Reading Financial Reports For Dummies
by Lita Epstein
Reading Financial Reports For Dummies
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Copyright 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2004116012
ISBN: 0-7645-7733-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
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About the Author
Lita Epstein ran the financial accounting lab when she worked as a teaching assistant as she completed her MBA program at Emory Universitys Goizueta Business School. After receiving her MBA, she managed finances for a small non-profit organization and the facilities management section of a large medical clinic.
Now she enjoys helping people develop good financial, investing, and tax planning skills. She designs and teaches online courses on topics such as investing for retirement, getting ready for tax time, and finance and investing for women. She is the author of Streetwise Crash Course MBA and Streetwise Retirement Planning (Adams Media Corporation). Lita is the co-author of Trading For Dummies (Wiley) and Teach Yourself Retirement Planning in 24 Hours (Penguin Putnam).
Lita was the content director for a financial services Web site, MostChoice. com and managed the Web site Investing for Women. She also wrote TipWorlds Mutual Fund Tip of the Day in addition to columns about mutual fund trends for numerous Web sites. As a Congressional press secretary, Lita gained firsthand knowledge about how to work within and around the federal bureaucracy, which gives her great insight into how government programs work. In the past, Lita has been a daily newspaper reporter, a magazine editor, and an associate director for development at The Carter Center.
For fun, Lita enjoys scuba diving and is certified as an underwater photographer. She hikes, canoes, and enjoys surfing the Web to find its hidden treasures.
Dedication
To my father, Jerome Kirschbrown, an auditor and savings and loan examiner, who helped to hone my financial skills and taught me to be leery of what I see in financial reports.
Authors Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the people who helped to make this book possible at Wiley, especially my acquisitions editor, Stacy Kennedy, who first discussed this topic with me; my project editor, Traci Cumbay, who did a wonderful job of steering this book through the entire process and was always available to help me with any problems; and my copy editors Michelle Dzurny and Trisha Strietelmeier for their excellent work cleaning up the copy.
I also want to thank my agent Jessica Faust, who finds all these great projects for me, and my outstanding technical editor, Shellie Moore, who helped keep all the technical accounting stuff accurate for this book. This is third time weve worked together on a book. And a special thank you to H.G. Wolpin who puts up with all my craziness as I rush to meet deadlines.
Publishers Acknowledgments
Were proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Traci Cumbay
Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy
Copy Editors: Michelle Dzurny, Trisha Strietelmeier
Technical Editor: Shellie Moore
Senior Permissions Editor: Carmen Krikorian
Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich
Editorial Assistants: Courtney Allen, Nadine Bell, Melissa Bennett
Cover Photo: Bernhardt Fudyma Design Group, Concept and Design
Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com
Composition
Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez
Layout and Graphics: Jonelle Burns, Andrea Dahl, Joyce Haughey, Stephanie D. Jumper, Barry Offringa, Jacque Roth, Heather Ryan
Proofreaders: Carl W. Pierce, TECHBOOKS Production Services