Companies are under more pressure than ever to "beat by a penny," but you don't need to be a forensic accountant to uncover where the spin ends and the truth begins. With the help of a powerhouse team of authors, you can avoid losing a chunk of your portfolio when the next overhyped growth stock fails by knowing What's Behind the Numbers?

Investing experts John Del Vecchio and Tom Jacobs mix a potent combination of earnings quality analysis, long-side investing, and short-side portfolio risk management to help you create a long-short portfolio with less volatility and greater returns, while avoiding landmine stocks that will blow a hole in your financial security.

First, the authors explain the practical side of financial analysis. They demystify widely held assumptions about stock performance, expected returns, earnings quality, and short sellers. Then they comb the financial statements to find the places where companies hide poor earnings quality. Finally, they provide the value and special situations investing to pair with the short-side thinking and offer a tactical manual for applying what you've learned in the technical, day-to-day world of portfolio management.

Armed with this wealth-saving guide, you can confidently trade based on clear data-not the aggressive accounting tactics companies use to make their numbers look better than they are. Better still, it helps you start protecting yourself right away with:

• Rules for finding companies playing with-rather than by-the numbers
• Repeatable methods for uncovering what companies don't tell you about their numbers
• Multistep approach to deciding when to sell a stock and when to short sell it
• Reliable formulas for determining when a stock will get hit

The next time a company goes south, you can be the successful investor who knew What's Behind the Numbers?