Grande Expectations

Karen Blumenthal, like most people, is mystified by the stock market. Just why is it, she wonders, that seemingly good news can send a stock plummeting and bad news can send it skyrocketing again? InGrande Expectations, she shows how money is made and lost by following one of America's hottest growth stocks, Starbucks, through a year of rapid store openings, fancy new drinks, and clever promotions, revealing how the many playersbig and small investors, company management, analysts, and the mediapropel its shares up and down. Blumenthal pulls back the curtain on the stock market to expose its quirks and inner workings, from the power of a penny of earnings and the unexpected impact of a stock split to the image-enhancing effects of a brand of bottled water. With a fly-on-the-wall, character-driven narrative, Grande Expectations not only makes investing interesting but also will help you make smarter and savvier investing choices by: Understanding how big pension and mutual fund managers decide whether to buy more Starbucksor dump it Seeing the unique ways that analysts and other finance professionals assess an investmentdissecting not only the numbers but also the company's management, demographics, and global opportunities Learning how Starbucks executives manage our expectations and keep excitement percolating about the businessand the stock Watching how a stock is traded and how that might affect your buying or selling Gleaning how multibillion-dollar private hedge funds make money on infinitesimal changes in a stock's price Entering the dark, strange world of the short sellers Realizing how different people can make absolutely opposite bets and all still come out ahead You'll come away with new insights into how the stock market really worksthe power of expectations, stock buybacks, and profitsand explore Starbucks' phenomenal growth and whether it is sustainable. By unraveling the market's mysteries,Grande Expectationsshows how investing can be both profitable and understandable. Get ready for the ride of your lifeand a lifetime of fruitful stock market success. From the Hardcover edition.

KAREN BLUMENTHAL has been a business reporter or editor for nearly twenty-five years, including two decades at The Wall Street Journal. Her previous book, Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, won the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for older children. Six Days in October, a book for young people on the 1929 stock market crash, was named a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book by the American Library Association.


From the Hardcover edition.