• Brief, manageable presentation of topics in a highly readable format.
  • Gives students a quick reference to desired information that students can understand.
• Guidelines for predicting economic conditions - Includes a step-by-step guide to different strategies for varying economic conditions.
  • Allows students to think critically.
• Instructions and insights into how money moves the financial markets - A topic often neglected by other texts.
• Coverage of key topics:
  • Risk/return and diversification.
  • Description and strategies for investing in stocks (common and preferred), bonds (private and government), and alternative investments to cash.
  • Investing in mutual funds; strategies and pitfalls.
  • Stock options and commodity futures.
  • Investment fundamentals and technical analysis.
  • Investing for education, major purchases, and retirement.
  • Predicting economic conditions.
  • Simple guidelines to personal investing.
• Examination of the ten most common mistakes in investing - Provides ten common-sense rules for successful investing.
  • Provides students an easy-to-use guideline.
• Selected self-work problems and applications, with suggested answers.
  • Students learn by hands-on applications.
• Access to the "Guide to Personal Investing" Website-Contains monthly updates on new and related topics covered in the text.
  • Encourages students to visit the Internet, where many additional learning resources may be found.
• Numerous down-to-earth investment suggestions, figures, illustrations, and examples - To simplify and clarify the complex world of investing.
  • Students receive a hands-on approach to investing.

Seasoned investors and beginners alike can learn to make better investment decisions from this easy-to-read book. Dr. George W. Trivoli is a professor of finance and eminent scholar for the College of Commerce and Business Administration at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. He is an internationally known researcher and scholar in finance, having published numerous scholarly papers in prestigious journals. Dr. Trivoli and his co-authors recently received the Dow Jones/Irwin Publishing Award for Best Paper at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Finance Association. In addition, Dr. Trivoli has extensive practical experience in the investment field and holds a NASD series seven security representatives license.

Dr. Trivoli is the lead author of the book, Study Guide to Ben Branch's Investments (2nd edition), published by Dearborn Financial Publishing in 1989. In addition, he has published noteworthy articles in the Journal of Portfolio Management relating to insider trading in the stock market and stock prices. Dr.Trivoli recently co-authored with Dr. Ben Branch a revision of Investments: Principles and Practices published by The American College.

Dr. Trivoli holds a Ph.D. in economics and finance from the University of Virginia and an MBA in finance from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He received his undergraduate education at Grove City College in Pennsylvania and completed three years of post-graduate work in finance at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The book is an outgrowth of Dr. Trivoli's weekly newspaper column, "Your Investing," distributed through the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. In addition, the column is syndicated worldwide by United Press International.

This volume is suitable as either a primary textbook in a college-level personal investments class or as a supplementary text for the following courses: personal finance, investments, money and capital markets, financial institutions, and business finance.

All the essential information required to begin or advance as a knowledgeable investor is covered in the book. Chapters 1 and 2 introduce the basic concepts of personal investing including the nature of securities investing, saving to invest, and setting up investment goals. In addition, there is in-depth coverage of the importance of risk as related to returns and diversification.

Chapters 3 and 4 include investing in common stocks, bonds, and preferred stocks. Most aspects of understanding and trading these securities are discussed in a clear and concise fashion. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss investing via investment companies, mutual funds, and options and future markets.

Chapter 7 provides an in-depth guide to various types of alternative investments to holding bank deposits. These include money-market accounts, U.S. Treasury securities, Ginnie Maes and other agency issues, municipal bonds, bond mutual funds, high-dividend stocks, and real estate investment trusts. Chapter 8 covers the topics of investing for children's educational costs, investing for retirement, and selecting a life insurance company.

Chapter 9 discusses investment timing (knowing when to invest) and collectibles as investments. The relationship of money and the stock market is reviewed in chapter 10. This chapter provides a detailed discussion of how money is created, how the Federal Reserve influences interest rates, and how money creation affects the stock market. Predicting the economic climate is the topic of Chapter 11. Here, the author reviews the economic conditions in the 1990s to illustrate how an investor can react to changing economic conditions.

The final chapter, chapter 12, briefly and succinctly list and discusses the 10 common mistakes of investing, along with 10 common sense rules for successful investing. In addition, guidelines for choosing a financial planner are discussed. Finally, the volume concludes with a summary table and discussion to aid the investor in selecting various investment strategies under different economic conditions.

Throughout this volume, the reader will find numerous down-to-earth investment suggestions, figures, illustrations, and examples to simplify and clarify the complex world of investing. This volume contains an index of key terms to provide the reader with an easy reference to specific topics. As the reader's investment knowledge increases, this volume should become an indispensable guide and information resource.

For those adopting this volume as either a classroom textbook or supplementary reader, there are selected exercises containing problems and applications in the back of the book. Moreover, the reader and the adopting instructor will gain access to the "Personal Portfolio Management" Web site. This Web site contains monthly updates on new and related topics covered in this volume.

George W. Trivoli, Ph.D.
College of Commerce and Business Administration
Jacksonville State University

1. Basics of Personal Investing.
2. Risk/Return and Diversification.
3. Investing in Common Stocks.
4. Bonds and Preferred Stocks.
5. Investing in Mutual Funds.
6. Options and Futures.
7. Alternate Investments to Cash.
8. Investing for the Future.
9. Investment Timing and Technical Tools.
10. Money and Markets.
11. Predicting Economic Conditions.
12. Personal Investing Guidelines.

Selected Exercises.

Suggested Answers to Exercises.

Index.

Dr. George W. Trivoli is professor of finance and eminent scholar for the College of Commerce and Business Administration, Jacksonville State University. Before joining the faculty in 1990, he served on the faculties of the University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University, where he also served as director of the MBA program.

Trivoli is a lifetime member of the Financial Management Association and Eastern Finance Association and has served in various offices for both professional associations. In addition, he serves as an ad hoc reviewer for Financial Management, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, International Trade Journal, and The Financial Review. He is an active participant at professional meetings, presenting and discussing papers, chairing sessions, and serving on program committees.

Trivoli has published over 25 research papers in referred journals including The Journal of Business, The Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Financial Management, and The Atlantic Economic Journal. He has published five books and contributed chapters to another five books. He received three consecutive NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Research Fellowships at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama (1996 to 1998) and received the Paish Finance Prize for best finance paper from The Journal of Business Finance and Accounting (1998). In addition, Dr. Trivoli and his coauthors received the Dow Jones/ Irwin Publishing Award for Best Paper at the Southwestern Finance Association meeting in March 1999.