The Irwin Guide to Using the Wall Street Journal [Paperback]

Lehmann (Author), Michael B. Lehmann (Author, Preface)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0070371199 | ISBN-13: 978-0070371194 | Publication Date: November 10, 1997 | Edition: 5

Now in its 5th edition, and updated with expanded definitions, illustrations, examples, and additional reference material, this one-of-a-kind tool for understanding "The Wall Street Journal" shows investors how to use America's #1 circulation newspaper to make the best investment decisions in today's sophisticated economic marketplace. 40 illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's quaint that in this day of search engines to help us find more search engines, some old-fashioned reference books are still perennial sellers. When The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal premiered in 1984, the future day traders of the world weren't trading much more than Atari cartridges. So, the advent of this sixth edition--penned, as ever, by Michael B. Lehmann, a University of San Francisco economics professor who has developed a popular seminar class around it--receives a round of well-deserved kudos.

Even if, that is, its title remains a bit of a misnomer. For this is not, nor has ever it been, so much a guide to using the WSJas it is a tidy primer on the fundamental workings of the U.S. economy and stock markets, intended not just to help readers enjoy the WSJ more, but to help them more fully comprehend what they read there. Lehmann covers just about everything, like a rigorous-but-not-draconian year of Economics 101: from how and why interest rates affect markets and when to expect the next recession to the Federal Reserve's impact on your investment portfolio and which fixed-income market is right for you. The guided tour Lehmann gives is well organized and accessible to the average financial layperson who can handle sentences slightly longer than those in USA Today and doesn't think "Federal Reserve" refers to an early 19th-century architectural style. A certain amount of patience may be called for, too: though no opaque academic text, The Irwin Guide is far from one of those Dummies/Idiots books that somehow crams the greatest matters of civilization into what generally look like coloring books for adults. Lehmann's text is dense, relieved only occasionally by various charts or articles previously published in the WSJ. Curious is the near-total absence of terms you would have expected to see in an update from the 1996 edition--terms like "Internet," "dot-com," and "WWW." But after six editions you have to think that Lehmann's a sly one--maybe he speaks most eloquently of how the current dot-com/IPO mania will play in the long term by saying absolutely nothing. --Timothy Murphy --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

"Whether your interest is to invest more wisely in the stock market, manage your business better, or broaden your foundation of political and social understanding, The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal is well worth the investment."-CIO Magazine. With over 250,000 copies sold in previous editions, The Irwin Guide to Using the Wall Street Journal has become required reading for anyone who wants to get the most from the Journal's invaluable business and investment information. Michael Lehmann shows how to use The Wall Street Journal not just as a daily business digest, but also as a tool to make smart business decisions. Updated with expanded definitions, timely discussion of economic trends, examples, illustrations, and additional reference information, this one-of-a-kind guide helps you make full use of Journal, The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal, Fifth Edition, provides a clear and concise explanation of fundamental business and investment issues including: the business cycle; how timing can affect key decision making in the market; economic indicators and how to use them. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael B. Lehmann is a professor of Economics at the University of San Francisco. Professor Lehmann received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He lectures extensively on business and investment conditions, and has developed a popular seminar leased on his book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 5 edition (November 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070371199
• ISBN-13: 978-0070371194
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Monetary Primer, February 6, 2003

By 

Joshua D. Hamilton (Santa Monica, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal, 6th Edition (Hardcover)

This book is a good introduction to the principles of the macro economy.

The author explains the basics of the federal reserve system, monetary policy, the causes and effects of inflation, and various personal investment products such as stocks, mutual funds, commodities, and money market accounts. The basics of each is explained, and the author shows how each is tracked daily in the Wall Street Journal. The purpose is to allow individuals to understand their investments, track their progress, and be able to react to changing market conditions. Its all sounds very axiomatic, but the great thing about this book is that it states basic principles that are often assumed, and thus left unstated.

For example, if the following excerpts are helpful to you, then this would be a great book for you:

Page 15: "The forces of supply and demand condition every business cycle."

Page 25: "Bank lending finances spending, and spending generates inflation. The Fed controls bank lending and can thereby control inflation."

Page 33: "Every commodity has a price; the interest rate is the price of money. As with any commodity, the price fluctuates according the the laws of supply and demand."

Page 165: "Mutual funds are popular with individual investors because they permit diversification in a wide variety of securities with a very small capital outlay."

These are examples of the points covered, and the level at which they are covered. If the above quotes sounded obvious, this book may be below your expertise. But if you finally want to understand the jargon you hear on CNNfn, this book will do the job.

This would be a great book to buy as a graduation gift for a high school senior, or anyone without a background in finance.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Be your own economist, July 22, 2000

By 

Ng Chon Hsing (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal, 6th Edition (Hardcover)

Financial literacy is one of the basic keys to achieving Financial Independence. Money is seen with the mind, not with the eyes. Those who can read financial numbers and news will eventually control those who cannot. Many people make decisions to buy real estate or stocks, or enter into businesses, based on their emotions and not on any understanding of the financial rationale behind it. That's why 9 out 10 people don't make money.

The Wall Street Journal is the best source of all the financial, economics and investment news, figures and data you need to get started on acquiring financial literacy. Having said that, for one who has not studied economics or obtained a finance degree, it can be quite a task trying to understand all that information. This is where The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal helps the interested reader to make full use of The Wall Street Journal to become his/her own economist.

Not many books like this book come this far. This book is now into its 6th edition, having been first published in 1984. This edition has been updated with more current and post-1996 examples and illustrations.

I like how this book takes the various sections found in The Wall Street Journal and explains the significance of the information, figures and data and then relates it to the reader's understanding of finance and economics. This certainly enhances the reader's appreciation of the nuggets of information found in The Wall Street Journal. This book also enlightens the reader as to the various choices of investments out there - from stocks, to commodities and metals, and to money market investments.

All in all, I found this to be good book for those who have no prior education in finance and economics but who are willing to take action to learn more. Even those with a basic knowledge of economics will stand to gain from this book.

For those who may require a more basic book on understanding economics, I would like to recommend Economic Literacy by Jacob De Rooy or The Wall Street Journal's Guide to Understanding Money & Investing. And for those ready to take on more complex readings, I would recommend R Mark Rogers' Handbook of Key Economic Indicators.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone's Access to the Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2000

By 

Alan Ziajka (Berkeley, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal, 6th Edition (Hardcover)

Whether you are a mutual fund manager or a private investor, a CEO of a multinational firm or the owner of a small business, a retired millionaire or a young professional just starting out, a new capitalist or an old Marxist, this is the book for you. Whoever you are, this book gives you the tools to intelligently read and use the premier business publication of today--The Wall Street Journal. The writing, the charts, and the statistical analyses are so crystal clear that you can truly use the Wall Street Journal to be your own economist. Complex concepts such as the price earnings (P/E) ratio for the Dow stocks, for example, are fully explained, placed in their historical and contemporary context, and are shown to have important implications for the investor, the business person, and the financial advisor. Statistical reports in the Wall Street Journal are explained as more than isolated pieces of data, but rather as part of the economic matrix of the world economy. The classic business cycle is the economic and literary tool that the author uses to organize his book and to advance the reader's understanding of what is happening in the world economy--and why. In short, the author has done a masterful job in explaining how we can use the Journal to understand the past, the present, and the future of our economic world. Read this book, and your perceptions of that world will never be the same.