This is an excellent, down to earth book about investing that focuses on the fundamentals of business success. It puts into context the role of management, use of debt and fundamental investment analysis without resorting to the kind of confusing jargon that often plagues other financial authors. Brian Taylorson CFO Elementis A comprehensive and insightful view of the world of stock market investment. Fully deserves to become the investors' vade mecum. David Webster, Chairman of InterContinental Hotels Do you want to feel more confident about your investment decisions? Do you need to have a better understanding of how the stock markets value a business? Do you want to know what the key ratios are that drive share price performance? The Financial Times Guide to Making the Right Investment Decisions is the insider's guide to how the market examines companies and values shares. It helps you understand the factors that drive long term wealth creation as well as highlighting the key risks that lead to value being destroyed. Originally published as Analysing Companies and Valuing Shares, this new edition has been fully revised and includes a new and easy to follow framework for understanding valuation. Perfect for investors at all levels, it guides you through the investment maze, and highlights the key issues you need to consider to invest successfully. The Financial Times Guide to Making the Right Investment Decisions: * Gives you an easy to follow framework to guide your decision-making * Explains clearly and concisely key financial concepts and how they drive valuation * Shows you the key ratios to monitor and how they affect share prices * Illustrates the key risks and warning signals that will help you avoid losses * Identifies the qualities of company management and governance that differentiates winners from losers * Brings the issues and numbers to life with real examples and case studies In a challenging economic and stock market environment, the need to take better informed decisions is vital. This clear, common sense guide provides a comprehensive and accessible framework for understanding the valuation of a business and what drives its share price. Knowing the key numbers, ratios and techniques that professional investors use will help you to reduce your risk and invest more profitably. The FT Guide to Making the Right Investment Decisions covers: *Sector and market background*Management and strategy*Performance and returns*Financial position*The outlook*Absolute valuation discounted cash flow*Relative valuation*The investment decision buy or sell? About the author Michael Cahill is an established analyst and coach, and head of MarketMatters, a training company that specialises in demystifying company valuation and how markets work. A Cambridge economics graduate, he worked for 16 years as an investment analyst in both broking and fund management, including 10 years at UBS Warburg as a member of one its top-rated research teams. Michael's clear and common sense approach to analysing companies and valuing shares was first published in 2003. In this edition, he has taken this subject a stage further, creating a new framework that makes company valuation even more intuitive and accessible. Michael's energy and enthusiasm transforms the subject and inspires people to think about valuation and financial markets differently, prompting one course participant to comment: 'A fantastic teacher helpful, resourceful, covered all the ground in great detail but made it all very real and really understandable'. Michael lives in London and as well as working in the UK he regularly teaches and coaches overseas. For more information please go to www.marketmatters.co.uk or email michael@marketmatters.co.uk