Wow. People love or hate this book. I love this book but I can where some people might object.
Why I love it: It is well written, it has many examples, it covers many subjects, it has a sense of humor (many reviewers do not have a sense of humor) and I found myself referencing this book as I took subsequent quantitative-oriented classes in my MBA program.
Why some people may hate it: 1. European MBA programs are much more quantitatively oriented. The MBAs from Belgium and London tell me that 50% of their grade in most classes requires proving or deriving a formula. This book won't tell you how to do that or address those hairy mathmatical models. 2. Finance practitioners, options traders, investment bankers aren't wild about this book. It is not in-depth quantitative in its nature. I don't believe practitioners should be reading a general book such as this. If they are reading this book, then this should be only one of several works they should be reading. 3. Finance is hard work! Most of my MBA peers were blindsided by the amount of effort required by the class (as I was). Even the Sr. financial analysts in my class were challenged by the work. If you're not sharp on your math skills, your finance class will make you choke! Any book that would purport to tell you everything you need to know for a basic corp. finance class would be a multivolume set! Don't demand miracles from one textbook!
Do yourself a favor: If you do use this book or subsequent volumes, purchase the study guide and solutions guide as well! And attend teaching assistant sessions if you can!
About CAPM, APT and WACC: they are addressed in this book. Maybe not to the extent that they should be, but then again, this book is a survey of issues. My prof spent lots of time on those subjects even though the book did not.
