In Magic Numbers, investment analyst Peter Temple provides a straightforward primer to calculating and interpreting 33 key investment ratios. The book is organized into five sections that explain market-based ratios (e.g., market capitalization, P/E ratios), income statement ratios (margins, earnings per share), balance sheet rations (price/cash ratio, burn rate), cash flow ratios, and risk and volatility ratios. Each chapter clearly shows the inputs necessary to calculate a particular ratio and explains its relevance in evaluating a company's performance. Recommended for serious investors. --Harry C. Edwards
Peter Temple has been involved in the City and its Financial Markets for nearly thirty-five years as a Fund Manager, an Investment Analyst and, for the last 17 years, as a Freelance Financial Journalist. He is a regular contributor to a number of publications including the Financial Times, Investors Chronicle, and Interactive Investor, and has written more than a dozen investment books. He is a Fellow of the Securities Institute. He and his wife, who works as his researcher, live and work in a converted water mill in the English Lake District.
This was a very pleasant and nice book that could be used as a reference by security analysts to understand and calculate financial ratios when valuing equities.