Rating: 
Summary: The irony of book -- the book itself is overhyped.
Review: "Financial Fine Print", in my opinion, provides insufficient analytically challenging insights for those who work in the financial service industry, mainly as an Analysts or Portfolio Managers. However, for those who new to the financial statement / analysis process, the book is a decent primer to understand the importance of financial reports (i.e. footnotes). The biggest disappointment about the book was that it was over-hyped. The book not only read like it was hastily assembled but felt like a 30-page pamphlet of footnote tidbits stretched to 173 pages.Firstly, I completely disagree with the subtitle of the book: "Uncovering a Company's True Value" as it is misleading. Gaining information from Ms. Leder's book will not result in uncovering a company's **true** value. The book will allow the novice or untrained Analysts / PMs to focus on areas that may shed more light on the company's financial operating results, financial condition, and/or cash flow generating abilities. However, such cursory coverage of said materials is insufficient to arrive at a company's **true** value. Secondly, the writer fails to fully understand the analytics related to a majority of the subject matters. Allow me to use Chapter 8 that addresses off-balance obligations. On page 133, the writer describes a "Synthetic Lease" but fails to explain or differentiate the lease from any other FASB #13 operating lease. Second, on page 130, the writer tries to educate the reader on the importance of off-balance liabilities with the following remark: "... is to imagine how your bank account balance would improve if you didn't have to account for the monthly mortgage payment." However, her example is faulty and dangerously misleading. If a company has an off-balance sheet operating lease, the reader ought to see the rental (or lease) expense in the income statement. Had the company chose to own the asset outright, the reader would see depreciation (and possibly interest) expense in lieu of the rental expense, other things being equal. That is to if someone didn't account for his "monthly mortgage payment," then common sense would dictate that someone is "renting" his place. Lastly, the writer tries to add credibility to her work by randomly inserting quotes from a limited number of "experts," that tends to get recycled through-out the book. While some of the people mentioned in the book are highly respected in the industry (i.e. Pat McConnell and David Zion), it was disappointing to find out Ms. Leder did not interview some of the leading researchers from the accounting academia. In fairness, Ms. Leder did provide some accounting research, albeit woefully inadequate for a book of this scope. In summary, Ms. Leder's book is great for a novice who wants to understand the role footnotes play in financial statement analysis. However, her book was over-hyped for the more experienced or serious students of financial statement analysis.
Rating: 
Summary: A bible for the do-it-yourself investor!
Review: As an active long-term investor who reads a lot, I was always frustrated by all those experts who kept telling me to read the footnotes, without giving me any clues as to what I was supposed to be looking for. This book, which I zipped through in a weekend -- gives me exactly what I need to know to avoid potential problems: options, pensions, and my personal favorite, recurring special charges -- using examples from actual SEC filings. With Leder's help, I now feel comfortable skimming these hefty documents. Also good: her website, www.footnoted.org, where she provides daily updates of things -- both good and bad -- that she finds buried in SEC documents. It's become part of my daily routine!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Roadmap for Taking Control of Your Own Investments
Review: Financial Fine Print gives you the tools to understand the companies you invest in. If you invest yourself or work with an agent, it provides a framework to better understand what is really going on in the companies you invest in. Leder's book is a reference tool that I use whenever I analyze my investments....
Rating:
Summary: Equal footing for the small investor
Review: Financial Fine Print is an essential book for the small investor. It takes the fear and intimidation out of reading financial footnotes. As a CPA I found it very enlightening. It was a quick read and gives the small investor a better understanding of the companies they plan to invest in.
Rating:
Summary: Equal footing for the small investor
Review: Financial Fine Print is an essential book for the small investor. It takes the fear and intimidation out of reading financial footnotes. As a CPA I found it very enlightening. It was a quick read and gives the small investor a better understanding of the companies they plan to invest in.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: Hard to believe that a financial how-to-book like this would be a page
turner. But, I thoroughly enjoyed this easy-to-read, timely and well
written book. Leder's tactics and strategies for lay investors are
invaluable. She provides the insight and perspective of a professional
analyst. "Bottom Line" a book well worth the investment.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: Hard to believe that a financial how-to-book like this would be a page
turner. But, I thoroughly enjoyed this easy-to-read, timely and well
written book. Leder's tactics and strategies for lay investors are
invaluable. She provides the insight and perspective of a professional
analyst. "Bottom Line" a book well worth the investment.
Rating:
Summary: Take the next step!
Review: If you're an amateur investor looking to take the next step in your investment education Financial Fineprint is the book for you. Ms. Leder's easy to read book provides its readers with the tools they need to spot potential red flags contained in the footnotes that accompany all financial statements. Investors armed with this knowledge should be able to spot potential problems in their existing portfolio and spot potential problems in future investments. This will hopefully save them from painful portfolio losses.
Rating:
Summary: A classic update to Quality of Earnings!
Review: If you're the type of investor who loved Quality of Earnings, this is a must read! It's smart and sophisticated, yet easily understandable for even novice investors. By explaining in vivid detail the different "red flags" that investors need to be wary of, the author, who writes from the point-of-view of the average investor, makes her points clearly and concisely. What's particularly charming about this book, when compared with some of the other accounting-related books out there, is that you don't have to be a CPA or have an MBA or some other advanced degree to understand this book. Yet, the book is sophisticated enough to also be appealing to people who do. I can't help but wonder now, as proxy and annual report season gets underway, how many investors would find this book incredibly useful. The chapter on related party transactions, which is cleverly titled All in the Family, is worth the book's price alone. For any investor who picks or invests in individual stocks, this is truly a must read!
Rating:
Summary: A polygraph for financial statements and corporate reports
Review: In the aftermath of the corporate accounting scandals, it's hard to know what companies to trust enough to put your money behind them. Financial Fine Print has helped me research companies much more thoroughly. By showing me step-by-step methods to dissect the footnotes in the corporations' financial statements and annual reports, I've learned where all of the unflattering yet legally accountable information is usually hidden in order to make better decisions. I heartily recommend this book for any savvy investor who is unwilling to invest in a company without having personally researched it first.
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