Essentials of Investments (Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to Investment theory
Review: I studied the entire book for my Investment Management course at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and found it very complete from the point of view of the "novice" investor and/or student. The book is not written for the intermediate or expert investor, but for an introductory course in Investment management it did the trick.

Rating:
Summary: Great for starters. Interesting news captions.
Review: This book is great for blooming finance professionals and MBA students. Not too advanced and is aimed at simplifying thoughts and Wall Street practice for the average man. News captions are interesting but not exactly superb.

Rating:
Summary: Very hard to read
Review: This book is widely used in finance courses in my university, a puzzling fact because books should rarely sell if they're hard to read. The bookfs authors introduce a broad array of investment theories and discoveries. Thatfs a plus. But their wordy sentences, which grow wordier and harder to follow as they delve into each chapterfs key concepts, offset the plus. The authorsf inconsistent use of terminology is another drawback. As I move on to later chapters, I feel as if the authors were growing more verbose. That benefits no readers, given the later chapters discussing higher-level concepts.
When they revise this book for the next edition, they should hire proofreaders, journalists if possible. They care about readers and can help rewrite the entire book into a readable piece that helps students instead of confusing them.

Rating:
Summary: Very hard to read
Review: This book is widely used in finance courses in my university, a puzzling fact because books should rarely sell if they're hard to read. The bookfs authors introduce a broad array of investment theories and discoveries. Thatfs a plus. But their wordy sentences, which grow wordier and harder to follow as they delve into each chapterfs key concepts, offset the plus. The authorsf inconsistent use of terminology is another drawback. As I move on to later chapters, I feel as if the authors were growing more verbose. That benefits no readers, given the later chapters discussing higher-level concepts.
When they revise this book for the next edition, they should hire proofreaders, journalists if possible. They care about readers and can help rewrite the entire book into a readable piece that helps students instead of confusing them.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to Investment theory
Review: This is a clearly written book with excellent visual aids. I especially liked the concept checks and the current events boxes. The sample questions from CFA exams were particularly helpful. On whole the book does an exceptional job of explaining difficult subject matter. I'd even recommend this book to the 'lay' reader.

Rating:
Summary: Essentials of Investments
Review: This is a clearly written book with excellent visual aids. I especially liked the concept checks and the current events boxes. The sample questions from CFA exams were particularly helpful. On whole the book does an exceptional job of explaining difficult subject matter. I'd even recommend this book to the 'lay' reader.