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The Signs Were There: The clues for investors that a company is heading for a fall
by Tim Steer (author)
About this book
When companies suffer a dramatic even catastrophic drop in their share price, it is the investors who lose their shirts and employees their jobs. But often, a company's published accounts offer clues to impending disaster, providing you know where to look. Through the forensic examination of more than 20 recent stock market disasters, Tim Steer reveals how companies hide or disguise worrying facts about the robustness of their business.
In his lively style, he looks at the themes that underlie the ways companies hide the truth and he stresses that in an assessment of a company's accounts, investors should always bear in mind that the only fact is cash; everything else - profit, assets, etc - is a matter of opinion. Full of invaluable lessons for investors, the book concludes with some trenchant observations on what is wrong in the worlds of investment, audit and financial regulation, and what changes should be introduced.
Brief contents
Introduction: The high cliff divers of Acapulco
Part 1. Abracadabra: How profits can be maximised by turning costs into assets
Part 2. Stock matters: How profits can be affected by stock value
Part 3. Promises and estimates: The difficulties with accruals
Part 4. Not so good: When goodwill goes bad
Part 5. Busy building less value: The acquisition addiction
Part 6. Never mind the width, feel the quality: Deteriorating assets
Part 7. Crunch: There is no ignoring bad debts
Part 8. Too cosy for comfort: Related party transactions
Part 9. Beware of conflict: When auditors get too close for comfort
Part 10. The trend is your friend: Financial analysis and the use of ratios
Conclusion: Diving lessons
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Index
Length: 272 pages
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd (November 29, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1788160800
ISBN-13: 978-1788160803
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