Resource Centre

More books on... New Reviews Mutual Funds Stocks & Bonds Personal Finance Heroes & Scoundrels Taxes Essential Reading Resources Getting Started The Wise Investor Online Investing Glossary Book Centre Globefund.com Alert

Books selected and reviewed by Andrew Allentuck. Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports by Howard Schilit Financial Shenanigans is destined to be a classic of accounting. It's accessible to any interested reader. An appendix on the fundamentals of financial reporting and a concluding chapter on Enron called "As bad as it gets" make the book relevant to what is happening today. This book is a must read and perhaps the best $45 an investor can spend this year. Read the full review Dean LeBaron's Book of Investment Quotations by Dean LeBaron, Romesh Vaitlingam and Marilyn Pitchford Dean LeBaron's Book of Investment Quotations makes a good desktop reference for report writers and speechmakers. A few of the quotes alone are worth the price of the book. "If an idea is fashionable, that is by itself a pretty good reason to regard it with extreme scepticism." (MIT economist Paul Krugman).Read the full review Forbes Greatest Investing Stories by Richard Phalon For charm, for good sense and for sheer readability, Forbest Greatest Investing Stories is one of the best business books of 2001. For anyone in the market, it's a wonderful read. Read the full review A Devil's Dictionary of Business Jargon by David Olive The Devil's Dictionary is not just civilized fun and fine writing, it is also valuable in assessing investments and separating truth from the deceitful language that abounds in corporate releases and in the gullible press. For the price, this book is a gem, an evening's fun, and a precious reference. Read the full review Asian Eclipse: Exposing the Dark Side of Business in Asia by Michael Backman Brilliantly researched, tightly written, witty and immensely instructive, Asian Eclipse is a road map of the troubles of investing in Asia. He shows Asia is no place for the naive and perhaps not any sort of place for investors who are accustomed to accurate financial statements, a press that reveals what's wrong with firms and to honest and discreet bankers. With superb footnotes and a good index, this is one of the best business books of the year and a book that no investor in Asia should be without. Read the full review In Defense of Free Capital Markets: The Case Against a New International Financial Architecture by David F. DeRosa Brilliant and definitive, readable and right, In Defense of Free Capital Markets is essential reading for investors who deal in foreign exchange or currency controls. And any thoughtful citizen or voter who wants to know why markets should be left to find their own way out of currency imbalances can read it with pleasure. It's the best essay on world foreign exchange markets in decades. Read the full review When Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten Read When Corporations Rule the World as a revival of government supremacist thought and as an inventory of what those who want to break markets have on their agenda. In countries where plans to crush banks and companies appear ready to bear fruit, it's time to sell and move on to where markets are allowed to rule. Mr. Korten shows why. Read the full review The Financial Century: From Turmoils to Triumphs by Reuven Brenner Provocative, cultivated, insightful and ironic, The Financial Century: From Turmoils to Triumphs can be read by investors who want to know the likely long term consequences of ill conceived government policies and interference in capital markets. Read the full review Northern Edge: How Canadians Can Triumph in the Global Economy by Thomas d'Aquino and David Stewart-Patterson In choosing whether to invest in Canada, investors can ponder Northern Edge, then decide. Trouble is - most foreign investors intrinsically understand our productivity problem and therefore put their money into the U.S. This book delivers the news to Canadians. Read the full review Money & Power: The History of Business by Howard Means with David Grubin Money & Power: The History of Business is a contemporary introduction to its subject. It should provoke thoughtful readers to go further into the fascinating history of civilization's roughly five thousand years of helping production turn into consumption. Read the full review The Greenspan Effect: Words That Move the World's Markets By David B. Sicilia and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank The Greenspan Effect is a fascinating exploration of what the Fed Chairman has said and an insight into what he is likely to say at a given time. Read the full review Security Analysis By Benjamin Graham and David Dodd What is remarkable in reading this reprint is not how much the world has moved beyond it, but how little things have changed. It is not only one of the best investment books every written, it is surely one of the broadest. Read the full review Money Logic: Financial Planning For the Smart Investor By Moshe Milevsky with Michael Posner Money Logic is a small book destined to become a classic. Moshe Milevsky, Professor of Finance at York University, converts the mathematical models of academic publications into plain speech to answer several vital questions. He writes with clarity, humour and much insight.For investors, coming to terms with Prof. Milevsky can be an immensely profitable experience. Read the full review Puzzles of Finance: Six Practical Problems and Their Remarkable Solutions By Mark P. Kritzman Six puzzles, which are vital issues in the measurement and management of money, are charmingly set forth and resolved with as little sweat as possible. In the end, the reader who has worked through the chapters will be a little closer to the age-old question, the foundation of economics, "what's a thing worth?" Read the full review Canadian Internet Hanbook 2000: Light Bulbs to Yottabits By Jim Carroll and Rick Broadhead The intelligence in this book is stunning. It's entertaining for anyone and essential for investors who want to keep up with the swiftly changing faces of technology.Read the full review International Dictionary of Finance By Graham Bannock and William Manser What makes this book work is the precision and conciseness of its definitions. While Canadian terms such as "Export Development Corporation" and "chartered accountant" are absent and references to the elements of modern portfolio theory are sketchy, this is a volume every serious investor should have. Read the full review A Random Walk Down Wall Street By Burton G. Malkiel A Random Walk Down Wall Street a classic that every serious investor should read. Read the full review Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk By Peter Bernstein Against the Gods is a guide to much more than making money in jumpy markets. It is a lesson on the meaning of history, a commentary on hope and fear, and an essay on the vanities of the educated who think they can tell where chance events are leading. It can change the life of anyone who understands it. Read the full review The Warren Buffet Portfolio By Robert G. Hagstrom, Christopher Cazenove Rich in insights into the behaviour of both companies and investors, The Warren Buffet Portfolio has the power to transfer some of the master's wisdom and techniques to readers. Read the full review The Rediscovered Benjamin Graham: Selected Writings of the Wall Street Legend By Janet Lowe Ms. Lowe has repackaged one of history's greatest money managers in a brilliant compilation. After the pleasure of reading The Rediscovered Benjamin Graham, an investor will see the market more clearly and can probably make more money." Read the full review