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Rating: Summary: You gotta be kidding Review: A very good introduction to the finance industry, with concise and smart chapters on market valuation, portfolio management, stocks, bonds, currencies, derivatives, M&A, and some real-life guesstimates and brain-teasers.
Rating: Summary: Its short and to the point Review: First, the book has some good points: It provides a good overview of the major topics covered in financial interviews. If you paid attention on your MBA classes, you should remember more than what is in this book, but if you were sleeping or forgot most of it, then this is a good refresher. There are a few bad points, however. First, the book isn't a good value -- it's an expensive 175 page paperback, filled with full-page advertisements every 10-20 pages or so. Also, as many others have noted, the book is full of mistakes & inconsistencies. The balance sheets on page 138-9 don't balance (something one should have learned in accounting 101). Also, on page 127, it says "...higher interest rates lower the value of options." This blanket statement is just plain wrong! Higher interest rates lower the price of ONLY put options, but is has the opposite effect on call options (that is, higher interest rates RAISE the price of call options). I don't think these mistakes render the book unusable, especially if you just need a quick review of the material. But if you're trying to learn the material for the first time, these mistakes will leave you puzzled & misinformed. If you know the material, you'll catch the mistakes and groan. Overall, I thought it was a guide that was just OK, but good for a quick, high-level review the night before your interview. However, it's definitely overpriced (and aspiring financiers should already know what to do with an overpriced asset...).
Rating: Summary: smaller than expected; options advice has errors; o/w good Review: Given that I am the author of a competing book, I am likely to be biased, so I'll stick to facts, not opinions... The book was physcially much smaller than I expected. Look at the dimensions given by Amazon: Probably equivalent to approx 100 pages on US Standard 8.5 by 11. I looked at the options section (my favorite area of finance). On p119 they talk about call options in America and in Europe as being American-style and European-style, respectively, which is wrong, for example "...options in Europe can be exercised only on the expiration date (p119)". On page 122 they say "...time to expiration increases the value of both put and call options." Well, that's false for deep in-the-money European-style puts, and they do not note that. Otherwise seems like a useful little book with good interview advice.
Rating: Summary: Its short and to the point Review: I originally checked this book out from the library but I find it so useful that I'm going to buy it. Its concise, touches on a lot of different subjects and has decent explanations. I'm using it to refresh my memory on the stuff I learned in undergrad. I think a lot of the bad reviews are coming from MBAs not impressed with the simplicity, which is probably understandable.
Rating: Summary: Sloppy, Inaccurate, Confusing Review: Stay away from this "book." Every single math calculation in this book is wrong. That's no joke. And there are inaccuracies everywhere. At one point the author says a positive economic event causes inflation to go up, and the next page there's a chart that says inflation rising signals negative economic events! If you just want the questions, then buy this.. IF you are desperate. The answers are mostly wrong. I am going to buy a real finance textbook to answer the questions.
Rating: Summary: Sloppy, Inaccurate, Confusing Review: Stay away from this "book." Every single math calculation in this book is wrong. That's no joke. And there are inaccuracies everywhere. At one point the author says a positive economic event causes inflation to go up, and the next page there's a chart that says inflation rising signals negative economic events! If you just want the questions, then buy this.. IF you are desperate. The answers are mostly wrong. I am going to buy a real finance textbook to answer the questions.
Rating: Summary: Excellent and precise Review: The book is 99.9% accurate on the financials and quantitative stuff. Sometimes it has to simply complex subjects but how else can a guide prepare someone for a financial job interview? If you want the ad naseum explanations of financial concepts and every exception to the rule, read their Vault Guide to Advanced Finance & Quantitative Interviews. For most readers, the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews is plenty.
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