Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: A finance textbook full of errors and holes, May 6, 2005
For what it's worth, I received my undergraduate degree at Wharton and am now at the London School of Economics. Instead of this book, I recommend Brealey and Myer's Principles of Corporate Finance. This is what I used as an undergraduate and is what seems to be the de facto textbook in the top undergraduate and MBA programs. N. Was this review helpful to you? [code]<SCRIPT language=Javascript1.1 type=text/javascript> <script></script><script language="Javascript1.1" type="text/javascript"></script><script language="Javascript1.1" type="text/javascript"></script> ![]() ![]() |
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: A Wonderful Approach to Corporate Finance, April 12, 2005
I will admit this book does not take the standard approach to learning corporate finance. The authors discuss a wide variety of common topics, ranging from market models, option valuation, capital structure concepts and decisions, to more specialized topics such as corporate governance and financial risk management. What is unique about this book, though, is that the authors encourage students to think about problems more broadly than one often sees in introductory texts and courses. For example, the authors encourage the use of decision trees (i.e. binomial models) to value a wide range of assets, not just stocks. If one can value a stock option using a binomial tree, why not use the same framework to value a plot of undeveloped real estate, an untapped mine, or any other "real option" owned by a company? Another reason this text is excellent is because the authors include a vast survey of recent financial and economic literature relevant for the financial decision-maker. Highly developed markets depend on the signaling of information between investors and management, creditors and debtors, customers and suppliers, and so forth; understanding the implications of these interactions and their subsequent effects is of primary importance to decision-makers. For example, the "pecking order" theory of capital structure is one of the most well-known concepts in finance, but nonetheless often misunderstood (if you want proof of this, why did investors respond so enthusiastically to every IPO in the late 1990's?). Instead of glossing over an explanation of the theory, the book thorougly explains it and provides problems where the reader can actually work through a simplified model that really reinforces the concept. While this book served as a good introduction to a wide scope of problems in finance, it was most useful because it helped me to apply economic tools not just to solve but to understand financial problems. The use of decision trees in the simplified, binomial model setting helped me to understand option/project valuation and risk-netural valuation, the linchpin of no-arbitrage pricing. It also has perhaps the most thorough, lucid explanation of Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) I've seen anywhere- for a practitioner trying to understand factor models, this chapter alone makes the book worth it. I understand that this is a very difficult book and that the problems are beyond what one may expect in a MBA-level course. Nonetheless, finance is an increasingly competitive field whose employers are starting to demand more analytical skills and intiution from recent graduates. In response to the reviewer who said this text is not suitable for CFA preparation, I do agree with that sentiment. First, the CFA program is designed for self-study that any motivated and capable professional can handle, while Grinblatt/Titman is clearly appropriate for a rigorous MBA-level sequence in corporate finance. Second, the CFA exam emphasizes asset valuation and portfolio management, while this book stresses financial decision-making from a manager's standpoint. While I normally don't like reviews that justify their opinions by offering credentials, I also work on Wall Street and I find the concepts taught in this book to be quite relevant in handling real-world problems. Was this review helpful to you?<script language="Javascript1.1" type="text/javascript"></script> ![]() ![]() |
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Good basic overview of finance intersecting corp strategy, February 25, 2005
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. Was this review helpful to you?<script language="Javascript1.1" type="text/javascript"></script> ![]() ![]() |
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful: Missed the mark! Poor coverage of contemporary issues..., December 22, 2004
Compared to other finance texts I've used before such Reilly's "Investment Analysis & Portfolio Mgt." or Chew's "New Corporate Finance", Grinblatt's text is way way behind and offers nothing new and of value to my research & professional everyday use.... DON'T BUY this lousy book! Was this review helpful to you?<script language="Javascript1.1" type="text/javascript"></script> ![]() ![]() |
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful: This book is TOTALLY USELESS, December 4, 2004
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! Was this review helpful to you?<script language="Javascript1.1" type="text/javascript"></script> ![]() ![]() |

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A finance textbook full of errors and holes, May 6, 2005


A Wonderful Approach to Corporate Finance, April 12, 2005
Missed the mark! Poor coverage of contemporary issues..., December 22, 2004
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