Investing Between the Lines (PB)

by L.J. Rittenhouse

Overview

A groundbreaking system for measuring organizational trustworthiness to determine investment potential

"Tremendous! Laura Rittenhouse has delivered again! Investing Between the Lines is destined to become a classic in showing how candor is the language of trust and how trust is the basis on which companies ultimately succeed. I highly recommend this most interesting and insightful book."
Stephen M. R. Covey, author of the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller The Speed of Trust and coauthor of Smart Trust

In Investing Between the Lines, CEO communications expert, L. J. Rittenhouse offers a proven methodology for accurately analyzing the worthiness of an investment: Reading corporate "fog," i.e., shareholder letters, and other corporate correspondence.

Based on a model that's made believers of Warren Buffet and Jack Welch, Rittenhouse looks at the "fog" of 100 Fortune 500 companies—and then overlays these "Fog rankings" on the stock's price performance. It's a system that made Rittenhouse one of the very first to predict the Lehman Bros. implosion, and other financia disasters—and that will arm investors with the skills and knowledge to unearth hidden risks in their portfolios and pick potential winners.

L. J. Rittenhouse is president of Rittenhouse Rankings Inc, a CEO strategic and investor relations company that annually conducts a benchmark survey of CEO candor and stock price performance

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071743242
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	11/16/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Author Profile
L. J. Rittenhouse (New York, NY) is president of Rittenhouse Rankings Inc, a CEO strategic and investor relations company that annually conducts a benchmark survey of CEO candor and stock price performance. Her research shows that candor drives superior performance, and companies that consistently strive to promote candor gain competitive advantage and superior valuation. Her metrics reveal which companies excel in candor and which do not. In fact, recent research by Rittenhouse Rankings shows a substantial decline in credible CEO communication over the past five years. Rittenhouse advises large-cap and mid-sized companies on how to build internal programs that improve corporate communications and valuation. She specializes in showing clients how to penetrate corporate blind spots that in turn, strengthen the corporate culture and improve execution. Her contributions to promoting capital stewardship and candor have been recognized by Warren Buffett, Jack Bogle, Jack Welch and other respected business leaders. Rittenhouse is the author of Do Business with People You Can Tru$t, a featured selection at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting in the shareholder bookstore. It describes how to spot CEOs who damage trust and has been recommended by Barron's, Directors & Boards Association, and the American Association of Independent Investors. In 2007, her critique of annual meetings was featured in the Wall Street Journal. Prior to founding Rittenhouse Rankings, Rittenhouse was a senior vice president in corporate finance at Lehman Brothers Inc., where she advised clients on valuation and strategies, public securities offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. She has an MBA and an MS from Columbia University, and is a founding member of the non-profit, Families with Children from China.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: THE CEO CANDOR CRISIS; Chapter One: CEO Candor and Trust: The Candor (or Bafflegab/ BS) Pandemic; Chapter Two: Winners and Losers in the Battle of Corporate Heavyweights: Pepsico vs. Coke/ HP vs. Dell/ Lowe's and Home Depot; Chapter Three: How to Measure Candor: Counting Words and Promises; PART TWO: BUSINESS BALANCE – A CLUE TO BUSINESS SUCCESS Chapter Four: Capital Stewardship: Great CEOs Seek Cash-ability; Chapter Five: Strategy: Great CEOs Respect the Limits of Corporate Strategy; Chapter Six: Accountability: Great CEOs Do What They Say and Say What They See; Chapter Seven: Vision: Great CEOs Avoid Platitudes and Traffic in Purpose and Creativity; Chapter Eight; Leadership: Great CEOs are Actors, Teachers and Skeptics; Chapter Nine: Corporate Stakeholders: Great CEOs Nurture Relationships with Candor; Chapter Ten: (In this chapter, readers will learn how to spot corporate fog, a measure of the absence of Candor.) PART THREE: CLUES TO DELUSIONS THAT DESTROY INVESTOR WEALTH; Chapter Eleven Candor in Companies Too Big to Fail; Chapter Twelve: Assessing CEO Succession Success and Good Governance; Chapter Thirteen: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage: A Berkshire Hathaway Secret; Chapter Fourteen: Candor Clues to Sustainability You Can Trust;

Editorial Reviews

"Rittenhouse's annual company rankings have consistently shown a convincing link between executive candor and stock returns. Indeed, Rittenhouse raised a red flag on Enron before it failed, noticing a discrepancy between the net income cited in its CEO letter and its audited financial statement, among other things." —Robin Blumental

Barron's