Through his own trading experiences and those of individuals he has mentored, Dr. Brett Steenbarger is familiar with the challenges that traders face and the performance and psychological strategies that can meet those challenges. In "Enhancing Trader Performance, " Steenbarger shows you how to transform talent into trading skill through a structured process of expertise development and reveals how this approach can help you achieve market mastery.

It's not hard to understand why options trading continues to grow in popularity, especially among sophisticated investors with large stock portfolios. Options are a cheaper and therefore, inherently less risky way of speculating on the price movements of stocks or other under-lying goods, yet, due to their volatility, they provide more price action per dollar than do stocks. And, when traded in conjunction with stock portfolios, options can significantly enhance an investor's ability to manipulate the risk and return characteristics of their entire investment. Yet, despite these and other advantages of options, many investors shy away from this highly lucrative type of speculation because of the seeming impenetrability of many of its underlying concepts and technical principles.
Now in a book that demystifies options for financial professionals, Professor Robert W. Kolb, one of the nation's leading authorities on the subject, provides readers with a solid grounding in the principles and practices of options trading. An excellent resource for investors who need to quickly get up to speed in options, Understanding Options offers a balanced presentation that builds swiftly from the most basic concepts and terms to advanced trading strategies and techniques. Written in plain English and filled with real-life examples and case studies, it schools readers in:
* All essential terms, concepts, principles, and practices
* Popular trading techniques and their payoffs
* Option strategies
* Option hedging
* Formal trading models, including the Binomial and Merton models
* Options on stock indexes, foreign currency, and futures
* Option pricing in both the American and European markets
* The options approach to corporate securities
* And much more

Concise yet comprehensive, authoritative yet highly accessible, Understanding Options gives you everything you need to feel right at home in the lucrative world of options.
Comprehensive, practical, authoritative--the fastest, most accessible route to the lucrative world of options
From the basics of what an option is to advanced techniques for profiting from options in a variety of markets, Understanding Options covers all the bases. Written by a leading international authority on options trading, this practical, hands-on guide offers detailed, step-by-step coverage of option trading techniques and their payoffs, option strategies, European and American option pricing, option hedging, and much more. It also explores options on stock indexes, foreign currency, and futures, and takes a close look at the options approach to corporate securities.
A concise, yet comprehensive, introduction to options for financial professionals
* Gets you quickly up and running with all the essential knowledge you need to break into the options markets
* Featuring a balanced presentation that moves swiftly from basic terms and concepts to advanced trading models
* Packed with easy-to-follow examples and case studies that lucidly illustrate all points covered

Investing in emerging markets requires a careful analysis of potential risks and benefits that vary greatly from country to country. Informed investors and firms must devise their own system of assessing risk when considering investments in these regions-systems that often omit influential factors and fail to respond flexibly to swiftly changing conditions, be they political, economic, or otherwise. Cracking the Emerging Markets Enigma outlines a rigorous, comprehensive, and practical framework for evaluating the opportunities and, more importantly, the risks of investing in emerging markets. Built on a foundation of sound research on foreign direct and portfolio capital flows, Andrew Karolyi's proposed system of evaluation incorporates multiple dimensions of the potential risks faced by prospective investors in an empirically coherent framework. These dimensions of risk reflect the uneven quality or fragility of the various institutions designed to assure integrity in capital markets. By distilling these analyses into a numerical scoring system, Karolyi has devised a way to assess emerging markets by different dimensions of risk and across all dimensions together. This novel assessment framework has been tested in the private sector to great success. Researchers, students, firms, and both seasoned and novice investors are poised to gain a clear understanding of how to evaluate potential investments in emerging markets to maximize profit.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) are a relatively new open- ended investment vehicle. Launched in 1993, their appeal as an important and unique financial product has compelled institutional and retail investors to look anew at their almost endless possibilities. This has led to their dramatic expansion. Meziani draws from his academic and corporate expertise to straddle both theory and practice. Using this book, practitioners, academics and students alike will find a thorough explanation of the theoretical ideas underlying ETF's, along with their detailed analysis, communicated in practical and clear terms.

With the fast pace of communications and change in today's global marketplace, investing in equities has become increasingly complex. Communicating a clear, concise, meaningful message to investors is critical. Dr. Higgins and his contributing authors provide a broad set of perspectives, lessons learned, and best practices in global investor relations. They examine the fundamentals of investor relations from a theoretical and practical perspective. They explore individual company strategies and challenges for investor relations in unique and meaningful situations--all from their own vantages and experiences at six topflight corporations with world-class investor relations organizations: AT&T, Schering-Plough, BASF, Reuters, Sony, and Toyota. Readers will get detailed pragmatic insights into the way IR is done in these important, highly visible corporations, plus the results of a unique five-year study of global strategy communications, complete with ideas and concepts they can use immediately in developing and influencing investor relations in their own organizations.

But Higgins' book is more than a collection of company studies. Impinging upon the strategic and financial communications of virtually every global corporation are institutional, market, and technological forces that are shaping the current practice of investor relations. The book examines these forces and their impact on strategic financial communications. It also explores the theoretical and empirical foundations underlying the practice of investor relations and presents a conceptual model--a strategic perspective--for viewing and analyzing best practices. In addition, the book presents the results of a recent survey of global investor relations practices in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Japan, plus two new studies of the latest communication technologies in U.S. companies.

Shortly before of the beginning of the global financial crisis of 2008 REITs were introduced in several European countries based on their success in mature markets like the US, Australia and some Asian countries. While the history of REITs in Europe has been relatively brief, REITs are well on the way to become an industry standard as a real estate investment financial vehicle not only in Europe but throughout the developed world. This book provides both academics and decision makers an introduction to the economics of REITs beyond tax transparency, an overview of the mature REITs markets, and a closer reflection of the development of different REIT-structures in Europe including the history, regulation and markets of each country.

China is an increasingly influential emerging economy that is currently attracting the attention of academics, practitioners, and policy makers. The efficient allocation of financial resources is a key determinant of economic growth. Therefore, the development of a capital market is set to play a crucial role in China's ascension toward becoming one of the largest economies in the world. As a transitional economy with a unique institutional background, China also offers an interesting research setting providing new insights for finance and accounting literature. This book features cutting edge research on critical issues relating to the experiences and challenges of China's capital market development. The contributors include leading academics from the US, UK, Europe, and China. Topics covered include venture capital, executive remuneration, real estate market, information environment, institutional investors, banking, corporate governance, and financial media.

This book provides an introduction to investment appraisal and presents a range of methods and models, some of which are not widely known, or at least not well covered by other textbooks. Each approach is thoroughly described, evaluated and illustrated using examples, with its assumptions and limitations analyzed in terms of their implications for investment decision-making practice. Investment decisions are of vital importance to all companies. Getting these decisions right is crucial but, due to a complex and dynamic business environment, this remains a challenging management task. Effective appraisal methods are valuable tools in supporting investment decision-making. As organisations continue to seek a competitive edge, it is increasingly important that management accountants and strategic decision-makers have a sound knowledge of these tools.

Get your slice of the economic pie and then some, in the UK and beyond Investing in shares can help build anyone's financial standing-move over, economic elite! People from all walks of life can easily grow their wealth and secure money for the future. Investing in Shares For Dummies takes a friendly, non-jargony approach for new and not-quite-advanced-yet shareholders. This book walks you through the investment orchard so you can cherry-pick shares that will turn you a tidy profit (mmm, tasty.) You'll also learn to stay calm and ride the unavoidable waves of the markets. Over the long term, you stand to earn greater returns (translation: more money) than if you invested in real estate or bonds alone. And who isn't keen on the idea of more money? This latest edition is up-to-date with the top investing apps, investing with ETFs, thematic investing, trading shares in the US and other nations, and everything else you might be curious about as you start building a rock-solid portfolio. With Investing in Shares For Dummies, you will: Get to know the stock markets to decide if shares investing is right for you Plan your investing strategy and take risks that make sense for your financial situation Research shares before you buy: analyse industries, read stock charts and find company data Make investment decisions that maximise profits, lower costs and minimise your tax bill Investing in Shares For Dummies gives you the sound advice and proven tactics you need to play the markets and watch your profits grow.

Successful hedge fund investing begins with well-informed strategy A Guide to Starting Your Hedge Fund is a practical, definitive "how-to" guide, designed to help managers design and launch their own funds, and to help investors select and diligence new funds. The first book to examine the practical aspects of setting up and operating funds with a focus on energy commodity markets, this book scrutinises the due diligence process and comprehensively reviews the opportunities and risks of all energy commodity markets as hedge fund investments. Extensive planning and strategy advice prove invaluable to prospective fund managers and investors alike, and detailed discussion of the markets' constraints help inform procedural decisions. Readers gain insight into practical matters including legal and commercial structures, due diligence, fund raising, operations, and more, allowing them to construct a concrete investment plan before ever touching a penny. Asset managers are looking to energy commodities to provide attractive uncorrelated if volatile returns. These high returns, however, are accompanied by high risk. Few investors have experience evaluating these investment opportunities, and few prospective fund managers understand the market fundamentals and their associated risks. This book provides the answers sorely lacking in hedge fund literature, giving investors and fund managers the background they need to make smarter decisions. * Understand the markets' structures, opportunities, and risks * Develop a comprehensive, well-informed investment strategy * Conduct thorough due diligence with a detailed plan * Examine the practical aspects of fund raising, legal and tax structure, and more Oil has long been traded by hedge funds, but electricity, the fuels that generate electricity, and the environmental products like emissions allowances and weather derivatives have become the new "hot" investment strategies. These high returns come with higher risk, but A Guide to Starting Your Hedge Fund ensures participants have essential information at their disposal.

This volume focuses on recent pricing puzzles in investments. The valuation of Internet companies, effects of firm size in takeover studies, and long-run performance of mergers in the telecommunications industry are all seen as riddles for the Efficient Markets Hypothesis. Explanations may be found in studies of the effects of differences in investor risk/return preferences, information and liquidity. Also featured are studies describing recent innovations in corporate finance, such as an experimental study of discount rates, an analysis of issues related to the estimation of internal cash flows, corporate payout policy, and the use of convertible and warrant bonds by Japanese firms.

This unique book examines the re-emergence of a securities market in the People's Republic of China, providing a comprehensive analysis of the market forces that are transforming China's centrally planned economy. The authors provide answers to the key issues such as: Why did a securities market develop in China? How do market practices compare with those in other countries? What are the major difficulties encountered in the development process of the securities market, and what growth potential does the Chinese securities market have? Based on Dr. Xia's comprehensive survey of officials at Chinese securities issuing companies, government policy agencies, and stock exchange centers, the authors offer a comprehensive report on the investment climate in China and its future.

After reviewing briefly the emerging securities markets of other developing countries and the impact of the international debt crisis, the authors examine the economic reforms in China and their impact on China's business climate. An in-depth discussion of financial sector developments, the regulatory framework and scope of the securities market, and a profile of market participants precedes a comprehensive examination of the type and nature of bond and stock issuing activities. The operations of securities trading centers, including secondary markets and, in particular, the Shanghai Exchange, is explained in detail with the conclusion offering unique insights into the development prospects of these markets. Essential to all investors in China, this book is also an important source of information for academics, researchers, and business executives.

"The successful entrepreneur must confront and overcome legal, financial, and business obstacles. Marc J. Lane has done a wonderful job of addressing all of these in one very readable and sensible book."—Thomas Morsch, Director, Small Business Opportunity Center, Northwestern University School of Law

Advising Entrepreneurs helps you address the special needs of your entrepreneurial clients. With the growing interest in starting small businesses, entrepreneurs are looking for expert advice and guidance to help them overcome the legal, tax, and financial challenges they face.

This book outlines solutions and ideas that you can use to steer your entrepreneurial clients through the rough waters of starting a new business. From getting a business on its feet to preparing for an IPO, you will learn the different strategies and options available to your clients.

The role of a financial advisor has expanded in scope and importance with the growth of new businesses. Take this opportunity to broaden your financial planning skills and learn how to advise your entrepreneurial clients in the best way possible.

Clearing houses, or CCPs, were among the very few organisations to emerge from the global financial crisis with their standing enhanced. In the chaotic aftermath of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, they successfully completed trades worth trillions of dollars in a multitude of financial instruments across listed and over-the-counter markets, and so helped avert financial Armageddon.

That success transformed the business of clearing. Governments and regulators around the world gave CCPs and the clearing services they provide a front-line role in protecting the global economy from future excesses of finance. CCPs, which mitigate risk in financial markets, responded by greatly expanding their activities, notably in markets for over-the-counter derivatives, and often in fierce competition with one another.

In "The Risk Controllers," journalist and author Peter Norman describes how CCPs operate, how they handled the Lehman default, and the challenges they now face. Because central counterparty clearing is a complex business with a long history that continues to influence decisions and structures even in today's fast changing world, "The Risk Controllers" explores the development of CCPs and clearing from the earliest times to the present.

It draws on the experiences of the people who helped to shape the business of clearing today. It sets the development of CCPs and clearing in the broader context of changes in society, politics and regulation. The book examines turning points, such as the 1987 stock market crash, that set clearing on a new path and the impact of long running trends, including the exponential growth of computer power and the ebb and flow of globalisation.

Written in non-technical language, "The Risk Controllers" provides a unique and accessible guide to CCPs and clearing. It is essential reading for clearing professionals, legislators and regulators whose job it is to take this vitally important business into the future.

""The recent crisis has, thankfully, renewed interest in the importance of central counterparties: how they can help preserve stability or, as Hong Kong showed in 1987, undermine stability if they are not super sound. Peter Norman's book places the role of clearing houses in a historical context, and explains why the financial system's plumbing matters so much. It should be read by anyone interested in building safer capital markets.""

Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor Financial Stability, Bank of England

Learn how to invest your money the smart way. All forms of investment share a common purpose: to provide for a better future. Stock market investing is one of the best tools you can use to build a more secure financial foundation for you and your family. However, for those of us who aren't professional stockbrokers, the process of stock market investing can seem complex and bewildering. Stock Market Investing for Beginners will arm you with the information you need to understand the basics of stock market investing, and start taking control of your financial future. Stock Marketing Investing for Beginners will take the frustration and intimidation out of stock market investing, so that you can make the investments that are right for your financial goals. Stock Market Investing for Beginners gives you the tools to start investing wisely and successfully, with: Straightforward explanation of the fundamentals of stock market investing 10 key stock marketing investing questions answered 5 strategies for picking winners Useful advice on buying, selling, owning, and diversifying Invaluable tips on building your financial portfolio through stock marketing investing The sooner you start investing, the better off you will be. Stock Market Investing for Beginners will show you how to make a small investment now, for a better tomorrow.

In 1892, John Elliott Tappan, a twenty-four year old Minneapolis lawyer, was worried how people saved their money. Out of these concerns, Investors Syndicate was born, one of the first of a new type of financial institution designed to meet the savings needs of the average person. Here is the story of this financial pioneer, whose innovation has today grown into one of the nation's largest financial services companies, American Express Financial Advisors. The book draws on Tappan's diaries, business correspondence, and various family oral histories. Tappan's life, work and ideas chronicle the changes in spending and savings, work and leisure, the culture of politics and money, that have given rise to our modern notions of consumer finance.

This book tackles the ethical problems of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" (4IR) and offers readers an overview of the ethical challenges connected to Artificial Intelligence (AI), encryption and the finance industry. It specifically focuses on the situation of females in these industries, from women lawyers, judges, attorneys-at-law, investors and bankers, to portfolio managers, solicitors and civil servants. As the 4IR is more than "just" a technology-driven transformation, this book is a call to policymakers and business leaders to harness new technologies in order to create a more inclusive, human-centered future. It offers many practical cases of proactive change agents, and offers solutions to the ethical challenges in connection with implementing revolutionary disruptive products that often eliminate the intermediary. In addition, the book addresses sustainable finance in startups. In this context, education, training, agility and life-long learning in financial literacy are some of the key solutions highlighted here. The respective contributors supply a diverse range of perspectives, so as to promote a multi-stakeholder approach.

The Handbook of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities is a cornerstone reference in this emerging sector of the structured finance market. This Second Edition provides updated coverage of the market, the instruments, the tools used to assess these securities, and tax accounting issues.
In addition to an overview of the commercial real estate finance and commercial property markets, this book also covers property-market framework for bond investors, the role of the servicer, an investor's perspective on commercial mortgage-backed coupon strips, defaults on commercial mortgages, assessing credit risk, an options approach to valuation and risk analysis, legal perspectives on disclosure issues, and federal income taxation.