Rating: 
Summary: Shallow coverage & no link to "corporate strategy"
Review: After having bought the first edition and read numerous other Finance & Strategy texts (in addition to having graduated with an MBA in Finance), I think it's fair to say this Grinblatt book is rather superficial in its coverage of technical matters e.g. options, financial engineering etc. and poor in its treatment of real life contemporary issues e.g. M & A, bankruptcy etc. Plus I still can't see what it has got to do with Corporate Strategy. Something is still missing here....
Most of the write-up are kind of basic (i.e nothing oustanding) explanation of issues, concepts or techniques in Finance, which you can easily find in other texts with much simpler names. The title of this book is catchy but MISLEADING. Priced at $120, this is really a rip-off. I just don't understand how other commentors could give a 5-star for this "shoddy" piece of work. Reference manual for corporate boardrooms and Wall Street? Come on! You guys must be joking! No offence but is this what they'd call "cutting edge"?
Compared to classics like Copeland's "Financial Theory & Corporate Policy" or slightly less-advanced Brigham's "Intermediate Financial Management", this Grinblatt book really falls short of the standard and needs a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully, the authors will take serious note of this in their upcoming edition. Unless of course, they still want their book to be just another "appetizer" for business undergraduates....
In short, NOT worth buying. And NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER or in this case its rather appealing TITLE!
Rating: 
Summary: Fair at explaining, poor at teaching
Review: Although some of the chapters shine as well written, many are overly wordy. Nonetheless, the topics are explained in an orderly way. Maybe I am taking too much for granted in my textbooks; however, in every other way, I find this book poor. For those who learn by doing, I think you will agree. The formulas included in the text generally do not have their variables defined and often appear on separate pages from the text explaining them. Graphs, too, leave the reader flipping through pages (sometimes chapters). Also, following the example problems in the text can take tons of time when a few more simple lines of explanation (and better layout) would make the whole process more efficient for the reader. Finally, my biggest frustration with the book is the problems at the end of each chapter. I enjoy working through problems, and these could be fun if there were some guide to help the reader--a simple numeric answer like "10.2: -2" at the end to let the reader know if he is on the right track. Also, a workbook with separate problems explained would be heaven. The authors do explain the concepts, and, beyond that, leave the student little room for further learning with this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Financial Markets & Corporate Strategy
Review: Financial Markets & Corporate Strategy by Mark Grinblatt represents and shows the cutting edge of what the top scholars and practitioners know about finance, at long last made practical and accessible. Presents the material in as simple and accessible manner as possible without glossing over the important details.
Rating:
Summary: Misses Off Balance Sheet
Review: Given the spectacular corporate finance shenanigans of Enron, Worldcom, American Tissue, and others, it is inconceivable this book doesn't cover off-balance sheet products in the detail they deserve.
Rating:
Summary: Good basic overview of finance intersecting corp strategy
Review: I bought this book as a recommended supplemental text for a course in Corporate Finance in the MBA program at the U of Michigan Business School. I am very glad to have this book on my shelf of financial books and have benefited from it more than once.
I can recommend it to you strongly by praising it for these reasons:
1) It puts practical flesh on the financial model bones you learned in your first course on finance. There are very good discussions of the basic and well-known fundamental theories and models, but the authors also share with us what tends to happen in the real world. And isn't that what each of us need to add to our theoretical thinking?
2) Each chapter has effective summarizing Key Concepts and Key Terms with plenty of problems to work through and a list of References and Additional Readings that enable the reader to dive deeper into the topic of the chapter just read.
3) The book is helpfully organized into six Parts that provide the framework for the discussion. Parts 1-3 are a review of "Financial Markets and Instruments", "Valuing Financial Assets", and "Valuing Real Assets". This foundation gives the student a good grounding in order to see how these principles are used in the work of managing the capital structure of a corporation. Parts 4-6 discuss the "Corporate Financial Structure", "Incentives, Information and Corporate Control", and "Risk Management". These last three sections are the real meat of the book and where a great deal of its value to the business student lies.
4) Each of the Parts has an effective and brief introduction that sets the tone for what is to be studied. Even better, at the end of each the six Parts there are two very helpful summary sections: "Practical Insights" and "Executive Perspective".
This is a specialized topic. But it is an important topic. This is a very good book that can help a serious student get grounded in some very important principals necessary to managing the financial issues facing every corporation. I recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful, Skillful, and Effective
Review: I bought this book as a recommended supplemental text for a course in Corporate Finance in the MBA program at the U of Michigan Business School. I can say I am very glad that I bought and am reading this book. There is a great deal of information here so I hate to say that I have already read it.But I can recommend it to you strongly by praising it for these reasons: 1) It puts practical flesh on the financial model bones you learned in your first course on finance. There are very good discussions of the basic and well-known fundamental theories and models, but the authors also share with us what tends to happen in the real world. And isn't that what each of us need to add to our theoretical thinking? 2) Each chapter has effective summarizing Key Concepts and Key Terms with plenty of problems to work through and a list of References and Additional Readings that enable the reader to dive deeper into the topic of the chapter just read. 3) The book is helpfully organized into six Parts that provide the framework for the discussion. Parts 1-3 are a review of "Financial Markets and Instruments", "Valuing Financial Assets", and "Valuing Real Assets". This foundation gives the student a good grounding in order to see how these principles are used in the work of managing the capital structure of a corporation. Parts 4-6 discuss the "Corporate Financial Structure", "Incentives, Information and Corporate Control", and "Risk Management". These last three sections are the real meat of the book and where a great deal of its value to the business student lies. 4) Each of the Parts has an effective and brief introduction that sets the tone for what is to be studied. Even better, at the end of each the six Parts there are two very helpful summary sections: "Practical Insights" and "Executive Perspective". This is a specialized topic. But it is an important topic. This is a very good book that can help a serious student get grounded in some very important principals necessary to managing the financial issues facing every corporation. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I took a course from Professor Grinblatt at UCLA that used this text. Professor Grinblatt was an outstanding teacher and the use of this text was very effective. This text achieves the difficult objective of explaining concepts in a digestible manner without sacrificing rigor. It also incorporates the latest thinking in both finacial markets and corporate finance. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a comprehensive finance reference.
Rating:
Summary: Good comprehensive text for corporate finance.
Review: I used parts of this book in finance courses at the University of Connecticut and found it to be clear, concise, and quite readable. The numerical examples were useful, if occasionally a bit disjointed. I would recommend the book as a good MBA level text.
Rating:
Summary: This book is TOTALLY USELESS
Review: I work as a stockbroker & currently study for an MBA at one of the business schools in New York. I was looking for an additional text on Finance to supplement my required reading list. I came across this book at a local bookstore last week & was quite impressed with the title...
As I flipped through, I found nothing interesting and of benefit for my MBA... How could this kind of low-rate work ever make it to the shelf?
What a piece of JUNK!
Rating:
Summary: Misses Off Balance Sheet
Review: The most valuable part of this book is in its ability to integrate financial decision making with strategy. This is rare especially for a book this good. Another valuable point is that its approach of balancing theories and practicality. If student finds it a little confusing or non-conclusive on many issues, it is precisely so in reality. A book this good is more than a gift.
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