Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Options as a Strategic Investment or High Altitude Leadership

Options as a Strategic Investment

Author: Lawrence G McMillan

The market in listed options and non-equity option products provides investors and traders with a wealth of new, strategic opportunities for managing their investments. This updated and revised Third Edition of the bestselling options book of all time gives you the latest market-tested tools for maximizing the earnings potential of your portfolio while reducing downside risk - no matter how the market is performing. Inside this expanded edition are scores of proven techniques and business-tested tactics for investing in many of the innovative new options products available. For example, you'll find buy and sell strategies for Long Term Equity Anticipation Securities (LEAPS); a thorough analysis of neutral trading, how it works, and various ways it can improve your overall profit picture; detailed guidance for investing in Preferred Equity Redemption Cumulative Stocks (PERCS> and how to hedge them with common and regular options; an extensive overview of futures and futures options; and much more. Written especially for investors who have some familiarity with the option market, this comprehensive reference also shows you the concepts and applications of various option strategies - how they work, in which situations, and why ... techniques for using index options and futures to protect your portfolio and improve your return ... and the implications of the tax laws for option writers, including allowable long-term gains and losses. In addition, detailed examples, exhibits, and checklists show you the power of each strategy under carefully described market conditions.

booknews.com

The new edition is revised to represent the latest trading vehicles and applications, including coverage of long-term equity anticipation securities LEAPs, preferred equity redemption cumulative stocks PERCs, neutral trading, futures options, warrants, and standard portfolio analysis of risk SPAN. The idea, of course, is to maximize earnings and reduce risk—no matter how the market is performing. Strategy techniques and examples show how to do it.

Reference & Research Book News

The new edition is revised to represent the latest trading vehicles and applications, including coverage of long-term equity anticipation securities LEAPs, preferred equity redemption cumulative stocks PERCs, neutral trading, futures options, warrants, and standard portfolio analysis of risk SPAN. The idea, of course, is to maximize earnings and reduce risk—no matter how the market is performing. Strategy techniques and examples show how to do it.

Booknews

The new edition is revised to represent the latest trading vehicles and applications, including coverage of long-term equity anticipation securities (LEAPs), preferred equity redemption cumulative stocks (PERCs), neutral trading, futures options, warrants, and standard portfolio analysis of risk (SPAN). The idea, of course, is to maximize earnings and reduce risk--no matter how the market is performing. Strategy techniques and examples show how to do it. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)



Book review: The Dream or Resume Handbook

High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success

Author: Chris Warner

Praise for High Altitude Leadership


"A totally original and breathtaking (literally!) journey into the unexplored terrain of fearless leadership."

—Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business at the University of Southern California and coauthor of Transparency and Judgment

"Chris Warner and Don Schmincke transport us to the highest peaks in the world for a fresh eye on what too often goes wrong at sea level, whether it's corporate cowardice, personal selfishness, or just plain fear.?Drawing on gripping accounts of both conquest and survival in the Himalayas, High Altitude Leadership offers compelling lessons on the art of bravery, selfless leadership, and high performance under the most daunting outdoor—and business—conditions." ????

—Michael Useem, professor of management and director of the Leadership Center at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author, The Go Point: When It's Time to Decide and The Leadership Moment

"Using harrowing first person accounts of life and death on the mountaintop, Chris Warner and Don Schmincke pinpoint eight lessons leaders need to learn to reach the highest peak of success in business. Dare to be a high altitude leader. Read this book!"

—Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and The One Minute Entrepreneur®

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review.

Warner is a mountaineer and entrepreneur (founder of mountaineering outfitter Earth Treks); Schmincke is an author (The Code of the Executive) and leadership consultant, though he's an MIT-trained scientist and engineer at heart. Having met on a charity climb in the Andes, they discovered similar opinions on human nature and management techniques, from which they developed the concept of "high altitude leadership." Warner and Schminke identify eight psychological mindsets that paralyze organizations and individuals, undermining productivity: Fear, Selfishness, Tool Seduction, Arrogance, Lone Heroism, Cowardice, Comfort and Gravity. Each is discussed in its own chapter, beginning with an often tragic example from Warner's mountaineering life that shows pointedly how similar behavior can lead to workplace catastrophe. Schmincke prides himself on being a "mad scientist" rather than a management guru, focused on practical observation and common-sense application; he employs a deliciously sarcastic tone when discussing typical, ineffective managerial "magic cures" like Mission Statements and Codes of Values. The final chapter is devoted to caring, highlighting the importance of courage, moral code, efficacy, social responsibility, honor, patriotism, virtue, valor and sense of group identity. As much a life guide as a business primer, this book sports a helpful, engaging and positive plan for working together effectively and honestly.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.



Table of Contents:
Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1. Danger #1: Fear.

2. Danger #2: Selfishness.

3. Danger #3: Tool Seduction.

4. Danger #4: Arrogance.

5. Danger #5: Lone Heroism.

6. Danger #6: Cowardice.

7. Danger #7: Comfort.

8. Danger #8: Gravity.

9. The Journey Begins.

Resources.

Notes.

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