The Wall Street Primer

The Players, Deals, and Mechanics of the U.S. Securities Market

Jason A. Pedersen

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780313365157
• eBook ISBN: 9780313365164
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Finance
• Index: Business

How does Wall Street, that great bastion of American Capitalism, really work? This book provides the multifaceted answer to that question clearly, concisely, and on a practical level for anyone seeking to better understand the inner workings of the capital markets. Tracing the dealings of a fictional company from inception to maturity, The Wall Street Primer provides the reader with practical insights on Wall Street and its functions and operations. Written for professionals new to the industry, investors, job seekers, students, brokers and traders, and entrepreneurs and business executives, the book goes well beyond nice to know information. Instead, it will be, for many people, must have information about organizations, professions, and transactions that can help them make deals, get ahead in their careers, or better fund and build their businesses. Everybody has heard of Wall Street, but very few know anything about its institutions and processes. What is the buyside? Who works on the sellside? How do companies raise capital? Why do companies hire investment bankers? What is the difference between a mutual fund and a hedge fund? What is the process for selling a company? What does it take to go public and how is it done? The Wall Street Primer lifts the veil and answers these questions and many more.
Besides covering financings and mergers and acquisitions, Pedersen illuminates the players involved. These include venture capitalists, private equity investors, public portfolio managers, activist shareholders, investment bankers, institutional salespeople and traders, and all those associated with their activities, like regulators, lawyers, and accountants. Along the way, readers learn about the offering and trading of stocks and bonds, what is involved in M&A transactions, how technology is affecting the brokerage industry, what concerns institutional investors, and much more. Best, it's written by an insider who has seen both Wall Street's public face and its backroom dealings.
Author and former investment banker and securities attorney Jason Pedersen searched for years for a book he could recommend to clients and professionals that contained practical information on how the pieces all fit together—who the players are, what they do, how they interact, and how, why, and when deals get done. But he never found that book and so decided to write it himself. The result is a fascinating look at how people navigate Wall Street—and wake up to find themselves living the American Dream.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: The Basics
• Chapter 2: The Three Principal Ingredients of a Business
• Chapter 3: Seed Capital and Related Matters for Startups
• Chapter 4: Early Stage Institutional Capital
• Chapter 5: Mid-stage Private Capital
• Chapter 6: Later-stage Financing and Investment Bankers
• Chapter 7: Late-stage Financings and Private Placements
• Chapter 8: Paths to Liquidity for Private Companies
• Chapter 9: Considerations for Selling a Private Company
• Chapter 10: The Process for Selling a Company
• Chapter 11: Initial Public Offerings: Selecting Underwriters
• Chapter 12: Initial Public Offerings: Transaction Process and Structural Considerations
• Chapter 13: Initial Public Offerings: Valuation and Marketing
• Chapter 14: Initial Public Offerings: Pricing, Trading, and Other Thoughts
• Chapter 15: Public Investors and Life as a Young Public Company
• Chapter 16: Follow-on Offerings and Liquidity for Insiders
• Chapter 17: Acquiring Businesses: Targeting Opportunities to Fuel Growth
• Chapter 18: Acquiring Businesses: Valuations, Fairness Opinions, and the Approval Process
• Chapter 19: Business Difficulties and Stock Drops
• Chapter 20: Financing Considerations for a Maturing Business
• Chapter 21: When Things Slow Down: Creating Shareholder Value and Related Topics
• Schematics
• Glossary of Selected Terms and Acronyms
• Index