"Here is the first guide to understanding and computing the true costs and values of mortgages, savings accounts, installment loans, annuities, etc."--Jacket subtitle.
Price/earnings ratios and dividend payout. Yield to maturity and yield to call. Cash-on- cash return and equity build-up. Sound confusing? Stock brokers, bond dealers, and real estate promoters all speak different languages when it comes to extolling the virtues of their investment proposals. This book reduces the jargon to a single magic number or common denominator—a yardstick by which all forms of investment may be directly compared—the Internal Rate of Return or IRR. Now you can invest like a computer whiz— without a computer. Using the simple graphs devised by Larry Rosen from approximately 30,000,000 calculations, you can quickly evaluate any investment proposal in a highly professional and precise manner. Analysis that would take hours, and in some cases days, can be performed accurately in mere seconds of your time. And if you wish to go a step beyond, you can discover the benefits of analysis by marginal IRR, as well as by partitioning the IRR. Whether you use the graphs or recreate the computations from the programming instructions and formulas that are included, this book will take the mystery out of investing and help you make more intelligent investment decisions.
Straightforward, reliable financial guidance is contained in this one-of-a-kind reference. This handbook clearly explains the concepts you need to invest, borrow, or lend intelligently with reduced risk and greater understanding. Here are the ready answers to virtually all of your questions about interest, yields, and returns, whether you are an investor trying to decide which kind of bond to invest in, a business manager evaluating alternative prospective capital investment opportunities using discounted cash flow techniques such as the internal rate of return (IRR), a senior citizen pondering increasing his or her cash flow by taking out a "reverse" mortgage, a borrower who is unsure whether refinancing is a good idea, and an individual who simply wants to make financial decisions that pay off. This valuable handbook provides you with the analytical tools essential to making decisions about buying, selling, or holding stocks, bonds, and real estate. Or if you are lending or borrowing money, you will find the information necessary to compare different forms of investment proposals by using the IRR or net present value as simple, accurate yardsticks. In the Handbook, you will find answers to such other vital questions as: . Why does the Fed's annual percentage rate understate the true cost of most loans? How can you make tax shelters work for you? Why don't you have to reinvest at all to achieve the IRR or yield-to-maturity at purchase? What are the big dangers of investing in callable or zero coupon bonds? Which kind of bond is most desirable: discount, par, or premium? What is the most you can withdraw monthly from your retirement savings and still have the income last for yourexpected life span? How can you construct a loan amortization schedule? Is it advisable to accelerate paying off your mortgage or other loan? What is modified duration, and how can it help control a portfolio's risk level? The Handbook is written in a no-nonsense style that makes its subject accessible to a broad spectrum of readers. In addition, you will find numerous graphs that will help solve even the most complex money puzzles in moments. If you are among the investors, borrowers, portfolio managers, bankers, accountants, and business professionals who must grapple with financial decision making in an uncertain business climate, you will find this one-stop guide to be your invaluable financial coach, ever at your aide with dependable and practical information presented in a lucid, easily understood manner. With this handbook, you'll make informed, advantageous money decisions.
First published in 1983, this classic has sold nearly 150,000 copies. It is the informed businessperson's and consumer's guide to the important financial and investing information found in The Wall Street Journal.
Since it was first published in 1984, The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal has shown more than a quarter-million investors how to locate, understand, and profit from the financial information found every day in the Journal. This seventh edition expands and updates on the book's wide-ranging charts and information, making it the most complete and up-to-date Wall Street Journal user's guide available. For the first time, this latest edition also focuses on the Journal's companion website, WSJ.com, and introduces you to the myriad ways in which the online edition complements and expands upon the print edition. Examples of actual onscreen pages help you quickly navigate the site to get just the information you need. In addition, step-by-step directions walk you through four sets of data-gathering procedures of particular value to investors: News Article Retrieval-Follow links directly to current news stories and use Advanced Search to retrieve archived stories from past editions, Company Information-Obtain current and past stock quotes, financials, and analyst recommendations, download hundreds of company reports for free, and more, Economic Information-Look up the latest government reports on economic indicators, study expert industry analyses, track Fed policy and actions, and more, Market Information-Read the latest news and numbers, receive "Heard on the Street" and other e-mail updates throughout the day, gain access to columns available only online, and more. The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal covers virtually every financial aspect of business and the economy. It shows you how to quickly find and interpret data and information on literally hundreds of critical topics, including how and why interest rates affect markets, how deficits impact the inflation rate and stock prices, the impact of the Federal Reserve on your investment portfolio, and strategies to manage and even reduce the risks of commodities and futures investing. The Wall Street Journal is the authoritative source for business and investment news. The Irwin Guide to Using the Wall Street Journal shows you how, by understanding a handful of key statistical reports in the Journal, you can get a surprisingly quick and firm comprehension of the ups and downs of the American economy, and use that comprehension to dramatically improve both your short- and long-term investment performance. Book jacket.