"The past three decades witnessed rapid and profound change in the investments industry as well as a financial crisis of historic magnitude. The vast expansion of financial markets during this period was due in part to innovations in securitization and credit enhancement that gave birth to new trading strategies. These strategies were in turn made feasible by developments in communication and information technology, as well as by advances in the theory of investments. Yet the financial crisis of 2008-2009 also was rooted in the cracks of these developments. Many of the innovations in security design facilitated high leverage and an exaggerated notion of the efficacy of risk transfer strategies. This engendered complacency about risk that was coupled with relaxation of regulation as well as reduced transparency, masking the precarious condition of many big players in the system. Of necessity, our text has evolved along with financial markets and their influence on world events. 'Investments', Thirteenth Edition, is intended primarily as a textbook for courses in investment analysis. Our guiding principle has been to present the material in a framework that is organized by a central core of consistent fundamental principles. We attempt to strip away unnecessary mathematical and technical detail, and we have concentrated on providing the intuition that may guide students and practitioners as they confront new ideas and challenges in their professional lives. This text will introduce you to major issues currently of concern to all investors. It can give you the skills to assess watershed current issues and debates covered by both the popular media and more-specialized finance journals. Whether you plan to become an investment professional, or simply a sophisticated individual investor, you will find these skills essential, especially in today's rapidly evolving environment."-- Taken from Preface, page xvi.

"'Investments' set the standard as a graduate (MBA) text intended primarily for courses in investment analysis.The guiding principle has been to present the material in a framework that is organized by a central core of consistent fundamental principles and will introduce students to major issues currently of concern to all investors. In an effort to link theory to practice, the authors make their approach consistent with that of the CFA Institute. Many features of this text make it consistent with and relevant to the CFA curriculum. The common unifying theme is that security markets are nearly efficient, meaning that most securities are priced appropriately given their risk and return attributes. 'Investments' is also organized around several important themes: the central theme is the near informational-efficiency of well-developed security markets and the general awareness that competitive markets do not offer "free lunches" to participants. A second theme is the risk–return trade-off. Also, this text places great emphasis on asset allocation. Finally, this text offers a broad and deep treatment of futures, options, and other derivative security markets."-- taken from Overview on publisher web site.