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i am currently subjecting myself to finance curriculum at a quant-heavy, top-5 bschool. this text was recommended for my Intro Cap Markets class (although the prof didnt exactly use it in the class).
i often used it to gain understanding of what was taught in class. unfortunately, i found this book to be EXTREMELY painful. it was verbose, overly complicated, hard to read, poorly organized & full of jargon. while it is thorough in its coverage of Capital Markets & instruments, i found it to be nearly impossible to read.
esoteric theories & mathematical proofs were introduced with little background, and often without insufficient detail to understand grasp. but the jargon & vocabulary are what made the book so unreadable ... trying to read a chapter in this book would literally consume 4-5 hours of my time.
AND forget about trying to use this book to do problemsets OR assignments. i could go on, but trust me, this book is bad ... UNLESS you already have a good intro & just want to use this as a reference.
2 Aside from the humor . . .
If one is willing to look aside from the dry substandard humor of the author, they will find one of the best written textbooks around in any subject. Taken as a given that some of this material is mathematically and analytically intensive, I cannot say that this entire book is easy reading. However, you will find that the authors due an excellent job explaining and demonstrating difficult concepts. They also provide a variety of real life examples to supplement their explanations, that help to provide context for some of the seemingly abstract concepts. Moreover, they extensively make use of Microsoft Excel is demonstrating how to perform some complicated aspects of security analysis in a way that is easily reproducible to the reader.
3 Some textbook!
This is the longest textbook I have in my collection and it is also a bad investment book at that. I know some readers really enjoyed the detailed explanations, but the book was too detailed and wordy for me. Many of the explanations are unnecessary and examples can be simplified to get to the core of the problem/concept and drive at a much stronger intuitive understanding. But this book doesn't do that. It is cluttered with definitions and wordiness that kill the intuition one could get by reading a more concise, straightforward text. A really good book is Investment Science, by David Luenberger. Although his text assumes you have some background in calc/stat/probability theory, the writing, examples, and organization is far superior. You'll actually begin to understand how investment really works, without getting bogged down by the numbers, terminology, and jargon.
4 Good
The book is good. But if you can solve all the problems (buy the solutions manual) then you will be able to extract all the value from it.
5 Well begun is half done!!
Anyone embarking upon a study of investments should begin with this book. From an explanation of market structure to intuitive analyses of all core concepts in investments (like Markowitz Theory, CAPM, Black-Scholes, Fixed Income concepts), this book has everything. Newer editions of the book also have very good instructions on how to implement the tools in MS-Excel. Obviously, this book is not meant for those pursuing a PhD. Rather it is meant for MBAs and aspiring CFAs who want to learn and implement investment tools and analysis.
6 Excellent Introductury Investments Book
Great book for undergraduate Investments courses and great to review for the PROFESSIONAL RISK MANAGER CERTIFICATION
7 An excellent introductory book on financial economics
This is the best book in financial economics at a graduate level program. It covers the basics and some advanced topics in finance with the right balance of theories and applications.
For beginners who want to discover the world of finance, Statistics is a must. I recommend : Basic Business Statistics by Levine et all.
If you are excited to explore in depth this domain, you need to look at the following areas:
- Multivariate analysis
- Stochastic processes & Calculus
- Probability theories
- Ordinary and partial differential equations
- Some knowledge in programming language (basic, C++....)
8 Good
I find this to be a good book. It's big, thick and it just waits for you to pick it up. It does a good job explaining things to a beginner but as noted here before me I also found it to be a little broad and with a lack of dept, which is a trade-off that the authors presumably kept in mind. However I also find it a little thin and what could be the reason to put the cumulative normal distribution table on pages 712-713 and not in the appendices as expected? I recomend you to buy it bundled with Hull's book on futures as it is also a good buy, to say the least.
9 Full of statistics jargon
It is of course a comprehansive book about investments and covers many topics but is only for those who already are familiar with statistics. If you re not related with statistics will find very difficult to cope with many of examples. I think that should be more descriptive in statistic (theory). For someone who are not familiar with statistics it is difficult to understand i.e the meaning of covariance.
10 A Good Book that Got Me Through A Tough Class
With this book, I was able to learn what the professor could not effectively teach. I had a professor who could bewilder Alan Greenspan, and nobody to study with. With this book and a curve, I received a nice grade. The text is comprehensive and easy enough to cram with for a few days. I kept it for a good reference source.
11 Basic book on investments
I've owned an edition of this book since 1993 when I took an Investments class as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout my career, my return to graduate school, and my pursuit of my CFA charter, I have used and seen others using this book,
This book is an introductory textbook on investments. To get a deeper understanding about the research that developed the theories and the ongoing debates in academia (e.g. APT, efficient markets hypothesis, behavioral finance), I would suggest reading some of the authors/researchers referenced in the book. Despite this limitation, this is an excellent starting point. The book begins with basic introduction of financial markets and instruments, develops the basic finance toolbox (e.g. basic statistical tools - mean, variance; discounted cash flow), and applies them in a portfolio setting. From this base, it goes on to introduce the most basic financial concepts such as beta, CAPM, diversification, efficient frontier, CAL, etc. These are all the basic tools that are used in portfolio contruction and management. The book extends itself by introducing additional concepts such as derivatives (e.g. futures, options, swaps) which can alter the charateristics of portfolios. As other reviewers have noted and I will agree, these topics are only in a cursory fashion, and I recommend further study on these topics through other texts or papers.
Overall, this is a must read (at least as a starting point) for anyone interested in developing knowledge about portfolio theory. For example, this book would be very helpful for anyone who would like to understand with a more critical eye what the commentators/analysts on CNBC or at the brokerage firms are trying to recommend for their own portfolios.
12 Jam packed with valuable information
This book has a tremendous amount of valuable information for those of us who want to understand what investments are actually about. There is a lot more to it than the simple bromides peddled in the popular press and media. Yet, when you get some basic concepts down, they become easier to understand and evaluate. The popular press is misleading in its oversimplification and silly statements (like "no one is buying today").
I want to praise this edition's organization. Since it is a text designed for use by students, the fifth edition I used is organized most helpfully. Each chapter has an overview and there are concept check questions at key points of the text that help you assess if you really understood the information you just read. The main points are restated in a concise summary at the end of each chapter and you can review the key terms to make sure you are absorbing the vocabulary.
There are valuable websites listed along the way for additional and related information. The authors and publisher also provide a website with materials including spreadsheets directly related to this book. The part of the site with online quizzes has a few typos and scoring errors, and that should be fixed, but the online materials are generally ok.
The chapter problems are another matter. Some are really projects and should be separated, I feel, from the study questions. They are good to do if you have the time and will certainly help your learning, but they can take some time to work through.
Some of the questions are very simple and are really a quick concept check and they seem out of place when placed along side the "projects". One VERY NICE feature of the questions is the inclusion of sample CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam questions. This is very useful for those of us thinking about preparing for that process.
It is also worth getting the Solutions Manual. ISBN 0-07-233921-7. Don't by a mismatched solutions manual! As you work through the problems, especially the "projects" it is nice to see how these problems are handled by the authors.
13 Excellent text book on investments & basic portfolio theory
I am a lecturer in Finance for a university in the UK. I evaluated this book for use in an Executive MBA course in portfolio management after previously using "Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management" by Reilly and Brown. The Reilly book takes a more quantitative approach to the valuation of various assets and is more comprehensive than "Investments" in terms of its coverage of securities and markets but I ultimately opted for "Investments" due to its clarity, organization, and quality writing style. The authors do an excellent job of communicating fairly complex concepts to a student with little or no background in finance.
If you are studying for the CFA or need a more advanced text, I can recommmend the Reilly book. If you are a practitioner or looking for a very mathematically rigorous text in portfolio management, I can recommend "Active Portfolio Management" by Grinold. But for an undergraduate or graduate student looking for an excellent primer on stocks, bonds, options, futures and the workings of the markets they are traded on, look no further than "Investments".
One note: we were able to obtain a paperback copy of the text at much reduced cost.
14 Whets the appetite for more
Not as technical as one would expect under such a promising title. Nevertheless, the book is very attractively organized and didactically useful. Problems are generally good in supplementing the theory. I found it pleasurable to study from this book. It whets the appetite for more.
15 There is a newer edition
This book is the third edition and there is a fourth edition out on the shelves; that edition has an additional chapter too. Its about the same price.
16 There is a newer edition
This book is the third edition and there is a fourth edition out on the shelves; that edition has an additional chapter too. Its about the same price.
17 Very Good Masters level text
Every professor at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business uses this text for the beginning level finance course - Investments. I found the book to be very readable, with excellent examples. It does a good job explaining the pros and cons of various financial models - Portfolio Theory, CAPM, Multi-Factor Asset Pricing, No Arbitrage Bond Pricing, Black-Scholes, etc. You cannot go wrong with the content in this book.
18 Comprehensive, student-friendly, and extremely helpful
The book by Bodie et al is unquestionably, the best introduction to Investment Theory available today. Please note that there is an emphasis on the word introduction, because there is much that can be covered after the book ends. This book provides a springboard from which the student can take off in different directions viz. Derivatives, Risk Management, Portfolio Management etc.
The language is simple, and there are no mathematical demons in the book. The Concept Check questions are extremely valuable and should be attempted before the reader delves into the equally challenging exercises at the end of the chapters. The book starts with an introduction to the different types of markets and financial instruments present today, and then moves into investments, risk etc. The book touches upon a number of topics including bonds, financial statement analysis, security valuation, derivatives and hedging. Like other multipurpose book, it does not go in-depth into any of these, but provides the reader a brief introduction to each of them for help in further studies. It does dwell a lot on portfolio theories which are described in detail, with numerous examples. The chapter-ending exercises are graded with easier questions in the beginning, and extremely challenging ones in the end.
All in all, a great book!
19 Not so well written
I am "the millionaire next door" working to formalize my understanding of investments and markets via a CFP certificate course prior to sitting for the exam. This text book does, as another reviewer stated, assume a working industry knowledge and to me smacks of something written by someone who has been in the academic world too long. In many, many cases a simpler explanation is possible. A user will find many places where text and charts, questions and charts just don't quite line up. Perhaps it is a case of lazy editing. In any case, while not impossible to use, with more care it could be more user friendly.
20 THIS IS NEW POINT OF VIEW FOR INVESTMENTS
I AM A STUDENT IN BANKING AND FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF BILKENT UNIVERSITY. FOR INVESTMENT COURSE, ACTUALLY, WE ARE USING THIS BOOK. I THINK THAT THIS BOOK COVERS SUBJECTS VERY WELL. IT IS EASY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND. I STRONGLY RECOMMED YOU THIS BOOK.
21 Excellent book for the Investment Pro of Pro Wannabe
I used this book to help me prepare for the CFA examination. The book presents a wide spectrum of investment information in a easy to understand manner. The authors provide many examples to assist the reader in understanding many complicated investment concepts. I would say that this book is geared to someone already in the industry or for an individual that wishes to enter the industry or become a serious investor. I recommend this book highly without any reservations.
22 A good place to begin
Similar choice of topics as William Sharpe's book with the same title, but somewhat less technical and detailed. Discussion is streamlined in the interests of clarity. Some readers might regard the authors as having "dumbed down" the material, but this is an illusion born of clear writing. Any of the topics can of course be treated with much more depth, but this would be a mistake in an introductory broad-brush treatment of the subject.
23 Simple: Written for morons
Although this book is championed by finance profs worldwide including mine -- Burton G. Malkiel -- the book is repetitive, verbose, and insulting to anyone of decent intellect.
24 The standard, but for good reason!
This book is used in many fine B-Schools. It is the only standard issue text that I think has earned its status. It does a great job of explaining things and also has a very real world feel.
25 Good, easy. Very good, very easy. Maybe too easy.
The book is accepted as standard book in many finace courses all over the world, including the Wharton. Nonetheless, sometimes the book talks a lot but says little or says very simple things.
Excellent for beginners, only good for somebody that has already read some finance book.
26 A necessary read for any investment education.
This book is used as the standard text for Financial Economics courses at Columbia University, Brown University, and other top schools.
27 Excelent and updating text
A comprehensive way of learning the modern technics of investments.