Free Book - Fixing the Housing Market (K/N)

Fixing the Housing Market: Financial Innovations for the Future (Main/UK), by Barth James R and Yago Glenn R Allen Franklin, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of publisher FT Press.

Book Description
Ever since the ancient Greeks, financial innovation has enabled more people to purchase homes. Today is no different: in fact, responsible financial innovation is now the best tool available for "rebooting" crippled housing markets, improving their efficiency, and making housing more accessible to millions. In Fixing the Housing Market, three leading experts explain how, covering everything decision-makers should know about today’s housing and financial markets.

The authors first explain how innovative housing financial products, services and institutions evolved through the 19th century, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and beyond -- culminating in the post-1970s era of securitization. Next, they assess housing finance systems in mature economies during and after the recent crisis, highlighting benefits and risks associated with each widely-used mortgage funding structure and product. They also carefully assess current housing finance structures in emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

Building on these insights, the authors introduce transformative financial innovations that can facilitate a more stable and sustainable financing system for housing -- providing better shelter for more people, helping the industry recover, and creating thousands of new jobs. Using these new tools, entrepreneurs, economic development specialists, and policymakers can develop practical strategies for bridging funding gaps -- raising more capital for longer terms at lower cost.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Jeff Augen's Options Trading Strategies (K/N)

Jeff Augen's Options Trading Strategies (Main/UK), a collection of three titles, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of publisher FT Press.

Book Description
Breakthrough option strategies from Jeff Augen: Three eBooks packed with new tools and strategies for earning higher, more consistent profits and systematically controlling risk!

In three remarkable eBooks, Jeff Augen teaches you dozens of up-to-the-minute option trading strategies and techniques for earning powerful, consistent profits! The Option Trader’s Workbook, Second Edition offers start-to-finish hands-on practice with every leading strategy, including the newest trading techniques. Through hundreds of realistic problems (each with fully explained solutions), you’ll walk through trades designed to profit from changing prices, volatility, and time decay…plus new ways to use CBOE Weekly Options Expiration options, collars, covered calls, covered puts, ratio and variance trading, VIX options, volatility ETFs, and more…all without risking a dime! In Trading Options at Expiration: Strategies and Models for Winning the Endgame, Augen reveals new ways to structure positions that profit from predictable end-of-contract price distortions with remarkably low risk. Packed with brand-new statistical models, minute-by-minute pricing analyses, and optimized strategies, this book teaches you how to create trades that regularly deliver returns of 40%–300% with just two days of market exposure per month, or even less. Finally, in The Volatility Edge in Options Trading: New Technical Strategies for Investing in Unstable Markets, Augen introduces breakthrough strategies for identifying and profiting from subtle price distortions that arise from changes in market volatility. Drawing on more than a decade of never-before-published research, Augen shows option traders how to study historical price changes, mitigate risk, limit market exposure, and structure mathematically sound high-return positions. You’ll even discover how to build your own customized, low-cost analytical toolset to transform these state-of-the-art strategies into practical buy/sell signals!

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Living Rich by Spending Smart (K/N)

Update: 12/3/12 The newer edition is now free on Kindle and the older edition that was free when this was originally posted is no longer available for purchase.

Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want (Main/UK), by Gregory Karp, is a repeat freebie on Kindle and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of publisher FT Press. Careful using search on Kindle - there are two editions and only one is free; oddly enough, this time around it's the older edition, rather than the newer one that was free last time around.

Book Description
As The Millionaire Next Door revealed, building wealth isn’t just about working harder or what you choose to invest in: it’s about spending smarter. Now, award-winning Tribune Company personal finance columnist Gregory Karp shows how to do just that.

This book isn’t about depriving yourself. Instead, Gregory Karp shows how to build real, long-lasting wealth by plugging the money leaks you’re barely aware of and making sure you spend with a purpose.

Karp’s surprisingly painless techniques will help you eliminate wasteful spending in every area of your financial life. You’ll discover how to focus spending on what you really care about...spend less on gifts without becoming a cheapskate...slash your phone bill...pay less for food and still eat what you want...eliminate spending...

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Today's Deals

Free now for US Kindle:

• Warning at Eagle's Watch (K)
• The Evil Friendship (K/N)
• The Screwball King Murder (K/N)
• Wedded to War (K/N/E)

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is The Test ($0.99), by Patricia Gussin. Although I haven't read this title, I have picked up three of her novels free on Kindle, over the last year, so I may pick this one up, just to show my appreciation, to both her and Oceanview Publishing (who has given us a large number of freebies, lately).

Book Description
Renowned philanthropist and billionaire Paul Parnell had reached the pinnacle of monetary success, but not without cost. Had he put too much emphasis on work and spent too little time with his family?

Determined to leave something far more valuable than money to his six children, Paul instructs his lawyers to create an unusual last will and testament. This unorthodox will, which stipulates that the lion's share of Paul's two billion dollar estate be given to the heirs who pass the test, was Paul's last hope of creating an enduring legacy by inspiring his children to give back to society and embrace a code of moral values.

The six children-Rory, Frank, Dan, Monica, Carla and Ashley-have only one year to make a difference. But what a difference one year will make.

Before these six very different siblings can complete the test, they'll be forced to face their personal demons and the incredibly evil influence that could claim one of their own.

Group of Death ($1.54 / £0.99 UK), by C.M. Taylor, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.45).

Book Description
Football is the cruellest game. Console yourself with the darkly hilarious exploits of Kev King, the man who would have won it, any way how, for England.

Legendary footballer and England Captain Kev King takes no prisoners - on and off the pitch. He'll stop at nothing in his quest for fame, lifestyle and silverware. But as all who fell for Kev's 'charms' in PREMIERSHIP PSYCHO will remember, Kev's got a temper - a bad one. Now unjustly accused and losing his place in England's 2012 squad, Kev's hurt, rejected and publicly betrayed. Short of offers, he signs up with some two-bit side in the Caucasus, pushing deeper and deeper into the country's political intrigue. But can Kev really swap nations and make it to 2012 after all? And can he keep his temper in check long enough to clear his name?

A darkly hilarious tale of football, vengeance, winning and losing. GROUP OF DEATH will be loved by all those who can think of nothing except Euro 2012 - and by all those who are dreading it entirely.

The Sweet By and By ($3.40 Kindle, B&N), by (country music star) Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
It begins with a little red envelope . . .

. . . the one Jade doesn't want to send. The envelope that invites her mother, Beryl, to her wedding-and opens up more of her past than she cares to deal with. Jade has worked so hard to put her hardscrabble childhood behind her.

And she's found everything she wanted in the beautiful green hills of Whisper Hollow, Tennessee. A thriving vintage shop all her own. A lovely one-eyed shepherd dog named Roscoe. And Max, the almost-too-good-to-be-true man she plans to marry in just a few weeks. For the first time in her life, her heart feels at home, and she can't wait to step out into their beautiful future.

But can she really have a sweet by and by if she can't come to terms with yesterday?

Ariel and the Birthday Surprise ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Disney Press, is the Nook Daily Find for Families, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Ariel's sister Aquata is having a birthday celebration. It's going to be a fun-filled day, complete with a special concert, and Ariel is excited about visiting her family. If only Prince Eric could go under the sea, too. At the party, Aquata wishes that Ariel could stay with them forever. At that very moment, a rare solar eclipse hits, and the wish comes true! Will Ariel ever be able to break the spell and return to Eric—and her life as a human?

Grade Level: 1 and up

Kindle Big Deal Reminder

Just a reminder that today is the last day of the Kindle Big Deal, with hundreds of books priced at $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, and $3.99. I'd normally pick some more out for you, such as these 99 cent romances, but it's a hot, sunny day and I'm going to go swimming (and spend the evening shopping for a few books, myself!). For those checking in this afternoon, I'll leave you to browing the lists (if you start on the Kindle Big Deal page, you can narrow down the lists by genre, then sort by price; or just pick one of the price points and browse page by page (no genres when you do it that way, though).

Not included in that sale, but marked down to an extremely low point, are a number of Melody Carlson titles on sale, with over a dozen at 99 cents apiece, including those in her On the Runway series. Since they usually sell in the $10 range, you can pick up the lot for less than what you'd normaly pay for just two.