Moss, an Autodesk Registered Author, and Chris Fox, a successful builder, this textbook focuses on an easy step by step process. Readers will quickly master new skills using detailed examples and exercises that showcase the "why" as well as the "how" of using Autodesk Architectural Desktop to complete a residential design project. The book begins by acquainting readers with the user interface and familiarizing them with the conceptual underpinnings of Autodesk Architectural Desktop software operations. Subsequent chapters enable readers to delve directly into the process of using their software to produce sections and elevations, generate schedules, design layouts, work with details, plot construction documents, manage their layers, create custom AEC content, and more! As a result, readers gain a first-hand understanding of the value of Autodesk Architectural Desktop as a professional design tool. Prior experience using AutoCAD is assumed. However, no prior experience with Autodesk Architectural Desktop is required making this book perfect for today's professional architects, interior designers, facilities planners, and students. Lots of tips, undocumented features, and helpful hints. Educators and students will appreciate the review quizzes and exam included in the text to help focus on new commands and tools.

Book Description

Many students now begin life and medical science degrees with little mathematical knowledge. Catch Up Maths & Stats has been written to overcome this and to bring students up to speed with the subject quickly and easily. The book is written in an extremely student-friendly manner: the text is concise and to the point; the equations are clearly laid out and explained. Starting at an introductory level (Handling numbers), the book guides the reader through all of the basic maths and stats required for a life or medical sciences degree.

Catch Up Chemistry: For the Life and Medical Sciences (Catch Up)

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Catch Up Chemistry: For the Life and Medical Sciences (Catch Up)
Mitch Fry
Manufacturer: Scion Publishing Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Catch Up Maths & Stats: For the Life and Medical Sciences (Catch Up)

ASIN: 1904842100
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Book Description

Many students now begin life and medical science degrees with far less knowledge of chemistry than they need - and they struggle as a result. Catch Up Chemistry brings students up to speed with the subject quickly and easily. The book puts the essential chemistry into real biological context and is written in an extremely student-friendly manner: the text is concise and to the point; the equations are clearly laid out and explained.

Key Features:

Provides all the core chemistry required for a medical sciences degree.
Numerous examples to demonstrate the relevance to biology and medicine.
Test Yourself questions at the end of each chapter to help the reader practise what they have learned.
Student friendly format and price!

Book Description

This workbook is a companion to the textbook Likelihood-Based Inference in Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Models, also published by Oxford University Press. The workbook contains exercises and solutions concerned with the theory of cointegration in the vector autoregressive model. The main text has been used for courses on Cointegration, and many of the exercises have been posed as either training exercises or exam questions. Many of them are challenging and summarize results published in the literature. Each chapter starts with a brief summary of the content of the corresponding chapter in the main text, which introduces the notation and the most important results.

Customer Reviews:

necesary for readers of cointegration.......2001-12-03

In this book are solved the problems of the clasical book of Soren Johansen (likelihood based inference in cointegrated autorregresive vector), the problems may be help you the book is excellent for teachers in advanced econometrics

Average customer rating:

Help With Business Math, Text-Workbook
McGraw-Hill
Manufacturer: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
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ASIN: 0395446651

Learning Basic Math and Business Math Using the Calculator (Text/Workbook M54)

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Learning Basic Math and Business Math Using the Calculator (Text/Workbook M54)
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Manufacturer: Thomson South-Western
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Binding: Paperback

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Student Workbook to Accompany Mathematics for Business
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Manufacturer: WORLD CLASS Learning Materials
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Today's Business Math: A Text-Workbook
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Manufacturer: Harcourt
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Workbook, Applied Business Mathematics
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Book Description

Muhammad Musaddiq was the first of the great charismatic anti-colonial campaigners of the post-war world. As Prime Minister of Iran between 1951 and 1953 he nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, led the nation's defiant attempt to run its oil industry independently during an economic blockade, and attempted to strengthen the role of parliament in Iraq. Mussadiq's crusade led to conflict with powerful foreign interests, and in 1953 the CIA, at British instigation, removed him in a coup d'état which restored the Shah's absolute powers.This book is a full-scale biography of Musaddiq which also charts the history of the Popular Movement from Mussadiq's downfall in 1953 to his death in 1967.

Customer Reviews:

Iran.......2006-03-20

This is a good book and if you are student of Iran's history. This book lacked on two areas. One, the book is not focuse on Dr. Musaddiq and the book is discussing political dynamic of Iran in general. The author of the book is discussing about Malke contribution in Iranian political thought and idea of Third Force in Iran. Last, the author of the book accused King of kings Mohammad Reza PAHLAVI to have corrupt regime. The author does not prove how the PAHLAVI dynasty is corrupt.

If you are interested to educate yourself in this period of Iran. Kindly, read "All The Shah's Men an American Coup and The Roots of Middle East Terror", by Stephen KINZER.

Excellent historical book.......2006-01-30

This is one of the best historical book about Dr. Mossadeg and his struggle for Democracy in Iran. I do recommend to anyone to read this book and get themselves familair with Iran's history between 1950 to 1965.

Amazing Book, Amazing man.......2002-10-19

Homa Katouzian undertakes the necessity of having this man's life documented. Her scholarly approach to Mr. Mossadegh (spelled Musaddiq in the book) reveals his desire to make Iran a truly secular, egalitarian, and independent nation and how foreign powers through major miscalculations ruined it all...a must read for anyone who wishes to understand Iran as it is now.

CHARMED BY THE OLD DOCTOR.......2001-07-26

Katouzian is a British university teacher of Iranian origin with megawatts of ill-concealed passion for Muhammad Mussadeq, an aristocratic politician who briefly served as Iran's prime minister in the 1950s. This is a book written by an enthusiast about his idol. It is thus impossible to treat it as a work of scholarship. Katouzian wants us to believe that whatever Mussadeq did was wise, noble and patriotic while whatever Mussadeq's political rivals did was ignoble, cowardly, conspiratorial and treacherous. This is simply too hard to swallow. Another problem is Katouzian's language which is often paralysed by jargon and at times becomes farcical as a result of his efforts to impress the reader with the choice of apparently difficult words. Although Mussadeq was a minor figure in Iran's long history he still deserves a full, unbiased and scientific biography. A READER IN LONDON.

I recommand this book ..........2001-04-09

This is a scholarly and comprehensive book about Irans recent history and Mosadegh. In particular, it covers the time period 1950~1965 in great many details. I think this is a must read, as it gives great insight into events that lead to a democratic power vacuum in the late 70s. It also enables the reader to better understand the utlimate rise to power of "Islamic Republic".

Book Description

Roger A. Bruns's immensely entertaining biography, now available in paperback, throws a spotlight on a colorful, influential, but long-obscured Chicago character. This is the true story of Ben Reitman, ally of hobos, personal physician to scores of Al Capone's prostitutes, author, womanizer, founder of Chicago's Hobo College, and longtime lover of Emma Goldman.

Customer Reviews:

Halleluyah, I'm a Bum!.......2003-04-20

Ben Reitman was a hobo, medical doctor, anarchist, and social reformer of the early 20th century. This book reveals his world, a world that most history books tend to ignore- the world of the hobos and political radicals (they were often one and the same) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is the world of "Hobohemia." Much of this world centered around old time Chicago (the winter quarters for most hobos) and such institutions as the Hobo College, the Dill Pickle Club, and Bughouse Square. I know that one doesn't think of hobos discussing politics, economics, literature, and the arts, but that was a large part of their world. In many ways it reminds one of the world of the Beats during the 1950's- Jack Kerouac would have fit right in. In fact, considering the surprising prevalence of jazz,"free love" and recreational drugs, it uncannily prefigured the Beat scene.

The people that Reitman knew makes an impressive list: Emma Goldman, Jack Reed, Walter Lippman, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, General Jacob Coxey, James Eads How (the "millionaire hobo") and Al Capone. The description of the many, now unknown, hobo philosophers is even more remarkable, for these were very remarkable men. These were free thinkers and intelligent and sensitive critics of the society around them. As for Reitman himself, I not only feel that I know him from reading this book, but I admire him and regret never actually meeting him.

Oh yes, while most of the men covered in this book were labeled as "radicals" by the authorities of their time, all they really wanted was to improve life for the average working man (the hobo was essentially a migrant worker) and make society a little fairer. For this they were persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, and often murdered. Some things never change....

Average customer rating:
The Damndest Radical: The Life and World of Ben Reitman, Chicago's Celebrated Social Reformer, Hobo King, and Whorehouse Physician
Roger A. Bruns
Manufacturer: University of Illinois
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J67Y9A

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