In today's ultra-competitive global economy, intangibles are increasingly taking centre stage in firms' business strategies and investors' valuations. Physical and financial assets are becoming commodities, yielding at best a competitive return on investment. In their place, intangible assets such as patents, brands, unique business processes, breakthrough scientific discoveries and strategic alliances are what firms are using to create dominant market positions, control risk, generate abnormal profits, and achieve growth and wealth. The dramatic rise and fall of high-technology company valuations has brought the unusual economic characteristics of intangible assets into the public arena. The concurrent advantages and vulnerabilities of intangible-intensive companies has highlighted the importance of having an in-depth understanding of the economics of intangibles and developing tools to better manage and evaluate them. This reader provides that understanding by bringing together the best research and advocacy on intangibles.

Giving IT professionals in financial services firms a rounded and comprehensive grounding in their knowledge of their industry, this book offers a primer on the major financial instruments, transactions, and processes, as well as a sound knowledge of the principles of good IT management in the industry.

The book gives readers a clear understanding of equities, bonds, currencies, listed derivatives and OTC derivatives. It explains transactions in those instruments and the requirements of business systems that process these transactions. Transactions covered include (inter-alia) agency and principal purchases and sales, loans and deposits, repos and reverse repos, stock loans; and also the Sharia-compliant 'Islamic' transactions that may be used as alternatives to interest bearing transactions.

Andrew Bradford gives an introduction to how investment firms are regulated; offers an understanding of the STP (Straight-through-Processing) concept following the trade cycle for the transactions from order through to execution through pre-settlement to final settlement; covers basic accounting procedures for the transactions; and conveys the basic principles of good IT management in the investment industry.

A hands-on guide to navigating the new fuel markets Fuel Hedging and Risk Management: Strategies for Airlines, Shippers and Other Consumers provides a clear and practical understanding of commodity price dynamics, key fuel hedging techniques, and risk management strategies for the corporate fuel consumer. It covers the commodity markets and derivative instruments in a manner accessible to corporate treasurers, financial officers, risk managers, commodity traders, structurers, as well as quantitative professionals dealing in the energy markets. The book includes a wide variety of key topics related to commodities and derivatives markets, financial risk analysis of commodity consumers, hedge program design and implementation, vanilla derivatives and exotic hedging products. The book is unique in providing intuitive guidance on understanding the dynamics of forward curves and volatility term structure for commodities, fuel derivatives valuation and counterparty risk concepts such as CVA, DVA and FVA. Fully up-to-date and relevant, this book includes comprehensive case studies that illustrate the hedging process from conception to execution and monitoring of hedges in diverse situations. This practical guide will help the reader: * Gain expert insight into all aspects of fuel hedging, price and volatility drivers and dynamics. * Develop a framework for financial risk analysis and hedge programs. * Navigate volatile energy markets by employing effective risk management techniques. * Manage unwanted risks associated with commodity derivatives by understanding liquidity and credit risk calculations, exposure optimization techniques, credit charges such as CVA, DVA, FVA, etc. Praise for Fuel Hedging and Risk Management "Risk Management is an art, not a science, but it certainly helps to know a lot of science. In this book, the authors provide an excellent overview of both qualitative and quantitative aspects of risk management and how to design and implement effective win-win fuel oil hedging strategies that will achieve the desired objectives under normal and extreme market conditions. In addition to discussing key foundational issues, the book also discusses a framework to understand and manage hugely important second-order effects, such as credit risk or margin calls or asset-liability mismatches, which have the potential to turn a good idea into a bad outcome. A must read for anyone in the finance department of a corporate, trade house, or financial firm involved in fuel oil hedging." Diego Parrilla, Former Global Head of Commodity Solutions and Head of Commodities, Bank of America "This book provides highly useful insights into hedging and risk management methodologies, as well as theory, for the users of energy products. Dafir provides intuition stemming from not just top-tier commodity structuring expertise, but also broader insight from his earlier experience as a credit derivatives and exotics trader." Mitch Matharu, former Head of Structuring, Merrill Lynch "An Absolute Must Read. From the fundamentals of oil markets to the key points in negotiating a credit agreement and minimizing hedging costs, passing by the subtleties of implied volatility surface construction and its implications in derivatives pricing, this book offers you the indispensable practitioner's toolbox, useful whether you are a novice or a seasoned fuel trader." Frederic Cogny, Global Head of Commodities Structured Products Trading, Standard Chartered Bank "In this book, Dafir blends his deep knowledge of the commodity markets and the vagaries of the financial market with his incredible mathematical ability to explore fuel hedging in a manner accessible to Fuel Procurement Departments, CFOs and board members." Mark Long, Former Head and Managing Director of Merrill Lynch Commodities Asia "...This book is a hands-on guide for anyone interested in "Fuel Hedging and Risk Management", including lawyers involved in the execution of commodities hedging transactions and related ISDA and CSA negotiations." Justin Boyd, Former Head of Financial Markets Legal, Standard Chartered Bank

A comprehensive guide to all aspects of participation in the retirement programs of TIAA-CREF

This book makes an original and significant contribution to Keynesian macroeconomics. The IS-LM model is a basic workhorse of Keynesian macroeconomics. However, its financial aspects are extremely rudimentary and the link between the real and the financial sector is extremely tenuous. Hence, neither the IS-LM model nor IS-LM-based models can be applied to the major economic issues facing today's world. This book develops alternative models in the Keynesian tradition that incorporate financial institutions and make explicit the intimate link between the processes of generation of income, saving, credit and expenditure. It subsequently uses these models to address the major current macroeconomic issues that India and the rest of the world are confronted with. In the Indian context, it focuses on the issues of unemployment, growth, recession, bank performance, banking sector reforms and corruption. It also seeks to identify the causes of economic crises in Greece and the US. The analysis reveals a common trend in the economies considered here: the policy framework within which they function is recessionary, exploitative and fosters unemployment, inequality and poverty. Further, this framework is leading these economies farther away from the goal that every civilized society should strive to achieve, namely, providing all citizens with suitably gainful jobs and adequate access to quality food, clothing, shelter, education and health care. The book seeks to identify the cause of this malady, and puts forward policies to remedy it. It thus contains takeaways for academia, think tanks as well as policy makers.

An analysis of the major securities, derivatives and money markets from an operations point of view, 'Understanding the Markets' takes the reader through the major features and characteristics of the markets and the products. The relationship between the trading and dealing functions and the operations functions is examined and the issues discussed.
This book looks at the financial markets from the viewpoint of the person working in the operations functions that support the trading, dealing and investment processes, and as such is essential reading in order to fully understand the industry - an industry which has gone, and is still going through, much change.
As the markets undergo change so too do the administration, clearing and settlement functions, as the clearing houses, securities depositories and custodians merge and diversify. This is going to impact on the operations teams that support the trading, sales and retail business. A failure to be aware of and to understand the impact of changes in the markets will create massive problems, greater risk and ultimately financial losses. And yet the sheer size and diversity of the global markets, together with the rapid pace of change and expansion, and the increasing volume of transactions needing to be processed, presents a massive challenge to operations teams and managers.
Knowing how the markets work and what impacts on the operations team is crucial for managers and supervisors. In this book the author provides a full explanation of the markets and their impact in operations terms. So if you are about to embark on a career in operations 'Understanding the Markets' is essential reading. Alternatively, if you are planning a career as a dealer it will prove very useful in explaining the process that occurs after you have traded.
The definitive series of professional references for those finance professionals concerned with "Back office" or operations management unique to this industry.Presents concise references on the essential management functions such as technology, client services, and risk management for financial operations management professionals.A comprehensive resource from a leading financial management consultant for global banks and institutions.

The new edition of this popular guide provides the tools you need to navigate the radically altered, post-meltdown world of credit Originally published in 2009, when the banking industry was in major turmoil, The LSTA's Complete Credit Agreement Guide has been comprehensively updated to address all the changes that have taken place over the past seven years. The loan market is no longer dominated by traditional banks; today's lenders also include retail loan funds, structured vehicles like CLOs, and numerous other hedge funds and distressed funds--all of which is explained and updated in this new edition. You will learn all of the essentials in understanding today's typical credit agreement versus that of seven years ago.

Investment ] Stock Trading

Screen For Winners, Hold Them Longer, Realize Higher Returns

Great Companies, Great Charts

"Great Companies, Great Charts" is a simple and logical approach to stock trading that can help you beat the indexes and achieve great returns.

Andy Dunn teaches you his trend-following, self-disciplined trading style. Dunn uses online stock-screening tools to find fundamentally excellent companies with technically attractive charts. This double-barreled approach identifies stocks that are more likely to grow at a faster rate than the market. "Great Companies, Great Charts" covers the investment process, including how to:

Scan for the best stocks Enter trades with buy stops Exit trades with sell stops Protect equity with trailing stops Adjust for volatility with the trading range Reduce risk with portfolio allocation

Susiku Akapelwa is an economist and fi nancialanalyst with over 15 year's global experiencein the fi nancial sector. His expertise is in CreditLending, Risk Management, Business ProcessManagement, Enterprise Solution Developmentand Mortgage Banking. He has previously workedfor Ocwen Federal Bank, Asset ManagementOutsourcing and is currently with AmericanExpress Company. Mr. Akapelwa is also anentrepreneur and consultant in North Americaand Southern Africa. He is author of "International Management"published by Booksurge/Amazon in 2005. He received hisundergraduate & graduate education from Slippery Rock Universityof Pennsylvania & Troy University. He holds degrees in economics, business administration and international management.

Timeless Investing Strategies for Any Economy

For five decades, Warren Buffett has been making himself one of the wealthiest men in the world, amassing more than 30 billion dollars by investing in the stock market. Remarkably, he did it by spurning popular Wall Street trends, adhering instead to his own unique discipline, one the world has come to know as Buffettology. In The Buffettology Workbook, internationally acclaimed writer and lecturer Mary Buffett has again joined forces with David Clark, the world's leading authority on Warren Buffett's investment methods, to create an in-depth, step-by-step guide to the concepts and equations Warren Buffett uses to create fantastic wealth.

Here you will learn:

• The difference between a great company and a great undervalued company
• How the short-sightedness of Wall Street pundits can work to your advantage
• Where to look for investments with long-term, consistent, and extraordinary growth potential
• To perform the same financial calculations Buffett uses, and apply them to stocks you'd like to buy

Latin American experiments with pension reform began when Chile converted its public pay-as-you-go system to a system of private individual accounts in 1981. In the 1990s, several other countries followed suit, inspired both by Chile's reforms and World Bank recommendations that stressed adopting compulsory government-mandated individual savings accounts. Following the lead of Latin America, individual accounts were subsequently introduced in a number of countries in both Europe and Asia. The World Bank and governments in the region have now begun to seriously re-evaluate these privatisations, with the most dramatic effort to 'reform the reform' coming from Chile, where President Michelle Bachelet backed a comprehensive initiative aimed at making the system more efficient and equitable. This volume is the first to assess pension reforms in this new 'post-privatization' era.
Section 1 of the book begins with a discussion on demographic trends by Nobel laureate Robert W. Fogel and is followed by chapters on system design and their policy implications, including chapters on demographic trends, pension system default options, and an analysis of World Bank's policies and how they have evolved (by three former and current World Bank experts). This section concludes with two chapters with differing views on reform and the role of gender (an important and understudied topic). Section 2 contains in-depth chapters on major reform efforts in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay and Argentina.
In addressing the most pressing policy issues and highlighting a broad range of country experiences, this volume provides an unparalleled account of the lessons frompension reform in the Americas.

Real Estate-Backed Securities provides today's most concise yet comprehensive understanding of passive real estate investing. Issues discussed include agency passthrough securities and mortgage strips, agency collateralized mortgage obligations, nonagency residential MBS, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and more.

The Finance Book will help you think and manage like a financial strategist.

Written specifically for non-finance professionals, it will give you all you need to know to manage your business more effectively and think more strategically.

It will help you to:

• Read and interpret financial statements with confidence
• Understand financial and business language
• Learn how to analyse financial performance
• Make better financial decisions
• Deepen your learning via interactive resources

Covering business finance, accounting fundamentals, budgeting, profitability and cash management, you'll find the tools you need in order to make the best financial decisions for your business.