The Irwin Guide to Using the Wall Street Journal - Softcover

Lehmann, Michael B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0070371199 ISBN 13: 9780070371194

Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 1997

Synopsis

Shows how to use the Journal to understand the business cycle, federal fiscal policy, the stock market, and international transactions

About this title

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

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0070371199
• ISBN 13: 9780070371194
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 416