Financial-future

This book attempts to expose the reader in a nontechnical manner to the new technique of evaluating investments in the New Economy characterised by volatility and uncertainty.The author does so without resorting to mathematical methods.The book is basically expository and attempts to build upon the readers'familiarity with financial options.It concentrates in describing the real options which each business decision is confronted with and demonstrates the flexibility which managers face. He views these opportunities as options even the decision not to implement the plan. This is a creative approach to understanding what real options is all about.

Dr. Boer's ideas about the economics and management of industrial R&D have had a significant impact. This novel and wonderfully written book provides a modern framework for the analysis of high-risk, high-reward endeavors which include research and development. The methodology has great intellectual appeal: it integrates real options analysis and net present value analysis, thus capturing the traits of the "new" and "old" economies in the same analytical framework. This it does in a practical, pragmatic manner, suitable to real-life problems in opportunity (and risk) management.

The Real Options Solution is a must read for anyone interested in the creation of value or wishing to understand or quantify the total value of a company. It clearly sets out why the value of any company must include the value of its business plans and the options that these afford, before going on to explain the more technical aspect of valuing such plans or options.

F.P.Boer, in the first section of this book, successfully achieves a discussion of value and its components that will satisfy anyone wishing to understand how to perform a calculation of the value of a real option, detailing what data would be required, how to build this into a total value caluclation etc. Yet the use of only a limited number of diagrams and numerical examples makes this book accessible to all, not just those interested in a text book approach, without in any way compromising the content or quality of the material provided. In the second section several topics are discussed, with numerous examples both contemporary and from history, including 1) risk, it's upside as well as downside potential and the treatment of different types of risk in valuations, 2) intellectual capital, what is and how it could be valued and 3) innovation and why this is essential to future value creation, with all issues discussed adding an important dimension to this very practical guide to value.

You should know I'm biased. Mr. Cohen is my personal financial consultant. Over the past three years while many of my friends were losing a fortune in the market, my portfolio grew substantially thanks to the principles discussed in this book. If you can't have Jeff as your personal advisor, the next best thing to do is read his book and see how he does it. - Wm.G.Hayden,M.D.

If you were like most investors, you would leap at the opportunity to earn consistent double-digit stock market returns with greatly reduced risk. This excellent book on Put Options introduces you to an innovative, proven program designed to do just that--produce consistent and regular stock market returns while minimizing the risk of losing those returns during a down market.
The secret, as described in detail in the book, is in implementing a low-maintenance, easy-to-follow program of selling put options on quality stocks while hedging those investments by buying puts on the overall market. Far easier to implement and track than it sounds, this strategy is frequently used by institutional investors, whose reputations and careers depend on garnering decent returns without assuming unnecessary risk.
Put Options explains this proven technique in terms that virtually any investor can understand and implement. The rare investment book that supports its claims by providing the actual results of actual trades using actual household-name stocks, Put Options provides a step-by-step template on how you can use author Jeffrey Cohen's SafetyNet program.
This book is for the individual small investor that makes his own investment decisions. The existing base of such investors is huge, and growing rapidly, as evident by the subscriber growth rates of the online brokers. The reasons for these investors making their own decisions and thus controlling the performance of their portfolios is quite clear when you consider the following scenario:
The savvy investor is no longer content making a 2% annual return in a passbook savings account or 4% on a Bank Certificate of Deposit. Some mutual funds may do a little better than this but their performance is not always consistent.

Today, everyone wants his or her money put to hard work, aggressively generating more money. Since the stock market outperforms all other investments over time, people are increasing turning to the stock market and the options market, where much higher rates of return can be made with relative small increase in risk to capital.

Before the later part of 1997, it was difficult for the small investor to become actively involved in the stock market. The commission fees charged by the full service brokers were high. Research into companies and analysis of stocks were difficult, obtaining timely information was nearly impossible for the average person. It used to be that stock and option investing was considered the domain of professional money managers and the wealthy elite. The Internet has changed all that by providing a wealth of financial information and online brokerage firms. There are hundreds of Internet sites that provide free instant access to stock quotes, stock charts, company profiles, late breaking company news, detailed technical analysis, and even specific stock and options recommendations.

With computers and Internet connection available to everyone inexpensively, the small investor has opportunity like never before! These days, virtually everyone knows about the stock market. The number of mutual funds has grown 50 folds since the 1970's... 401(K) plans have flourished ... kids these days get stocks as birthday and graduation presents... there is 24 hour stock coverage on TV... online trading accounts are everywhere...

My point is this: we have become a generation of stock investors. We are raising our children to be stock investors. And with savings interest rates hovering around 1%¾there are trillions of dollars in cash still waiting on the sidelines¾with no place to go except right back into the stock market. All it will take is more good news from sectors recovering from over growth and the recent pullbacks.

The most important of all is the fact that investor expectation of reasonable return on investment has been moderated after the recent stock market bubble burst... and a 20% to 30% per year return on a sustainable basis is very attractive and acceptable. In my opinion, anyone who has a portfolio or manages investor or corporate funds is a potential reader [of the Put Options book] and user [of the SafetyNet program] by Jeffery Cohn.

Put Options will change the way you invest by literally changing the way you view investment. It shows you how to invest in today's best blue chip and technology stocks in such a way as to profit when they do well while protecting yourself when they do poorly. Packed with facts, figures, and actual examples of SafetyNet program in action, it unquestionably supports the bottom-line premise that writing options can, if done correctly, be far safer than owning shares of stock--and then shows you exactly how to do it.

Cohen's book is a compelling analysis of selling put options and covering the risk with the purchase of index puts. He compares this strategy with the purchase of long stocks and describes how the strategy reduces risk. Overall a solid description of a well developed strategy. Not some get-rich-quick scheme!