The study of money, banking and financial markets is a required or very popular elective in most undergraduate and graduate programs in economics and finance in Africa. However, the textbooks used are those written primarily for the developed world such as the United States or the U.K. The result is that students graduate with excellent theoretical knowledge about the subject matter as it pertains to the developed economies, but lack the ability to apply the same knowledge to less developed economies. Although the subject matter of money and banking can be treated at a theoretical level, it is best done with institutions in mind. As an application oriented course, references and applications should, as much as possible, be to the conditions and institutions present in the environment where the subject is being studied and where the knowledge will be used, rather than to institutions that exist elsewhere in developed economies. The primary purpose of Essentials of Money, Banking and Financial Institutions is to provide a text in money, banking, and financial institutions in the context of the developing economies, especially Africa. Throughout the book, a deliberate effort will be made to focus the students' attention on the need to develop the existing institutions so they can help to accelerate economic development.

Brian Cruver was a first-hand witness to the disturbing, surreal and hilarious moments of Enron's long dance with death. When he first entered Enron's office complex, 'the Death Star', he was the epitome of the classic Enron employee: young, brash, obscenely overpaid and sporting a brand-new MBA. From his first day, however, when he was told that some colleagues hadn't really wanted to see him hired, he found himself in the middle of a venal greed machine whose story unfolded with Kafka-esque absurdity and frustration. Anatomy of Greed examines the accounting tricks, the insider stock trades - and in a special section, how the grossly lucrative fraudulent partnerships were structured and funded - as well as everyday life as an Enronian.

Working at Enron meant cocky wheeling and dealing, parties on the trade floor, casual conversations at the shredder and the insidious group- think that made Enron employees unquestioningly accept propaganda spoon-fed to them by Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. A portrait of the author as a young Enronian, Anatomy of Greed reveals the sting of reality, humility and pain felt by a man whose idols turned out to be fools and scoundrels and who learned that there is more to life than stock options.

Commodities have become an important component of many investors' portfolios and the focus of much political controversy over the past decade. This book utilizes structural models to provide a better understanding of how commodities' prices behave and what drives them. It exploits differences across commodities and examines a variety of predictions of the models to identify where they work and where they fail. The findings of the analysis are useful to scholars, traders and policy makers who want to better understand often puzzling - and extreme - movements in the prices of commodities from aluminium to oil to soybeans to zinc.

Generate steady returns in one of the world's hottest markets

"How to Make Money with Commodities" offers proven strategies and tactics to help individual investors capitalize from the commodities market as global demographic shifts drive prices up.

""How to Make Money with Commodities sets out in crystal-clear language how the commodity markets affect you every day, and in every way, and why your understanding of the market is essential to your portfolio. An incredibly valuable resource for investors of all levels "" -- Ed Weis, Dean, School of Business at Mercy College; former Managing Director, Merrill Lynch

""This book gives fascinating insight into the high-octane world of commodities trading. It unravels the mysteries of the market, layer by layer."" -- Ian McConnell, Business Editor, The Herald (UK) and award-winning journalist

""Andrew Hecht has taken the world of commodities and presented a compelling picture of the various markets from past to present to future. The comprehensive nature of the book makes it a must-read for anyone who is or hopes to be a trader or analyst. . . . Andy's writing is engaging, and he has written a book for everyone, as we are all commodities consumers and intimately affected by these markets."" -- Josef Schroeter, President, CQG Inc.

Given demographic trends around the globe and the increasing demand for staple goods, the commodities market has transformed into one of the hottest new mainstream investment sectors. If your portfolio neglects commodities, now is the time to change it.

"How to Make Money with Commodities" gives you a fully rounded understanding of the market so you can make the very best investment decisions based on your individual strategies and goals.

One of the most sought-after commodities and commodity options traders and analysts in the world, Andrew T. Hecht explains how commodities relate to stocks, bonds, and foreign exchange, and how they affect the average person's world every day. Bolstered by case studies, historical trends and examples, and Hecht's personal experience, How to Make Money with Commodities explores the fundamentals and technicalities that determine commodity prices and shows how you can use that knowledge to your advantage.

Learn everything there is to know about all the major commodities markets, including:

ENERGY--oil and oil products, natural gas, electricity, coal, alternative energy

PRECIOUS METALS--gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and others

BASE METALS--copper, aluminum, nickel, lead, zinc, tin

AGRICULTURE--corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, cattle, hogs

SOFT COMMODITIES--coffee, sugar, cocoa, orange juice, cotton

OTHER COMMODITIES--steel, fertilizers, rare earth metals, lumber, emission allowances, and more

Hecht explains the ins and outs of every market and provides an expert's insight into government regulations, speculators, traders, and the role China will play in shaping the market's future--and he explains how to invest directly in commodity-related instruments such as physical commodities, futures contracts, and options on futures contracts.

"How to Make Money with Commodities" is the perfect one-stop resource for building a solid financial future on a market that promises to remain active and vibrant for the foreseeable future. Get started with commodities today and watch your profitability soar.

In The Futures , Forbes magazine senior writer Emily Lambert tells the rich and dramatic history of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, the original futures market. Commodities exchanges have become some of the largest financial markets in our global economic system, yet the exchanges themselves and the speculators who run them remain largely misunderstood, as does their chief instrument: the futures contract. Lambert describes the emergence of the futures business as a kind of meeting place for gamblers and farmers that subsequently transformed into a sophisticated electronic market, one where contracts are traded at lightning-fast speeds. When Wall Street adopted the futures contract without the rules and close-knit social bonds that had made trading it in Chicago work so well, however, the effects were disastrous. But, as Lambert argues, the traditional futures market,with its written and cultural limits,can serve as a useful example of how markets ought to work, thereby becoming a tonic for our current financial ills.

Commodities have become an important component of many investors' portfolios and the focus of much political controversy over the past decade. This book utilizes structural models to provide a better understanding of how commodities' prices behave and what drives them. It exploits differences across commodities and examines a variety of predictions of the models to identify where they work and where they fail. The findings of the analysis are useful to scholars, traders and policy makers who want to better understand often puzzling - and extreme - movements in the prices of commodities from aluminium to oil to soybeans to zinc.

Amidst a sharp rise in commodity investing, many have asked whether commodities nowadays move in sync with traditional financial assets. The authors provide evidence that challenges this idea. Using dynamic correlation and recursive co-integration techniques, they found that the relation between the returns on investable commodity and U.S. equity indices has not changed significantly in the last fifteen years. The authors also find no evidence of any secular increase in co-movement between the returns on commodity and equity investments during periods of extreme returns.

Significant changes are taking place in the value chain for many agricultural commodities, particularly those fresh products destined for supermarket shelves. The changing patterns of these value chains in agriculture affect equity between producers and buyers and equity among producers themselves, alter the allocation of resources in agriculture and have implications for domestic as well as international policy. This set of workshop proceedings is published to assist in the understanding and analysis of the implications of these developments, particularly the development of market power among the participants in these markets.

This book contains several innovative models for the prices of financial assets. First published in 1986, it is a classic text in the area of financial econometrics. It presents ARCH and stochastic volatility models that are often used and cited in academic research and are applied by quantitative analysts in many banks. Another often-cited contribution of the first edition is the documentation of statistical characteristics of financial returns, which are referred to as stylized facts.This second edition takes into account the remarkable progress made by empirical researchers during the past two decades from 1986 to 2006. In the new Preface, the author summarizes this progress in two key areas: firstly, measuring, modelling and forecasting volatility; and secondly, detecting and exploiting price trends.

The United States holds strategic stockpiles of nearly 100 industrial minerals, metals, and other commodities. These stockpiles have influenced the world commodity markets in many ways. This work brings together in one place, documentary and statistical evidence about the size and nature of the U.S. strategic stockpiles, and the ways in which this influence has been evidenced, in markets for the important industrial metals.

This book deals with commodity price stabilization. It explores the contemporary changes in global trade agreements and their relationship to the ongoing changes in international and regional trade structures and economic integration. It takes a wholistic, interdisciplinary approach, including economic, legal and political aspects; examines the EC and NAFTA as important trade blocs, and their impact on global economies. Investigates the Chinese approach to trade management, the oil price stabilization policies, and seabed minerals; discusses discrimination in international trade.

The interdisciplinary nature of the book is given prominence through the layout of the various parts. Part I examines the legal issues of commodity trade, investigating the debate over whether international trade agreements create hard law or soft law. Part II discusses the political economy of contemporary global trade issues, including the rise of intraindustry trade and discrimination in international trade. Part III addresses the recent trend towards regionalism and trade blocs, focusing on the EC and NAFTA, and their economic implications. Finally, Part IV presents the issues of commodity trade stabilization for minerals and oil, including both land-based and seabed commodities.

Written for the general reader who has little financial background, this book analyzes the extended bull market of the 1980s and the subsequent stock market crash on October 19, 1987. To tell their story, the authors use a sample portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, savings, and warrants, tracing actual investments bought and sold from the early 1980s through the October 1987 crash. By following their hypothetical portfolio through the ups and downs of the 1980s market, the reader gains a practical understanding of the workings of the stock market and the pressures that led to its calamitous plunge in October 1987. Anyone seeking a practical and nontechnical yet thorough explanation of the events of October 19th will find "The Crash Put Simply" fascinating reading.

As their story unfolds, the authors explain each type of investment in detail, paying special attention to their advantages and risks. They trace the impact of specific events on the market, using the sample portfolio to illustrate typical investor expectations and reactions during the long bull market. This unique approach enables the reader to understand how events moved the market and how, in the week prior to October 19th, a panic of action and reaction finally brought the market crashing down.

Jade, stone tools, honey and wax, ceramics, rum, land. What gave these commodities value in the Maya world, and how were those values determined? What factors influenced the rise and fall of a commodity's value? The Value of Things examines the social and ritual value of commodities in Mesoamerica, providing a new and dynamic temporal view of the roles of trade of commodities and elite goods from the prehistoric Maya to the present. Editors Jennifer P. Mathews and Thomas H. Guderjan begin the volume with a review of the theoretical literature related to the "value of things." Throughout the volume, well-known scholars offer chapters that examine the value of specific commodities in a broad time frame-from prehistoric, colonial, and historic times to the present. Using cases from the Maya world on both the local level and the macro-regional, contributors look at jade, agricultural products (ancient and contemporary), stone tools, salt, cacao (chocolate), honey and wax, henequen, sugarcane and rum, land, ceramic (ancient and contemporary), and contemporary tourist handicrafts. Each chapter author looks into what made their specific commodity valuable to ancient, historic, and contemporary peoples in the Maya region. Often a commodity's worth goes far beyond its financial value; indeed, in some cases, it may not even be viewed as something that can be sold. Other themes include the rise and fall in commodity values based on perceived need, rarity or overproduction, and change in available raw materials; the domestic labor side of commodities, including daily life of the laborers; and relationships between elites and non-elites in production. Examining, explaining, and theorizing how people ascribe value to what they trade, this scholarly volume provides a rich look at local and regional Maya case studies through centuries of time.

Confused about commodities? Consult this essential resource . .

Oil, rice, corn, the Euro--commodities these days are hot, and they're getting hotter. This engaging and thorough guide covers all the basics you'll need to profit from today's most active investment classes. . .

"Commodities Demystified" takes you straight to the heart of the subject, beginning with a discussion on the basic elements of the commodities market. It then introduces you to the various available commodities and investment options, including exchange-traded instruments, futures, and options, and explains the correlation between inflation and commodity prices. Finally, each chapter ends with a quick-review quiz enabling you to test your knowledge. . .

Designed to provide a thorough education without overwhelming you with complexities and mystifying jargon, this self-teaching guide is exactly what you need to successfully identify and trade commodities in today's market. . .

This confusion-busting guide covers: . The fundamentals of the commodities market. Different commodity classes and subclasses. Finding a reputable commodities broker. How to make online trades. Strategies for minimizing risk and maximizing profits.

W.D. Gann is considered to be the greatest trader of all time. This book reveals how to make profits on the commodities exchanges. It combines theory and practice, and through its straightforward, logical approach, Gann presents an excellent case for making money in commodities.

The book to which Mr. Gann claimed he gave the best years of his experience, How to Make Profits In Commodities is the favorite of among Gann-fan commodity traders and stock traders worldwide

More than 50 developing countries depend on three or fewer commodities for more than half of their exports and, in fact, many rely on a single commodity for a large share of export earnings. This reliance inevitability exposes countries to the risk of export earnings instability as a result of price shocks and, perhaps even more significantly, the falling purchasing power of exports over the long run due to declining real prices. Presenting for the first time a complete analysis of the issues surrounding commodity prices and development, this book is the culmination of three years of research commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat to look at various aspects of commodity prices.
The problems faced by commodity dependent developing countries are formidable. Although diversification is the most appropriate response to the problem of the secular decline in commodity prices, long-term transformation in the economy can be a slow process and its success will depend on a host of factors such as the development of human resources, institutional capacity building, poverty alleviation, and appropriate domestic policy and environment. By granting increased aid flows and debt relief, and providing assistance to encourage production of non-traditional export items, the international community can play a proactive role in the development of the commodity dependent poor countries. Only concerted efforts both at the domestic fronts of these countries and via co-operation extended by the international community can help mitigate the problems of the world's most vulnerable economies.

This is the new edition of the leading work on the law and practice of auctions. The book looks at every aspect of auction practice from the economics of auction sales and restrictions on trading to criminal and other liabilities of the auctioneer. There is also a chapter on VAT. There have been important recent developments in the field of consumer protection and the book has been substantially revised to reflect these. In addition to general updating the new edition considers the practice of online auctions for the first time. There is also a section on looted art . The book continues to draw on case law from other common law jurisdictions.

Eurodollar trading volume is exploding, with no end in sight tools phenomenal growth. The Eurodollar Futures and Options Handbook provides traders and investors with the complete range of current research on Eurodollar futures and options, now the most widely traded money market contracts in the world. The only current book on this widely-followed topic, it features chapters written by Eurodollar experts from JP Morgan, Mellon Capital, Merrill Lynch, and other global trading giants, and will quickly become a required reference for all Eurodollar F&O traders and investors.

Das Buch widmet sich dem deutschen Strommarkt und der Herausforderung, ein ideales Gleichgewicht zwischen den anteilig abnehmenden konventionellen Kraftwerken und den zunehmenden erneuerbaren Erzeugungsanlagen zu erreichen. Durch die meteorologisch abhangige Einspeisung regenerativer Energien bildet das Thema der Gewahrleistung von Versorgungssicherheit im zukunftigen Energiesystem den Mittelpunkt kontroverser Diskussionen. Ein Kapazitatsmechanismus als erganzendes Absicherungsinstrument zum Strommarkt stellt eine Moeglichkeit dar, mit der der Versorgungssicherheitsdebatte begegnet werden kann. Um einen fur Deutschland adaquaten Ansatz zu ermitteln, betrachtet die Autorin internationale Modelle (Schweden/USA), die auf Basis eines Kriterien-Vergleichs ein geeignetes Instrument abbilden koennten.