Name: How to read a financial report
ISBN: 9781118735848

How to read a financial report

Hidden somewhere among all the numbers in a financial report is vitally important information about where a company has been and where it is going. This is especially relevant in light of the current corporate scandals. The sixth edition of this bestselling book is designed to help anyone who works with financial reports--but has neither the time nor the need for an in-depth knowledge of accounting--cut through the maze of accounting information to find out what those numbers really mean.

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mitchelldeacon9Mar 2020

I studied economics in college, then I worked for a few years as a business journalist before I finally switched careers to IT systems engineering. The following is a list of my favorite books on financial securities, banking and investment theory. These books are generally comprehensible to anyone with an interest in the subject, regardless of their educational background.

Arrighi, Giovanni (1994) The Long Twentieth Century: Money, Power and the Origins of Our Times

Brealey, Myers, Allen (2011) Principles of Corporate Finance, 10th ed.

Bruck, Connie (1988) Predators' Ball: Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and Rise of Junk Bond Raiders

Fisher, Philip (2003) Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings, 2nd ed.

Fridson, Martin and Fernando Alvarez (2002) Financial Statement Analysis, 3rd ed.

Graham, Benjamin, J. Zweig, D. Dodd (2006/08) Intelligent Investor, rev ed; Security Analysis, 6th ed.

Greenblatt, Joel (1999) You Can Be a Stock Market Genius

Greenwald, Kahn, Sonkin, Biema (2001) Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond

Henwood, Doug (1997) Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom

Levitt, Arthur (2003) Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future

Lewis, Michael (2010/1989) Big Short; Liar's Poker

Lynch, Peter and John Rothchild (2000) One Up on Wall Street, 2nd ed.

Mishkin, Frederic (2004) Economics of Money, Banking and Financial Markets, 7th ed.

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (2005/10) Fooled by Randomness, 2nd ed.; Black Swan: Impact of the Highly Improbable, 2nd ed.

Vilar, Pierre (1976) A History of Gold and Money: 1450-1920

Tracy, John A. (2009) How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs out of the Numbers, 7th ed.

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arbugeFeb 2020

I think the recommendations you're getting here to read Buffett's letters, The Intelligent Investor, etc. are good, but if you're completely new to accounting, I think starting with more basic texts would be a better idea.

Two that I liked and still refer to from time to time are How to Read a Financial Report by John A Tracy and Financial Statements: A Step-By-Step Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Reports by Thomas R Ittelson.

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mcguireFeb 2017

Revenue is relatively well defined in accounting terms, although it can be fiddled with some, by booking revenue for sales that aren't going to be completed until later (which, specifically, would be illegal).

Profit is much easier to adjust in accounting terms, by delaying or advancing liabilities from the future. A common example is, if you are going to post a loss for the quarter, go ahead and throw every possible expense you can on it so that next quarter will look much better.

I recommend How to Read a Financial Report by John Tracey.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1118735846/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_111...

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knownSep 2016

Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs – Karen Berman & Joe Knight

Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits – Greg Crabtree

The 1% Windfall – Rafi Mohammed

Accounting Made Simple – Mike Piper

How to Read a Financial Report – John A. Tracy

Venture Deals – Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson

And http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untold...

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jakartaMar 2010

Seems kind of light on the financial / accounting / capital allocation side of things.

Graham and Rockefeller's biographies do expose readers to these topics, but adding books like How to Read a Financial Report and the Accounting Game would be helpful to any entrepreneur.

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jakartaFeb 2010

Let me preface by saying I don't subscribe to EMH. With the people I work with, everything is fundamental analysis. I don't have much by way of suggestions for learning technical analysis.

I recommend basically reading books by:

Peter Lynch, Phil Fischer, and then chapters 8 and 20 of the Intelligent Investor. The book, Applied Value Investing, is also a pretty good place to start that actually does a lot of things well, combining both theory with practical case studies. -Reading the Buffett Partnership letters (not the Berkshire letters) is very helpful for someone managing small sums of capital, say below $10M

In addition, you need to read and learn about financial accounting and valuation. John Tracy's How to Read a Financial Report is a good starter... for valuation Aswath Damodaran has a pretty good book that can be combined with McKinsey's book on the subject. Beyond that, some more advanced accounting books, especially forensic stuff is great to know. Financial Shenanigans and Creative Cash Flow Reporting are where I'd start with that.

To be really good you also need to read quite a bit about psychology/mental models. Look for speeches/lectures by Charlie Munger. Books like Stock Market Wizards/anything that contains a ton of interviews with investors are also great. Reminisces of a Stock Operator is pretty good for giving you an account of the ups and downs that come with investing -- the guy the book is based off of blew his brains out. Studying financial history is also a must, especially with learning about prior bubbles.

Finally, you just have to commit to reading a whole lot, every day, and becoming a learning machine.

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