Vault Guide to Finance Interviews by D. Bhatawedekhar, Dan Jacobson, Hussam Hamadeh

Introduction     1
Landing a Gig     2
The Financial Services Industry     5
The Finance Interview: An Overview     6
Questions     12
Valuation Techniques     19
How Much is it Worth?     20
Basic Accounting Concepts     21
Market Valuation     27
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)     28
Comparable Transactions     44
Multiple Analysis or Comparable Company Analysis     45
Questions     47
Equity Analysis and Portfolio Management     61
Investment Management and Portfolio Theory     62
Stock Analysis and Stock Picking     64
Questions     67
Stocks     71
Equity vs. Debt (Stocks vs. Bonds)     72
Stock Terminology     74
Questions     77
Bonds and Interest Rates     83
Bond Terminology     84
Pricing Bonds     86
The Fed and Interest Rates     89
The Fed and Inflation     91
Effect of Inflation on Bond Prices     92
Leading Economic Indicators     93
Questions     93
Currencies     99
Exchange Rates     100
Influence of Interest Rates on Foreign Exchange     101
Influence of Inflation on Foreign Exchange     102
Capital Market Equilibrium     103
Exchange Rate Effects on Earnings     104
Effect of Exchange Rates on Interest Rates and Inflation     105
Questions     106
Options and Derivatives     109
The Wild West of Finance     110
Options     110
Writing Options     112
Options Pricing     113
Forwards     115
Futures     115
Swaps     116
Questions     117
Mergers & Acquisitions     121
Why Merge?     122
Why Not Merge?     123
Stock Swaps vs. Cash Offers     124
Tender Offers     125
Mergers vs. Acquisitions     127
Will That Be Cash or Stock?     127
Accretive vs. Dilutive Mergers     128
Questions     129
Brainteasers and Guesstimates     133
Stress Tests     134
Acing Guesstimates     134
Brainteasers     136
Questions      137
Final Analysis     147
Appendix     149
Finance Glossary     150
About the Authors     158