The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn't shine and the SEC doesn't dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower--and middle--class Americans who can't pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren't talking. Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar's Poker. Out of a handful of unlikely--really unlikely--heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.

All course materials provided
No additional testing, grading or certificate fees
No prerequisites
Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

No One Would Listen is the thrilling story of how the Harry Markopolos, a little-known number cruncher from a Boston equity derivatives firm, and his investigative team uncovered Bernie Madoff's scam years before it made headlines, and how they desperately tried to warn the government, the industry, and the financial press.

Page by page, Markopolos details his pursuit of the greatest financial criminal in history, and reveals the massive fraud, governmental incompetence, and criminal collusion that has changed thousands of lives forever-as well as the world's financial system.

• The only book to tell the story of Madoff's scam and the SEC's failings by those who saw both first hand
• Describes how Madoff was enabled by investors and fiduciaries alike
• Discusses how the SEC missed the red flags raised by Markopolos

Despite repeated written and verbal warnings to the SEC by Harry Markopolos, Bernie Madoff was allowed to continue his operations.No One Would Listen paints a vivid portrait of Markopolos and his determined team of financial sleuths, and what impact Madoff's scam will have on financial markets and regulation for decades to come.

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Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

In Too Big To Fail, award-winning New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first definitive blow-by-blow account of the financial crisis on Wall Street and in Washington - from the machinations inside Lehman Brothers' plush offices to the corridors of power in Washington to secret meetings in Moscow. Through unprecedented access to the players involved, Andrew Ross Sorkin re-creates all the drama and turmoil of these turbulent days, revealing never-before-disclosed details and explaining how decisions made on Wall Street and in Washington over the past ten years helped sow the seeds of the decade.

Too Big To Fail is one of the most gripping financial narratives in decades and a cautionary tale for decades to come.

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Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

Merrill Lynch was an icon. Its sudden decline, collapse, and sale to Bank of America was a shock. How did it happen? Why did it happen? And what does this story of greed, hubris, and incompetence tell us about the culture of Wall Street that continues to this day even though it came close to destroying the American economy? A culture in which the CEO of a firm losing $28 billion pushes hard to be paid a $25 million bonus. A culture in which two Merrill Lynch executives are guaranteed bonuses of $30 million and $40 million for four months’ work, even while the firm is struggling to reduce its losses by firing thousands of employees. Crash of the Titans is a financial thriller that puts you in the theater as the historic events of the financial crisis unfold and people responsible for billion of dollars of other people’s money gamble recklessly to enhance their power and their paychecks or to save their own skins. Its wealth of never-before-revealed information and focus on two icons of corporate America make it the book that puts together all the pieces of the Wall Street disaster.

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No prerequisites
Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

Starting a small business and making it a success isn’t easy. In fact, most small business owners don’t get rich and many fail. This book presents the straight truth on small business success. It doesn’t offer cure-alls for every small business. Instead, it outlines real, effective principles for continued small business growth and success. Written by business growth expert Steven Little,The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth skips empty small business positivism in exchange for real-world, practical solutions. If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur just starting out, you’ll find answers to all your most important questions on topics such as technology, business plans, hiring, and much more.

All course materials provided
No additional testing, grading or certificate fees
No prerequisites
Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

Company of One is a refreshingly new approach centered on staying small and avoiding growth, for any size business. Not as a freelancer who only gets paid on a per piece basis, and not as an entrepreneurial start-up that wants to scale as soon as possible, but as a small business that is deliberately committed to staying that way. By staying small, one can have freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life, and avoid the headaches that result from dealing with employees, long meetings, or worrying about expansion. Company of One introduces this unique business strategy and explains how to make it work for you, including how to generate cash flow on an ongoing basis.

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No additional testing, grading or certificate fees
No prerequisites
Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

Enron, that microcosm of American corporate misdeeds, continues to captivate us. Not since Watergate has a scandal reverberated through so many books. In The Smartest Guys in the Room, Bethany McLean, the first journalist to "out" the story in a major national publication, and eagle-eyed investigative reporter Peter Elkind endow the unfolding story with the gathering tension of a well-turned novel. Their rendering of boardroom feuds and bookkeeping trickery casts vivid light on the strong personalities involved.The book explores the motives, thoughts, and secret fears of a fascinating array of characters. No matter how much (or how little) you already know about Enron, the revelations in The Smartest Guys in the Room will shock you. You'll witness the astonishing extent to which Enron's business was an illusion.

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No prerequisites
Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

For ten boom-powered years at the turn of the twenty-first century, some of America's most prominent law and accounting firms created and marketed products that enabled the very rich -- including newly minted dot-com millionaires -- to avoid paying their fair share of taxes by claiming benefits not recognized by law. These abusive domestic tax shelters bore such exotic names as BOSS, BLIPS, and COBRA and were developed by such prestigious firms as KPMG and Ernst & Young. They brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in fees from clients and bilked the U.S. Treasury of billions in revenues before the IRS and Justice Department stepped in with civil penalties and criminal prosecutions.

In Confidence Games, Tanina Rostain and Milton Regan describe the rise and fall of the tax shelter industry during this period, offering a riveting account of the most serious episode of professional misconduct in the history of the American bar.

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Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

In our lightning-fast digital age, a company can face humiliation and possibly even ruin within seconds of a negative tweet or blog post. Over the last year companies such as BP, Goldman Sachs, and Toyota have experienced serious blows to their images that could have had reduced impact if their leaders had implemented reputation management into their business strategy and culture.

There is no one in either the corporate or academic sphere with greater expertise in the area of corporate reputation than Dr. Daniel Diermeier. An award-winning professor at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Dr. Diermeier has blazed a path in understanding the significance of reputation management and demonstrating how a company can create a program so powerful that it can help turn a potential public disgrace into a public image success story.

Reputation Rules is a landmark work bringing to light Dr. Diermeier’s groundbreaking insights in this critical area. He offers the frameworks, strategies, and processes for changing your company’s focus as quickly as the world is changing around you. He touches on all of the reputational issues that need to be managed from a strategic level, describing how to:

• Overcome direct challenges from influential activist and political forces
• Manage corporate scandals, including executive compensation
• Use external, seemingly unrelated events to boost reputation
• Build a reputation management process into everyday operations

All course materials provided
No additional testing, grading or certificate fees
No prerequisites
Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

An updated and expanded Second Edition of the popular guide to social media for the business community.

Marketers must look to the Web for new ways of finding customers and communicating with them, rather than at them. From Facebook and YouTube to blogs and Twitter-ing, social media on the Internet is the most promising new way to reach customers. Marketing to the Social Web, Second Edition helps marketers and their companies understand how to engage customers, build customer communities, and maximize profits in a time of marketing confusion. Author and social media guru Larry Weber describes newly available tools and platforms, and shows you how to apply them to see immediate results and growth.Rather than broadcast messages to audiences, savvy marketers should encourage participation in social networks to which people want to belong, where dialogue with customers, and between customers, can flourish. in Networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and even Flickr are the perfect forums for this dialog; this book shows you how to tap into this new media.In addition to the tools and tactics that made Marketing to the Social Web a critical hit among marketers, this second edition includes three entirely new chapters that cover recent changes in the field. These new chapters describe how Facebook will monetize its business and one day surpass Google; how companies can measure the influence and effectiveness of their social media campaigns; and how marketing to mobile social media will grow into an effective practice in the near future.

All course materials provided
No additional testing, grading or certificate fees
No prerequisites
Course level: Basic
Instructional Method: Self-Study

Starting a small business and making it a success isn’t easy. In fact, most small business owners don’t get rich and many fail. This book presents the straight truth on small business success. It doesn’t offer cure-alls for every small business. Instead, it outlines real, effective principles for continued small business growth and success. Written by business growth expert Steven Little,The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth skips empty small business positivism in exchange for real-world, practical solutions. If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur just starting out, you’ll find answers to all your most important questions on topics such as technology, business plans, hiring, and much more.

All course materials provided
No additional testing, grading or certificate fees
No prerequisites
Course level: Basic