The Signs Were There

The clues for investors that a company is heading for a fall
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.

Tim Steer qualified as an accountant before moving into investment analysis and fund management, becoming one of the most highly rated fund managers in Britain. Since 2000 he has also written regularly for the Times and Sunday Times, as well as contributing to the Financial Times.

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• ISBN The Signs Were There book Paperback 336 pages