Customer Reviews

Fundamentals of Investing (Seventh Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Contrary to what the Editorial Review above states, this textbook does NOT come with StockTrack. Fortunately, it comes with an excellent program -- OTIS, an Online Trading and Investment Simulator developed at Wharton, the world famous business school. The simulation program allows you to "buy" and "sell" a whole range of real securities, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, EFTs and derivatives, so you can test out the investment concepts from the textbook. It's just like using a program like eTrade, except you don't use real money. You can test out your investment ideas, and the software tracks your portfolio value using real market data.

The Gitman/Joehnk textbook itself is a fine textbook for someone who has not studied investment theory before, and is ideal for personal investors who want a solid foundation in the essential concepts, tools, and latest technologies they need to be successful.

Came recommended to me by a Senior VP of Investments at a large city securities group. Touted as the "bible" of the basics of investing, the market types, and everything needed to understand these markets today. If you need to learn about investing, this should be your ground zero...

Time for me to upgrade to the Seventh Edition! I used Fundamentals of Investing, Fourth Edition around 10 years ago in a college course at WCTC in Waukesha, WI. My instructor was a V.P. at a major brokerage house. It was one of the best and most rewarding college courses I ever took. We covered the entire book in one semester.

As with any book, Fundamentals of Investing will please some and not others. This book lays the foundation for investing by covering topics such as stocks, bonds, insurance, and the like along with understanding the risks of each. This book is not a "get rich quick" self help book. You will not find "trendy ways" to invest, hence the title "Fundamentals of Investing."

This book is where I learned Time Value of Money (TVM). Before I learned of TVM and investing, my retirement plan consisted of the value of my home and social security. Now I am well on my way to achieving my goal; retiring as comfortable as or better than I live now. If there is any social security when I retire it will be a bonus.

On the whole, this book (including my 4th edition) is useful even as a reference to the investment process. I use it to refresh my understanding of the variety and types of securities. Others may disagree but this is my investment bible. It has paid for itself time and time again by reminding me of the basic "Fundamentals of Investing."

You can remove a lot of risks to investing if you read and understand those investments in "Fundamentals of Investing."

Fundamentals of Investing leaves a good deal to be desired as a textbook for a first course on investments. It is too wordy, being nearly 700 pages in length (not including tables or the index), making it somewhat challenging to cover the entire book in a single college semester.

As with any book, Fundamentals of Investing has its good features and its bad features. The chapter on investment planning (chapter 3) is quite good as it gives the reader an understanding of the motivation for investing. Another good feature about the book is the treatment of the security analysis process and how the investor should approach the analysis of investments for inclusion in a portfolio.

However, the deficiencies of the book appear to outweigh its benefits. First, the authors appear to assume that the reader is already familiar with the concept of the time value of money (TVM). Since the TVM concept is vital in assessing the worth of an investment to an investor, a reader that is unfamiliar or not well versed in the TVM concept is likely not to fully understand how securities are valued. Second, many of the examples given in the book are not always of great help in assisting the reader in understanding the concepts that were presented. Finally, the problems at the end of each chapter do not seem to provide much of a challenge to the reader to apply the concepts that were covered in the chapter to reinforce what was supposed to have been learned.

On the whole, the book can be useful in introducing the reader to the investment process and in understanding the variety and value of different types of securities. But a reader who is less familiar with investing can do better than to buy this book.

Just like all textbooks, Fundamentals of Investing is expensive with quit a few things that could be left out. However, the book does have a lot of great advice, and just like the title states, it does give you the fundamentals.

If you want to begin investing into securities and bonds you must, at the very least, understand the fundamentals (the in's and out's, terms, and where to begin). The book teaches you those things and more. It not only teaches you how to value stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and how to find ones that fit your investment needs, but also the simple things like setting up a brokerage account, making the purchase, and managing your portfolio.

I had to purchase the book for a class, and just like any class I was somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of information I had to cram into 8 weeks. However, as a more seasoned investor, I still revert back to the book for terms, equations for valuations, and even references for useful websites. If you are interested in investing but are not in college, I would recommend buying this textbook. It is expensive, so try to purchase it used.

If you are getting this book for a class, you will need My Finance Lab software. This book does not come with an access code for the software so I had to go and buy it separately. I thought I was getting a good deal, but now will end up paying more.

This book although well written was disappointing because it only covers the fundamentals and the basics of investments and portfolios. I suppose I was looking for something more in depth and challenging and this wasn't the write book. But if you are looking to learn the basics this book seems like a good start.

the product arrived on time, the book is in good quality. the price is reasonable. If the price is cheaper, I think this good will be sell very well~~~

I ordered the book but the book does not include the MyFinanceLab Access Code to get to the online study guide and self tests. I thought I may have gotten a defective book but I sent the book back and the replacement book also lacked a MyFinanceLab Access Code that I needed for my class. If you purchase it online, I hear that it is $40.00.

I had to purchase the textbook as part of a required program to sit for the CFP® examination.

My list of grievances are many: the author engages in a "timeliness" ruse by inserting dozens of internet website references in the text, placing allegedly updated information on the publisher's proprietary website (i.e., they are going to get more money out of you)and constantly referencing the recent financial crisis. Unfortunately, this is done at the sacrifice of clearly explaining the essential and time honored concepts students will be tested on in professional certification or class room examinations.

The book's flashy "how many times can we make a current events reference" writing style serves as a tactical gimmick of the publisher (this is the 11th edition on a book only in print since 1997) to constantly re-issue the book and force students to shell out $170 + S&H for the latest edition. What is truly upsetting is, it was July 2007 that NASD became FINRA and the 11th edition (2010) still has incorrect references to the NASD. This textbook wouldn't even pass the muster of a FINRA marketing materials review. Not to mention the "up to date" Tax Advantaged Investments chapter (only available on the publisher's proprietary website) which references 2006 Tax Code.

The author's constant allusion to "the magic of Excel" to describe the mechanics of formulaic calculations and his use of generic calculator input diagrams is woefully inadequate; however I believe this is done to save the dozen extra pages it would take to properly diagram calculator input on the (5) most relevant business calculators: (17B, 12C, 10B, BAII, and EL-733A).

In sum, if you are forced to purchase this for a class you should complain. If you are a professor, there must be a dozen textbooks that can teach the basics at a far more reasonable price and in a far more effective manner.