The relationship between return on assets and their riskiness is one of the liveliest topics in financial literature. In his 1952 landmark article, Markowitz developed a mathematical model that captured this key financial concept. defined risk as the variance of the rate of return of a portfolio. Later, Sharpe hypothesized a positive linear relationship between expected rate of return on an asset and the risk premium associated with that asset. Subsequently, Sharpe tested this hypothesis empirically and found support for his theory. Although portfolio theory specifies the two parameters of this model as ex ante return and risk, Sharpe used ex post data for testing the risk-return relationship. designated the ex post mean rate of return obtained on an an asset as a proxy for expected return and the standard deviation of ex post annual rates of return as a surrogate for risk.

Reviews the book `Information to be Included in the Annual Report to Shareholders,' by G,D. Trites and others.

Bankruptcy, Cash-based fund flow ratios, Cashflow statements, Fund flow components

Reviews the book "Intermediate Accounting," 2nd ed., by Loren A. Nikolai, John D. Bazley, Richard G. Schroeder and Isaac N. Reynolds.

Most finance students will do short-term finance assignments when they go to work. In recent survey of CEO's, Controllers, and Treasurers that appeared in Financial Practice & Education, the question was asked which elective is the most important and 81% responded a short-term financial management course should be required. Both authors hold a Certified Cash Manager credential. Strengths include broader and better integrated coverage of treasury and working capital management, while using valuation and the cash flow timeline as integrating themes. Up to date presentations of developments in treasury management, banking deregulation, globalization of financial services delivery, electronic commerce, international cash management, and foreign exchange risk with a decision making emphasis throughout offers a complete view for students. This text is appropriate for upper level undergraduate finance courses in short-term financial management, working capital management, treasury management, and cash and cash flow management. It can also fit the MBA level financial management and short-term financial management courses.

Part I: INTRODUCTION. 1. The Role and Objective of Financial Management. 2. The Domestic and International Financial Marketplace. 3. Evaluation of Financial Performance. 4. Financial Planning and Forecasting. Part II: DETERMINANTS OF VALUATION. 5. The Time Value of Money. 6. Fixed Income Securities: Characteristics and Valuation. 7. Common Stock: Characteristics, Valuation, and Issuance. 8. Analysis of Risk and Return. Part III: THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT DECISION. 9. Capital Budgeting and Cash Flow Analysis. 10. Capital Budgeting: Decision Criteria and Real Option Considerations. 11. Capital Budgeting and Risk. Part IV: THE COST OF CAPITAL, CAPITAL STRUCTURE, AND DIVIDEND POLICY. 12. The Cost of Capital. 13. Capital Structure Concepts. 14. Capital Structure Management in Practice. 15. Dividend Policy. Part V: WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT. 16. Working Capital Policy and Short-Term Financing. 17. The Management of Cash and Marketable Securities. 18. The Management of Accounts Receivable and Inventories. Part VI: ADDITIONAL TOPICS IN CONTEMPORARY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT. 19. LEASE AND INTERMEDIATE-TERM FINANCING. 20. Financing with Derivatives. 21. Risk Management. 22. International Financial Management. 23. Corporate Restructuring. Appendix 2A: Taxes. Appendix 5A: Continuous Compounding and Discounting. Appendix 9A: Depreciation. Appendix 10A: Mutually Exclusive Investments Having Unequal Lives. Appendix 14A: Breakeven Analysis. Appendix 20A: The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model. Appendix 20B: Bond Refunding Analysis.

From these results it can be inferred that self-paced instruction using audio-visual instruments is as meaningful a learning tool as the traditional lecture-discussion format. There were no significant differences between performances in the audio-visual sections and the students' performances in the traditional section. The progress of the students from the audio-visual sections in subsequent accounting courses currently is being monitored. Preliminary results, not reported here, indicate that students from these sections have performed as well in upper-level accounting courses as have students from the traditional sections. A second inference from our reported data is that the students' past performances, as measured by their GPA's, were correlated more highly to the students' performances in the audio-visual sections than they were in the traditional section. Informal discussions with individual students revealed that the better students, as measured by their GPA's, liked the freedom of getting the work done ahead of schedule, thus enabling them to concentrate on other courses. All students completing the course early were in the upper half of the overall GPA's and received grades of A or B in the course. The informal discussions also indicated that the lower GPA of the poorer students frequently was caused by a lack of motivation. Thus, the self-paced format with its stress on individual motivation may be more harmful to the poorer students than would be the traditional format.