Principles of Corporate Finance with S&P bind-in card [Hardcover]

Richard A. Brealey (Author), Stewart C. Myers (Author), Franklin Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0073368695 | ISBN-13: 978-0073368696 | Edition: 9th

Principles of Corporate Finance is the worldwide leading text that describes the theory and practice of corporate finance. Throughout the book the authors show how managers use financial theory to solve practical problems and as a way of learning how to respond to change by showing not just how but why companies and management act as they do. The text is comprehensive, authoritative, and modern and yet the material is presented at a common sense level. The discussions and illustrations are unique due to the depth of detail blended with a distinct sense of humor for which the book is well known and highly regarded. This text is a valued reference for thousands of practicing financial managers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Product Details

• Hardcover: 976 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin; 9th edition (October 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0073368695
• ISBN-13: 978-0073368696
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bad emphasis on Efficient Market Hypothesis, August 21, 2009

By 

Ratatosk (Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles of Corporate Finance with S&P bind-in card (Hardcover)

This book is an introduction to many topics in corporate finance. It is mostly well written and easy to understand if you are familiar with the topics already. The book offers many valuable bits of knowledge and I learned many things from it.

My main complaint with this book, however, and the reason I have only rated it at 3 stars, is its emphasis and almost blind belief in the Efficient Market Hypothesis and the derived theories such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model. This belief influences many parts of the book, but the assumption that stock markets have a superior intelligence in the aggregate is clearly a fallacy in my opinion and experience, because the stock markets often do exhibit 'cascading' irrational behaviour.

Another book which may interest you is: Analysis for Financial Management by Robert Higgins, which is a shorter book that is perhaps also a little better at explaining many of the core concepts in corporate finance, although it naturally doesn't cover all the details of this much larger book.

PS: This review is for the 8th edition.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Book, March 31, 2009

By 

Diane P. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles of Corporate Finance with S&P bind-in card (Hardcover)

I like this book because it addresses the reader directly. It is extremely useful if corporate finance is not new to you . I had already read "Fundamentals of Corporate Finance" by the same authors which is more for the beginning finance student and that helped a lot with this book.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Book at grad school, and even among undergrad, October 6, 2009

By 

Tomorrow's Man (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles of Corporate Finance with S&P bind-in card (Hardcover)

Pros:

1. Fun to read (read the footnotes - the authors have a great sense of humor)

2. Explains concepts extremely well

3. Great examples, index, and chapter quizzes

Cons:

1. No solutions manual (there are quiz solutions, just no solutions to supplemental material)

2. Part V, Chapter 17 uses uncommon terminology - unless you take the second semester Finance class don't worry about it. Your prof will address this...

Finance can be a difficult subject for some, and this book simply makes finance easier. The authors have a great sense of humor and their footnotes are either (1) funny, or (2) incredibly interesting. In any highly quantitative course you're going to have to read a short-ish chapter that takes a long time to complete - this book makes that "long time" enjoyable. This is my favorite college/university level book & when I talk to others who've read this I hear the similar praise..