Download or read book Investing in a Post Enron World written by Paul Jorion and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2002-12-22 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Asset-protecting strategies for the millions of investors spooked by the ongoing Enron debacle The collapse of Enron--one of the most costly bankruptcy cases in history--has led millions of investors to question the safety of their portfolios and retirement plans. Investing in a Post-Enron World gives wary investors the tools they need to determine the safety of any investment and outlines a step-by-step program for ensuring that their portfolios are shielded from sudden disasters. The first Enron book specifically for investors, Investing in a Post-Enron World pulls no punches in telling investors what to buy and whom to trust, along with red flags to watch for. Its numerous methods for minimizing risk and overexposure include: A quick course in investing and finance Guidelines for pulling the truth from financial statements Rules for "Enron-proofing" a portfolio through diversification Simple techniques for valuing a company and its stock Ways to manage downside risk How to become a "financial sleuth"

Download or read book Investing with Impact written by Jeremy Balkin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investing with Impact: Why Finance Is a Force for Good outlines the roadmap to reinvigorating a skeptical public and demoralized financial services industry by making the case that, contrary to popular misconception, finance is not the cause of the world's problems; in fact, it can provide the solution. Author Jeremy Balkin presents the case that the finance industry can improve the state of the world by positively influencing the allocation of capital. Investing With Impact explains the methodology of Balkin's 6 E Paradigm, opening the toolbox to this revolutionary framework for the first time. In so doing, Balkin expands the impact investment universe, enabling mainstream capital to flow where opportunities generate positive investment returns and have demonstrable social impact. Described by the Huffington Post as the "Anti-Wolf of Wall Street," Balkin is challenging the status quo on Wall Street by leading the intellectual debate embracing the $1 trillion frontier impact investment market opportunity. The book demonstrates conclusively that, if we can change the culture in finance, we can change the world for the better.

Download or read book Financial Oversight of Enron written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Following the Money written by George Benston and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2004-05-13 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Brookings Institution Press and American Enterprise Institute publication A few years ago, Americans held out their systems of corporate governance and financial disclosure as models to be emulated by the rest of the world. But in late 2001 U.S. policymakers and corporate leaders found themselves facing the largest corporate accounting scandals in American history. The spectacular collapses of Enron and Worldcom—as well as the discovery of accounting irregularities at other large U.S. companies—seemed to call into question the efficacy of the entire system of corporate governance in the United States. In response, Congress quickly enacted a comprehensive package of reform measures in what has come to be known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ followed by making fundamental changes to their listing requirements. The private sector acted as well. Accounting firms—watching in horror as one of their largest, Arthur Andersen, collapsed after a criminal conviction for document shredding—tightened their auditing procedures. Stock analysts and ratings agencies, hit hard by a series of disclosures about their failings, changed their practices as well. Will these reforms be enough? Are some counterproductive? Are other shortcomings in the disclosure system still in need of correction? These are among the questions that George Benston, Michael Bromwich, Robert E. Litan, and Alfred Wagenhofer address in Following the Money. While the authors agree that the U.S. system of corporate disclosure and governance is in need of change, they are concerned that policymakers may be overreacting in some areas and taking actions in others that may prove to be ineffective or even counterproductive. Using the Enron case as a point of departure, the authors argue that the major problem lies not in the accounting and auditing standards themselves, but in the system of enforcing those standards.

Download or read book Enron written by Loren Fox and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-01-30 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I'd say you were a carnival barker, except that wouldn't be fair tocarnival barkers. A carnie will at least tell you up front that he's running a shell game. You, Mr. Lay, were running what purported to be the seventh largest corporation in America."-Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) to Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, Senate Commerce Science & Transportation's Subcommittee, Hearing on Enron, 2/12/02 The speed of Enron's rise and fall is truly astonishing and perhaps the single most important story of corporate failure in the twenty-first century. In Enron investigative journalist Loren Fox promises readers nothing short of the most compelling and insightful investigation into Enron's meteoric ascent-regarded by Wall Street and the media as the epitome of innovation-and its spectacular fall from grace. In a lively and authoritative manner, Fox discusses how the biggest corporate bankruptcy in American business history happened, why for so long no one (except for an enlightened few) saw it coming, and what its impact will be on financial markets, the U.S. economy, U.S. energy policy, and the public for years to come. With access to many company insiders, Fox's intriguing account of this corporate debacle also provides an overview of the corporate culture and business model that led to Enron's high-flying success and disastrous failure. The story of Enron is one that will reverberate in global financial and energy markets as well as in criminal and civil courts for years to come. Rife with all the elements of a classic thriller-scandal, dishonest accounting, personal greed, questionable campaign contributions, suicide-Enron captures the essence of a company that went too far too fast.

Download or read book Power Failure written by Mimi Swartz and published by Currency. This book was released on 2004-03-09 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “They’re still trying to hide the weenie,” thought Sherron Watkins as she read a newspaper clipping about Enron two weeks before Christmas, 2001. . . It quoted [CFO] Jeff McMahon addressing the company’s creditors and cautioning them against a rash judgment. “Don’t assume that there is a smoking gun.” Sherron knew Enron well enough to know that the company was in extreme spin mode… Power Failure is the electrifying behind-the-scenes story of the collapse of Enron, the high-flying gas and energy company touted as the poster child of the New Economy that, in its hubris, had aspired to be “The World’s Leading Company,” and had briefly been the seventh largest corporation in America. Written by prizewinning journalist Mimi Swartz, and substantially based on the never-before-published revelations of former Enron vice-president Sherron Watkins, as well as hundreds of other interviews, Power Failure shows the human face beyond the greed, arrogance, and raw ambition that fueled the company’s meteoric rise in the late 1990s. At the dawn of the new century, Ken Lay’s and Jeff Skilling's faces graced the covers of business magazines, and Enron’s money oiled the political machinery behind George W. Bush’s election campaign. But as Wall Street analysts sang Enron’s praises, and its stock spiraled dizzyingly into the stratosphere, the company’s leaders were madly scrambling to manufacture illusory profits, hide its ballooning debt, and bully Wall Street into buying its fictional accounting and off-balance-sheet investment vehicles. The story of Enron’s fall is a morality tale writ large, performed on a stage with an unforgettable array of props and side plots, from parking lots overflowing with Boxsters and BMWs to hot-house office affairs and executive tantrums. Among the cast of characters Mimi Swartz and Sherron Watkins observe with shrewd Texas eyes and an insider’s perspective are: CEO Ken Lay, Enron’s “outside face,” who was more interested in playing diplomat and paving the road to a political career than in managing Enron’s high-testosterone, anything-goes culture; Jeff Skilling, the mastermind behind Enron’s mercenary trading culture, who transformed himself from a nerdy executive into the personification of millennial cool; Rebecca Mark, the savvy and seductive head of Enron’s international division, who was Skilling’s sole rival to take over the company; and Andy Fastow, whose childish pranks early in his career gave way to something far more destructive. Desperate to be a player in Enron’s deal-making, trader-oriented culture, Fastow transformed Enron’s finance department into a “profit center,” creating a honeycomb of financial entities to bolster Enron’s “profits,” while diverting tens of millions of dollars into his own pockets An unprecedented chronicle of Enron’s shocking collapse, Power Failure should take its place alongside the classics of previous decades – Barbarians at the Gate and Liar’s Poker – as one of the cautionary tales of our times.

Download or read book What Went Wrong at Enron written by Peter C. Fusaro and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2002-10-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An easy answer guide to the difficult questions surrounding Enron What Went Wrong at Enron explains the critical steps, transactions, and events that led to the demise of a company that was once considered one of the most innovative corporations in the United States. Energy risk management expert Peter Fusaro gets inside Enron and provides a coherent account of the who, why, where, and when of this corporate debacle, without sacrificing the complexity of what has happened. Enron has been front-page news for months, but confusion still remains about what actually happened. What Went Wrong at Enron is written for readers who find themselves wondering what exactly is an energy trading company, what was the sequence of events that caused the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history, and what does this all mean for me.

Download or read book TOUGHER BOARDS FOR TOUGHER TIMES CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN THE POST ENRON ERA written by William A. Dimma and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2007 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Market_Desc: · Board members of corporations · Senior managers · Lawyers, accountants, auditors, management consultants · Securities institutes and stock exchanges · Professors and students of law or business Special Features: · Strong interest in corporate governance continues as scandals continue to crop up in the business world, and the role of the board of directors faces more intense scrutiny than ever before· This book is written by a seasoned veteran of many boards, and offers best practices in corporate governance for practitioners, by a practitioner, whereas many books about boards are academic in nature or focused on not-for-profit boards· The book will carry the imprimatur of the national association. This group will offer promotional and marketing support in Canada and with affiliate organizations around the world. About The Book: The Enron disaster, and the many other business scandals that were to follow, highlighted a crisis of confidence in corporate leadership. It became clear that management and CEOs held most of the power, and that boards were rarely serving as much more than complicit pawns. Tougher Boards for Tougher Times examines the key issues, challenges, and controversies that boards have to face in the new world of corporate governance. It examines the changing role of boards and of directors in this tense and uncertain world of heightened expectations, failed promises, wholly unacceptable and egregious excess, and a growing recognition in many quarters that the stakes are high. Many of the existing books on the topic are academic, or focus on not-for-profit boards. This book offers the extensive experience and advice of one of Canada s most experienced board members to those who must govern in corporate boardrooms.

Download or read book Socially Responsible Investment written by Russell Sparkes and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2003-03-14 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over recent years there has been rapid consumer-led growth in investing in socially responsible companies to the extent that it has had an influence on corporate policies. New regulations recognise the public interest by requiring all pension funds to declare their ethical policy. Investors can no longer just consider the financial aspects of a company before investing but also have to consider the complex world of ethical investments. Should the ethical policy take precedence over the financial aspects? Should policies be inclusive or exclusive? What percentage of a company's income has to come from unacceptable sources before the source is excluded? Should any exclusion policy also extend to those involved in selling or transporting goods deemed unacceptable? This is the first book to look at socially responsible investment from the perspective of the institutional investor, who will be led through the complex dilemmas of socially responsible investment with practical examples and advice.

Download or read book The Secret Code of the Superior Investor written by James Glassman and published by Crown Business. This book was released on 2002-01-15 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In these uncertain times, learn how to crack the code and become a superior investor. Don’t worry about the market, the economy, or the Fed. Instead, concentrate on what’s important: how to construct your own bulletproof portfolio by finding the best individual stocks and mutual funds for you. This timely book is your guide to volatile markets. We live in a world saturated with the short-term: Who’s up, who’s down? Which stocks rose yesterday, which fell? Did corporate profits rise (or drop) last quarter . . . what’s going to happen this quarter? Is Alan Greenspan raising (or lowering) interest rates . . . what’s the impact? The superior investor knows that none of this matters. He or she understands that investing is simple, but not in the way most people think. With Jim Glassman as your guide, everything about investing becomes clear. You’ll know what to do, how to behave, and how to profit—whatever the market, the economy, and your stocks are doing. Superior investors crack the code of investing and practice a coherent philosophy that gives them the strength and confidence to do the right thing no matter which way the economic and financial winds blow. They’re relaxed—calm, cool, and collected—because the secret code provides the foundation for making superior investments, the kind that generate wealth to fund more interesting pursuits, provide for their children’s education, and fund retirement. Superior investors * Are not outsmarters—people who try to beat the system through inside advice and superior brainpower—but partakers. They know that the best way to make money is to share in the profits of successful businesses. * Own a portfolio that looks like the U.S. economy ten years from now. * Know the kind of investments they should be making (e.g., pharmaceuticals, for-profit education, mind-numbingly boring but extraordinarily profitable companies) and those they should not (e.g., corporate bonds). * Understand when to start selling the stocks they’ve bought: almost never . . . only when the fundamental reasons why they bought in the first place change. * Understand how to pick the companies that will make them superior investors. * See that bear markets are for buying. We live in a world of increasing uncertainty, but by practicing the principles of The Secret Code of the Superior Investor day-in and day-out for years on end, your future will indeed be superior. From the Hardcover edition.

Download or read book Money in a Human Economy written by Keith Hart’s and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2017-06-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A human economy puts people first in emergent world society. Money is a human universal and now takes the divisive form of capitalism. This book addresses how to think about money (from Aristotle to the daily news and the sexual economy of luxury goods); its contemporary evolution (banking the unbanked and remittances in the South, cross-border investment in China, the payments industry and the politics of bitcoin); and cases from 19th century India and Southern Africa to contemporary Haiti and Argentina. Money is one idea with diverse forms. As national monopoly currencies give way to regional and global federalism, money is a key to achieving economic democracy.

Download or read book ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World A Critical Review written by Pedro Matos and published by CFA Institute Research Foundation. This book was released on 2020-05-29 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This survey examines the vibrant academic literature on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. While there is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues, responsible investors increasingly assess stocks in their portfolios based on nonfinancial data on environmental impact (e.g., carbon emissions), social impact (e.g., employee satisfaction), and governance attributes (e.g., board structure). The objective is to reduce exposure to investments that pose greater ESG risks or to influence companies to become more sustainable. One active area of research at present involves assessing portfolio risk exposure to climate change. This literature review focuses on institutional investors, which have grown in importance such that they have now become the largest holders of shares in public companies globally. Historically, institutional investors tended to concentrate their ESG efforts mostly on corporate governance (the “G” in ESG). These efforts included seeking to eliminate provisions that restrict shareholder rights and enhance managerial power, such as staggered boards, supermajority rules, golden parachutes, and poison pills. Highlights from this section: · There is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues and their materiality. · The ESG issue that gets the most attention from institutional investors is climate change, in particular their portfolio companies’ exposure to carbon risk and “stranded assets.” · Investors should be positioning themselves for increased regulation, with the regulatory agenda being more ambitious in the European Union than in the United States. Readers might come away from this survey skeptical about the potential for ESG investing to affect positive change. I prefer to characterize the current state of the literature as having a “healthy dose of skepticism,” with much more remaining to be explored. Here, I hope the reader comes away with a call to action. For the industry practitioner, I believe that the investment industry should strive to achieve positive societal goals. CFA Institute provides an exemplary case in its Future of Finance series (www.cfainstitute.org/research/future-finance). For the academic community, I suggest we ramp up research aimed at tackling some of the open questions around the pressing societal goals of ESG investing. I am optimistic that practitioners and academics will identify meaningful ways to better harness the power of global financial markets for addressing the pressing ESG issues facing our society.

Download or read book The Handbook of Board Governance written by Richard Leblanc and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 888 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Build a more effective board with insight from the forefront of corporate governance The Handbook of Board Governance provides comprehensive, expert-led coverage of all aspects of corporate governance for public, nonprofit, and private boards. Written by collaboration among subject matter experts, this book combines academic rigor and practitioner experience to provide thorough guidance and deep insight. From diversity, effectiveness, and responsibilities, to compensation, succession planning, and financial literacy, the topics are at once broad-ranging and highly relevant to current and aspiring directors. The coverage applies to governance at public companies, private and small or medium companies, state-owned enterprises, family owned organizations, and more, to ensure complete and clear guidance on a diverse range of issues. An all-star contributor list including Ram Charan, Bob Monks, Nell Minow, and Mark Nadler, among others, gives you the insight of thought leaders in the areas relevant to your organization. A well-functioning board is essential to an organization’s achievement. Whether the goal is furthering a mission or dominating a market, the board’s composition, strategy, and practices are a determining factor in the organization’s ultimate success. This guide provides the information essential to building a board that works. Delve into the board’s strategic role in value creation Gain useful insight into compensation, risk, accountability, legal obligations Understand the many competencies required of an effective director Get up to speed on blind spots, trendspotting, and social media in the board room The board is responsible for a vast and varied collection of duties, but the singular mission is to push the organization forward. Poor organization, one-sided composition, inefficient practices, and ineffective oversight detract from that mission, but all can be avoided. The Handbook of Board Governance provides practical guidance and expert insight relevant to board members across the spectrum.

Download or read book How to Win as a Stock Market Speculator written by Alexander Davidson and published by Kogan Page Publishers. This book was released on 2005-11-03 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: City expert Alex Davidson reveals the secrets of making money as a stock market speculator. Offering trading methods for up and down markets, the guide equips the reader to trade like a professional, showing which financial instruments to use, and how to limit losses and maximize gains.

Download or read book No One Would Listen written by Harry Markopolos and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-02-08 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harry Markopolos and his team of financial sleuths discuss first-hand how they cracked the Madoff Ponzi scheme No One Would Listen is the thrilling story of how the Harry Markopolos, a little-known number cruncher from a Boston equity derivatives firm, and his investigative team uncovered Bernie Madoff's scam years before it made headlines, and how they desperately tried to warn the government, the industry, and the financial press. Page by page, Markopolos details his pursuit of the greatest financial criminal in history, and reveals the massive fraud, governmental incompetence, and criminal collusion that has changed thousands of lives forever-as well as the world's financial system. The only book to tell the story of Madoff's scam and the SEC's failings by those who saw both first hand Describes how Madoff was enabled by investors and fiduciaries alike Discusses how the SEC missed the red flags raised by Markopolos Despite repeated written and verbal warnings to the SEC by Harry Markopolos, Bernie Madoff was allowed to continue his operations. No One Would Listen paints a vivid portrait of Markopolos and his determined team of financial sleuths, and what impact Madoff's scam will have on financial markets and regulation for decades to come.

Download or read book The Faber Report written by David Faber and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2002-05-22 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These days, when CNBC's David Faber talks, Wall Street listens. Unlike the talking heads that populate the financial news channels, Faber is a down-and-dirty investigative reporter. For six years, on CNBC's popular Squawk Box and in his own segments, Faber has broken story after story. Each day over one million people tune in to hear his daily report. Those who know the score know that Faber is the one to listen to -- especially now that the market isn't doing as well as it used to. Now Faber has written the smartest, most innovative investment book to be published in years. Like Harvard Business School's famous case study method, each chapter is built around a story -- the story of how a stock was presented to the public. Then Faber extracts clear, easy-to-follow lessons and instructions on how readers can learn the stocks real story, just as he does everyday on CNBC. Readers learn not just how to pick the stocks they want to invest in, but how to avoid joining the "penguins" lining up for big losses. The Faber Report combines practical, down to earth investment advice with wild accounts of investor fraud, company misdeeds, and famous investors and banks that have led investors astray. A quantum leap beyond the usual investment books, The Faber Report is essential reading for anyone who wants to profit-bulls or bears.

Download or read book The Smartest Guys in the Room written by Bethany McLean and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What went wrong with American business at the end of the 20th century? Until the spring of 2001, Enron epitomized the triumph of the New Economy. Feared by rivals, worshipped by investors, Enron seemingly could do no wrong. Its profits rose every year; its stock price surged ever upward; its leaders were hailed as visionaries. Then a young Fortune writer, Bethany McLean, wrote an article posing a simple question - how, exactly, does Enron make its money? Within a year Enron was facing humiliation and bankruptcy, the largest in US history, which caused Americans to lose faith in a system that rewarded top insiders with millions of dollars, while small investors lost everything. It was revealed that Enron was a company whose business was an illusion, an illusion that Wall Street was willing to accept even though they knew what the real truth was. This book - fully updated for the paperback - tells the extraordinary story of Enron's fall.