Product Description

This engaging and practical guide selects topical Financial Times articles with recurrent themes and provides engaging analysis, unravelling the key points and explaining the financial and economic data. This book will enable you to engage with corporate finance in any context; be it at work, on the television, in radio reports or on the internet.

Structured around 11 key topics in finance, ranging from classical exposition of financial markets and institutions through to current issues surrounding private equity, risk management and hedge funds, each chapter sets the scene and analyses the chosen articles. Particular attention is paid to detailed explanation of key terminology (crucial for when you need to file that urgent report at work or look into reviewing your mortgage).

Reading and Understanding the Financial Timesleaves you to ponder your findings and research further with self review questions andsuggested data and web-based activities on the book’s website so that next time you read the Financial Times you will be able to do your own analysis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65365 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Back Cover

“The Financial Timesis an indispensable tool for today’s decision makers.”

Do you want to read and understand the FT with confidence?

Do you want to see the financial theory you have poured over in your studies in action?  

Do you want a career in Finance?

Do you already have a career in Finance?  

YES?

Then this is the book for you.

Reading and Understanding the Financial Times incorporates a selection of topical FT articles with recurrent themes relating to some of the most important issues in the world of corporate finance. From the private equity take over bid for Boots to the recent Northern Rock credit crisis, the chosen articles are analysed in depth leaving you armed with a new vocabulary of key financial terms and ready to conduct your own analysis next time you read the FT for business or pleasure.     

Book Blog

Visit the book’s website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/boakes to access the author’s regularly updated blog for his take on current business news as it unfolds, download podcasts with further article analysis and check your understanding with suggested hints to in text questions.  

Try the FT for 4 weeks for only £1!

See the first page of this text for a special offer from the FT to readers of Readingand Understanding the Financial Times.

“An excellent learning tool, bringing real-world examples to a very wide range of key financial concepts. Brings financial theory to life and makes the FT articles accessible to everyone. Very clear explanation of what really happens in financial markets – an excellent practical introduction to corporate finance.”

Eoghan Harrington, Investment Banker

“This book is an excellent choice for finance professionals or those who just enjoy reading the finance section of the paper to get an understanding and engage in some of the more topical and complex financial issues. The use of current events as a learning tool sets it apart from other books and puts you in the middle of a discussion on financial theory.”

Brian Shaw, Finance Director – LEGOLAND, California

About the Author

After graduating with a degree in Economics and MSc from the London School of Economics, Kevin Boakes started his working life on the bond trading desk at Greenwell Montagu Gilt-edged, which is now part of HSBC Investment Bank. As their Chief UK Economist he was responsible for giving on the spot advice to bond traders as soon as economic stories hit the news screens. He has regularly contributed articles to newspapers including the Times, Observer and Guardian and appeared on the BBC’s Money Programme and the Financial World Tonight. In the late 1980s he decided to make a radical career change and left the City to join Kingston University, initially in the Economics Department, and then at Kingston Business School where he is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Accounting and Finance. He teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Finance and International Financial Markets. In addition to his academic work he has run numerous economics and financial training courses for various Investment Banks.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book!
This book played an instrumental role in landing me various placements at international law firms. As a law student my exposure to the business and commercial world was not extensive enough to cater for the "commercial awareness" demands of corporate law firms, but this book helped me grasp the key concepts of business and finance and be able to talk about them. The use of real-life articles and frequent examples demonstrating the key ideas is really helpful when applying the ideas to new situations, as was required in the interviews. The books is also very easy to read, maintaining the reader's interest unlike some of the more heavy-going textbooks in this area. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who needs to learn about the corporate world, the interplay between the different professional sectors (for example business and law) or even those who wish to develop their understanding of business. Fantastic!

Understand financial jargon!
If you have ever opened up the financial times and felt overwhelmed by all the jargon then this book is for you. This book will give you a short introduction to a number of major topics in the financial world, such as mergers and acquisitions and private equity. In the process of giving you this quick introduction the author will also equip you with all the tools you need to do further reading on that topic. This is done by explaining all the relevant jargon and referring you to other resources which will further expand your understanding.

The book is split up into a number of bite size chapters, none of which take more than an hour to read. Each chapter begins with a couple of articles on a given topic, taken directly from the financial times. Following this the author "translates" this text into plain English, explaining and defining all the relevant jargon in the process. At the end of each chapter a number of textbook style questions and practical exercises are provided, along with a list of further reading. Links to the author's excellent podcast are also provided.

This book is useful not only to those wishing to quickly learn how to read and understand the financial times (as the title suggests), but also to those looking for a concise introduction to the workings of the financial world. Knowledge gleaned from reading this book would also prove very useful to students applying for jobs in the city.

Highly Recommended!!
Having contemplated buying this book i can safely say it is definately an invaluable book whether your already working in the financial industry, an undergraduate (such as myself) or just have an interest in understanding the murky world that it the city.

Chapters focus on specific FT articles with detailed analysis to decipher technical jargon and key terms. For myself the best feature of the book is the fact that the author Kevin Boakes provides an insider's view and self-review questions which provides the opportunity for self-study and a crucial book for reference ahead of lectures and exams.

Finally there are Boakes provides web-based activities and online web content to support the publication as well as downloadable podcasts, which is a welcomed changed for students who wish to use a variety of web-based and other media rather than be restricted to to written texts

If your hestitating aobut buying this book dont, its a must have if your considering a career in finance or business related area.