Financial Shenanigans

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Author :
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN 13 : 0071423397
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (714 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial Shenanigans by : Howard M. Schilit

Download or read book Financial Shenanigans written by Howard M. Schilit and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2002-03-22 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Techniques to uncover and avoid accounting frauds and scams Inflated profits . . . Suspicious write-offs . . . Shifted expenses . . . These and other dubious financial maneuvers have taken on a contemporary twist as companies pull out the stops in seeking to satisfy Wall Street. Financial Shenanigans pulls back the curtain on the current climate of accounting fraud. It presents tools that anyone who is potentially affected by misleading business valuations­­from investors and lenders to managers and auditors­­can use to research and read financial reports, and to identify early warning signs of a company's problems. A bestseller in its first edition, Financial Shenanigans has been thoroughly updated for today's marketplace. New chapters, data, and research reveal contemporary "shenanigans" that have been known to fool even veteran researchers.

Creative Cash Flow Reporting

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0471714410
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (717 download)

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Book Synopsis Creative Cash Flow Reporting by : Charles W. Mulford

Download or read book Creative Cash Flow Reporting written by Charles W. Mulford and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2005-05-13 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Successful methodology for identifying earnings-related reporting indiscretions Creative Cash Flow Reporting and Analysis capitalizes on current concerns with misleading financial reporting on misleading financial reporting. It identifies the common steps used to yield misleading cash flow amounts, demonstrates how to adjust the cash flow statement for more effective analysis, and how to use adjusted operating cash flow to uncover earnings that have been misreported using aggressive or fraudulent accounting practices. Charles W. Mulford, PhD, CPA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of three books, including the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices. Eugene E. Comiskey, PhD, CPA, CMA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices.

What's Behind the Numbers?: A Guide to Exposing Financial Chicanery and Avoiding Huge Losses in Your Portfolio

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Author :
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN 13 : 0071791981
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (717 download)

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Book Synopsis What's Behind the Numbers?: A Guide to Exposing Financial Chicanery and Avoiding Huge Losses in Your Portfolio by : John Del Vecchio

Download or read book What's Behind the Numbers?: A Guide to Exposing Financial Chicanery and Avoiding Huge Losses in Your Portfolio written by John Del Vecchio and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2012-08-17 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn how to detect any corporate sleight of hand—and gain the upper hand with smart investing Investing expert John Del Vecchio and “Motley Fool” Tom Jacobs offer a compelling arguement that the secret to stock-market success today isn’t finding the next Google or eBay, but avoiding the next AIG or Enron. To that end, they offer simple, clear techniques for detecting when and how legitimate companies make their numbers look better than they are. What's Behind the Numbers? offers seven rules for finding companies playing with—rather than by—the numbers and explains how to avoid losing money by determining exactly when a stock is about to head south. John Del Vecchio, CFA, serves as a Principal of Ranger Alternative Management and principal of Parabolix Research, Inc. Tom Jacobs is lead advisor for the Motley Fool Special Ops, a stock service where he manages a special situations and opportunistic portfolio. He is cofounder of Complete Growth Investor LLC.

Quality of Earnings

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Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 0684863758
Total Pages : 230 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (848 download)

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Book Synopsis Quality of Earnings by : Thornton L. O'glove

Download or read book Quality of Earnings written by Thornton L. O'glove and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1987 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Simon & Schuster, Quality of Earnings is an investor's guide to how much money a company is really making. From Thornton L. O'glove, Quality of Earnings is an indispensable guide to determining how much money a company is really making and for buying and selling stocks without making costly blunders.

The Financial Numbers Game

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470495316
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The Financial Numbers Game by : Charles W. Mulford

Download or read book The Financial Numbers Game written by Charles W. Mulford and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-03-10 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for The Financial Numbers Game "So much for the notion 'those who can, do-those who can't, teach.' Mulford and Comiskey function successfully both as college professors and real-world financial mercenaries. These guys know their balance sheets. The Financial Numbers Game should serve as a survival manual for both serious individual investors and industry pros who study and act upon the interpretation of financial statements. This unique blend of battle-earned scholarship and quality writing is a must-read/must-have reference for serious financial statement analysis." --Bob Acker, Editor/Publisher, The Acker Letter "Wall Street's unforgiving attention to quarterly earnings presents ever increasing pressure on CFOs to manage earnings and expectations. The Financial Numbers Game provides a clear explanation of the ways in which management can stretch, bend, and break accounting rules to reach the desired bottom line. This arms the serious investor or financial analyst with the healthy skepticism required to drive beyond reported results to a clear understanding of a firm's true performance." --Mark Hurley, Managing Director, Training and Development, Global Corporate and Investment Banking, Bank of America "After reading The Financial Numbers Game, I feel as though I've taken a master's level course in financial statement analysis. Mulford and Comiskey's latest book should be required reading for anyone who is serious about fundamentally analyzing stocks." --Harry Domash, San Francisco Chronicle investing columnist and investment newsletter publisher

Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, A Long Short (and Now Complete) Story, Updated with New Epilogue

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470481544
Total Pages : 455 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, A Long Short (and Now Complete) Story, Updated with New Epilogue by : David Einhorn

Download or read book Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, A Long Short (and Now Complete) Story, Updated with New Epilogue written by David Einhorn and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-12-07 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revealing look at Wall Street, the financial media, and financial regulators by David Einhorn, the President of Greenlight Capital Could 2008's credit crisis have been minimized or even avoided? In 2002, David Einhorn-one of the country's top investors-was asked at a charity investment conference to share his best investment advice. Short sell Allied Capital. At the time, Allied was a leader in the private financing industry. Einhorn claimed Allied was using questionable accounting practices to prop itself up. Sound familiar? At the time of the original version of Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long Short Story the outcome of his advice was unknown. Now, the story is complete and we know Einhorn was right. In 2008, Einhorn advised the same conference to short sell Lehman Brothers. And had the market been more open to his warnings, yes, the market meltdown might have been avoided, or at least minimized. Details the gripping battle between Allied Capital and Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Illuminates how questionable company practices are maintained and, at times, even protected by Wall Street Describes the failings of investment banks, analysts, journalists, and government regulators Describes how many parts of the Allied Capital story were replayed in the debate over Lehman Brothers Fooling Some of the People All of the Time is an important call for effective government regulation, free speech, and fair play.

Undermoney

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1668026546
Total Pages : 592 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (68 download)

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Book Synopsis Undermoney by : Jay Newman

Download or read book Undermoney written by Jay Newman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-10-10 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A group of American patriots, all former military, are looking for a way to get their number one choice, Senator Ben Corn, elected president. Corn is a telegenic, perfect candidate-yet harbors secrets that threaten him. The group's goal is to implement their own foreign policy and fundamentally restructure American society. Essential to this scheme is Greta Webb, a sophisticated and beautiful CIA agent who is an expert on how global dark money flows, not to mention skilled in lethal hand-to-hand combat. To achieve their goals, they form dangerous alliances. One is with a woman who manages the largest, and most corrupt, private pool of capital that has ever existed. And another with the brilliant, ruthless founder of Russia's most successful private military company: a mercenary's mercenary, who has ties to Vladimir Putin. He has his eye on Greta Webb-and while she would be wise to avoid him at all costs, she cannot. Journeying across the globe from New York to Washington to Middle Eastern war zones to wine cellars in the French countryside to Putin's private restaurant in St. Petersburg, the group of Americans become enmeshed in this underground world. And as they discover the secret of the dark money's pool's success-which involves manipulating the markets to rake in billions of dollars-they come into ever increasing danger. Ultimately the team of Americans must decide whether their ultimate objectives are worth the cost of ruthlessly sacrificing not just a few but potentially many human lives. Brilliantly told and filled with jaw-dropping action and unforgettable characters, Undermoney offers a savage look at the secret lives of the world's richest people"--

Financial Accounting For Dummies

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Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119758149
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (197 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial Accounting For Dummies by : Maire Loughran

Download or read book Financial Accounting For Dummies written by Maire Loughran and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn to speak fluent finance—and ace your exams! Warren Buffett said that "accounting is the language of business." And for many accounting and business students, the obscure terminology of accounting makes fluency hard to achieve. Financial Accounting For Dummies can help to demystify abstract concepts in a straightforward, friendly way. With step-by-step examples and real-world scenarios practice, it helps you grasp the fundamentals of accounting until you're ready to interpret, analyze, and evaluate corporate financial statements like you've been doing it all your life. Packed with easy-to-understand examples, this book takes you from the big three financial statements all the way through to income taxes. Or join the anti-fraud squad by discovering how to spot the ten most common accounting shenanigans. Grasp introductory financial accounting course material Explore common concepts financial professionals use to compile reports Understand leases, free cash flow, and statement analysis Learn accounting for small businesses Whether you're studying for your bachelor's, MBA, or MAcc, you’ll find everything you need to speak the language of finance like a native—and use it to get to wherever you want to go!

Fixers

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Publisher : Melville House
ISBN 13 : 1612194982
Total Pages : 434 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (121 download)

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Book Synopsis Fixers by : Michael M. Thomas

Download or read book Fixers written by Michael M. Thomas and published by Melville House. This book was released on 2016 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if a candidate who promised hope and change had agreed to staff his campaign with Wall Street insiders in exchange for very secret campaign cash? And what if those insiders then made sure that none of their own ever got caught when the financial crisis exploded? Fixers, by bestselling novelist and former Lehman Brothers partner Michael M. Thomas, is a shocking, wildly plausible thriller about the insider's insider who brokers the deal - and changed American history forever.

How They Got Away with it

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Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 023115691X
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (311 download)

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Book Synopsis How They Got Away with it by : Susan Will

Download or read book How They Got Away with it written by Susan Will and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A criminological investigation into the social, cultural, political & economic conditions that led to the 2008 financial collapse.

Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports, Third Edition

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Author :
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN 13 : 9780071703086
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports, Third Edition by : Howard M. Schilit

Download or read book Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports, Third Edition written by Howard M. Schilit and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2010-05-06 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the “ Sherlock Holmes of Accounting,” the tools you need to stay a step ahead of the crooks “Howard Schilit is the authority on forensic accounting. Financial Shenanigans is invaluable reading for market participants seeking to identify deceptive behavior in company financial statements.” Julian Robertson, legendary investor and founder, Tiger Management “A must-read! The authors teach forensic financial statement analysis in an easy-to-digest format with lots of war stories. Guaranteed to help investors in their quest to avoid ticking time bombs in their portfolios.” Marc A. Siegel, board member, Financial Accounting Standards Board “This is a timeless guide to better understand how financial malfeasance can be spotted early. Financial Shenanigans teaches all of us fraud-detection-made-easy.” Jules Kroll, pioneering private investigator and founder of Kroll Associates and K2 Global “Required reading for every investor who desires to avoid financial losses. This new edition is a classic and better than ever.” Thornton L. O’glove, author, Quality of Earnings “If the original Financial Shenanigans was the Bible of detecting accounting frauds, then this latest version is the Talmud of cooked books. Regulators, audit committee members, and business journalists should be required to read this work if they are involved in public companies.” Boris Feldman, partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Palo Alto “An incisive and entertaining review of the recipes used by corporations and executives to ‘cook the books.’ It’s a must-read for investors, lawyers, corporate directors, and anyone else interested in the integrity of the accounting and governance process.” Joseph A. Grundfest, professor of law and business and codirector, Rock Center on Corporate Governance, Stanford Law School About the Book: With major financial scandals popping up in greater numbers—and with more inevitably on the way—it has never been more important for you to understand what dishonest companies do to trick investors. Since the early 1990s, Financial Shenanigans has been helping investors unearth deceptive financial reporting at the most critical time— before they suffer major losses. Now, the third edition broadens its focus to include the newest, most sophisticated techniques companies use to mislead investors. Referred to as the “Sherlock Holmes of Accounting” by BusinessWeek, Howard Schilit and renowned forensic accounting expert Jeremy Perler take you deeper into the corporate bag of tricks, exposing new levels of accounting gimmickry and arming you with the investigative tools you need to detect: Earnings Manipulation Shenanigans: Learn the latest tricks companies use to exaggerate revenue and earnings. Cash Flow Shenanigans: Discover new techniques devised by management that allow it to manipulate cash flow as easily as earnings. Key Metrics Shenanigans: See how companies use misleading “key”metrics to fool investors about their financial performance. Financial Shenanigans brings you completely up to date on accounting chicanery in the global markets, shining a light on the most shocking frauds and financial reporting miscreants. This insightful, detailed guide written by recognized experts on the subject provides the knowledge and tools you need to spot even the most subtle signs of financial shenanigans.

The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway

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Author :
Publisher : Harriman House Limited
ISBN 13 : 0857199137
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (571 download)

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Book Synopsis The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway by : Adam J. Mead

Download or read book The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway written by Adam J. Mead and published by Harriman House Limited. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time the complete financial history of Berkshire Hathaway is available under one cover in chronological format. Beginning at the origins of the predecessor companies in the textile industry, the reader can examine the development of the modern-day conglomerate year-by-year and decade-by-decade, watching as the struggling textile company morphs into what it has become today. This comprehensive analysis distils over 10,000 pages of research material, including Buffett’s Chairman’s letters, Berkshire Hathaway annual reports and SEC filings, annual meeting transcripts, subsidiary financials, and more. The analysis of each year is supplemented with Buffett’s own commentary where relevant, and examines all important acquisitions, investments, and other capital allocation decisions. The appendices contain balance sheets, income statements, statements of cash flows, and key ratios dating back to the 1930s, materials brought together for the first time. The structure of the book allows the new student to follow the logic, reasoning, and capital allocation decisions made by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger from the very beginning. Existing Berkshire shareholders and long-time observers will find new information and refreshing analysis, and a convenient reference guide to the decades of financial moves that built the modern-day respected enterprise that is Berkshire Hathaway.

Corporate Financial Reporting

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Publisher : SAGE
ISBN 13 : 9780761971412
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (714 download)

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Book Synopsis Corporate Financial Reporting by : Andrew Higson

Download or read book Corporate Financial Reporting written by Andrew Higson and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2003-02-28 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Internet bubble has collapsed and the largest bankruptcy in US history, Enron, has made the call for greater transparency in financial reporting more important than ever. Andrew Higson draws attention to what is a 'true and fair view' in reporting and critically examines accounting theory and modern practice.

Financial Shenanigans

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Author :
Publisher : McGraw-Hill Companies
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial Shenanigans by : Howard Mark Schilit

Download or read book Financial Shenanigans written by Howard Mark Schilit and published by McGraw-Hill Companies. This book was released on 1993 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Would a company with serious financial problems want to broadcast that fact in its corporate report? Of course not! Prospective investors and lenders should understand that some companies in hot water try to hide the fact with "creative accounting" techniques that provide a distorted picture of their financial health. Now a noted authority uncovers the gimmicks which can hide ailing finances. 20 illustrations.

Conspiracy of Fools

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0767911806
Total Pages : 1258 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (679 download)

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Book Synopsis Conspiracy of Fools by : Kurt Eichenwald

Download or read book Conspiracy of Fools written by Kurt Eichenwald and published by Crown. This book was released on 2005-03-14 with total page 1258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From an award-winning New York Times reporter comes the full, mind-boggling true story of the lies, crimes, and ineptitude behind the Enron scandal that imperiled a presidency, destroyed a marketplace, and changed Washington and Wall Street forever. It was the corporate collapse that appeared to come out of nowhere. In late 2001, the Enron Corporation—a darling of the financial world, a company whose executives were friends of presidents and the powerful—imploded virtually overnight, leaving vast wreckage in its wake and sparking a criminal investigation that would last for years. Kurt Eichenwald transforms the unbelievable story of the Enron scandal into a rip-roaring narrative of epic proportions, taking readers behind every closed door—from the Oval Office to the executive suites, from the highest reaches of the Justice Department to the homes and bedrooms of the top officers. It is a tale of global reach—from Houston to Washington, from Bombay to London, from Munich to Sao Paolo—laying out the unbelievable scenes that twisted together to create this shocking true story. Eichenwald reveals never-disclosed details of a story that features a cast including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul O’Neill, Harvey Pitt, Colin Powell, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Greenspan, Ken Lay, Andy Fastow, Jeff Skilling, Bill Clinton, Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone. With its you-are-there glimpse into the secretive worlds of corporate power, Conspiracy of Fools is an all-true financial and political thriller of cinematic proportions.

Financial Statement Analysis

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0471264601
Total Pages : 414 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (712 download)

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Book Synopsis Financial Statement Analysis by : Martin S. Fridson

Download or read book Financial Statement Analysis written by Martin S. Fridson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2002-10-01 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for Financial Statement Analysis A Practitioner's Guide Third Edition "This is an illuminating and insightful tour of financial statements, how they can be used to inform, how they can be used to mislead, and how they can be used to analyze the financial health of a company." -Professor Jay O. Light Harvard Business School "Financial Statement Analysis should be required reading for anyone who puts a dime to work in the securities markets or recommends that others do the same." -Jack L. Rivkin Executive Vice President (retired) Citigroup Investments "Fridson and Alvarez provide a valuable practical guide for understanding, interpreting, and critically assessing financial reports put out by firms. Their discussion of profits-'quality of earnings'-is particularly insightful given the recent spate of reporting problems encountered by firms. I highly recommend their book to anyone interested in getting behind the numbers as a means of predicting future profits and stock prices." -Paul Brown Chair-Department of Accounting Leonard N. Stern School of Business, NYU "Let this book assist in financial awareness and transparency and higher standards of reporting, and accountability to all stakeholders." -Patricia A. Small Treasurer Emeritus, University of California Partner, KCM Investment Advisors "This book is a polished gem covering the analysis of financial statements. It is thorough, skeptical and extremely practical in its review." -Daniel J. Fuss Vice Chairman Loomis, Sayles & Company, LP

Power Failure

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Author :
Publisher : Currency
ISBN 13 : 076791368X
Total Pages : 434 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (679 download)

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Book Synopsis Power Failure by : Mimi Swartz

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.