I've owned an edition of this book since 1993 when I took an Investments class as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout my career, my return to graduate school, and my pursuit of my CFA charter, I have used and seen others using this book,

This book is an introductory textbook on investments. To get a deeper understanding about the research that developed the theories and the ongoing debates in academia (e.g. APT, efficient markets hypothesis, behavioral finance), I would suggest reading some of the authors/researchers referenced in the book. Despite this limitation, this is an excellent starting point. The book begins with basic introduction of financial markets and instruments, develops the basic finance toolbox (e.g. basic statistical tools - mean, variance; discounted cash flow), and applies them in a portfolio setting. From this base, it goes on to introduce the most basic financial concepts such as beta, CAPM, diversification, efficient frontier, CAL, etc. These are all the basic tools that are used in portfolio contruction and management. The book extends itself by introducing additional concepts such as derivatives (e.g. futures, options, swaps) which can alter the charateristics of portfolios. As other reviewers have noted and I will agree, these topics are only in a cursory fashion, and I recommend further study on these topics through other texts or papers.

Overall, this is a must read (at least as a starting point) for anyone interested in developing knowledge about portfolio theory. For example, this book would be very helpful for anyone who would like to understand with a more critical eye what the commentators/analysts on CNBC or at the brokerage firms are trying to recommend for their own portfolios.

This book has a tremendous amount of valuable information for those of us who want to understand what investments are actually about. There is a lot more to it than the simple bromides peddled in the popular press and media. Yet, when you get some basic concepts down, they become easier to understand and evaluate. The popular press is misleading in its oversimplification and silly statements (like "no one is buying today").

I want to praise this edition's organization. Since it is a text designed for use by students, the fifth edition I used is organized most helpfully. Each chapter has an overview and there are concept check questions at key points of the text that help you assess if you really understood the information you just read. The main points are restated in a concise summary at the end of each chapter and you can review the key terms to make sure you are absorbing the vocabulary.

There are valuable websites listed along the way for additional and related information. The authors and publisher also provide a website with materials including spreadsheets directly related to this book. The part of the site with online quizzes has a few typos and scoring errors, and that should be fixed, but the online materials are generally ok.

The chapter problems are another matter. Some are really projects and should be separated, I feel, from the study questions. They are good to do if you have the time and will certainly help your learning, but they can take some time to work through.

Some of the questions are very simple and are really a quick concept check and they seem out of place when placed along side the "projects". One VERY NICE feature of the questions is the inclusion of sample CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam questions. This is very useful for those of us thinking about preparing for that process.

It is also worth getting the Solutions Manual. ISBN 0-07-233921-7. Don't by a mismatched solutions manual! As you work through the problems, especially the "projects" it is nice to see how these problems are handled by the authors.

This is the best book in financial economics at a graduate level program. It covers the basics and some advanced topics in finance with the right balance of theories and applications.

For beginners who want to discover the world of finance, Statistics is a must. I recommend : Basic Business Statistics by Levine et all.

If you are excited to explore in depth this domain, you need to look at the following areas:
- Multivariate analysis
- Stochastic processes & Calculus
- Probability theories
- Ordinary and partial differential equations
- Some knowledge in programming language (basic, C++....)