This book is mainly devoted to finite difference numerical methods for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) models of pricing a wide variety of financial derivative securities. With this objective, the book is divided into two main parts. In the first part, after an introduction concerning the basics on derivative securities, the authors explain how to establish the adequate PDE boundary value problems for different sets of derivative products (vanilla and exotic options, and interest rate derivatives). For many option problems, the analytic solutions are also derived with details. The second part is devoted to explaining and analyzing the application of finite differences techniques to the financial models stated in the first part of the book. For this, the authors recall some basics on finite difference methods, initial boundary value problems, and (having in view financial products with early exercise feature) linear complementarity and free boundary problems. In each chapter, the techniques related to these mathematical and numerical subjects are applied to a wide variety of financial products. This is a textbook for graduate students following a mathematical finance program as well as a valuable reference for those researchers working in numerical methods in financial derivatives. For this new edition, the book has been updated throughout with many new problems added. More details about numerical methods for some options, for example, Asian options with discrete sampling, are provided and the proof of solution-uniqueness of derivative security problems and the complete stability analysis of numerical methods for two-dimensional problems are added. Review of first edition: "...the book is highly well designed and structured as a textbook for graduate students following a mathematical finance program, which includes Black-Scholes dynamic hedging methodology to price financial derivatives. Also, it is a very valuable reference for those researchers working in numerical methods in financial derivatives, either with a more financial or mathematical background." -- MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS

In 1982, the Dow hovered below 1000. Then, the market rose and rapidly gained speed until it peaked above 11,000. Noted journalist and financial reporter Maggie Mahar has written the first book on the remarkable bull market that began in 1982 and ended just in the early 2000s. For almost two decades, a colorful cast of characters such as Abby Joseph Cohen, Mary Meeker, Henry Blodget, and Alan Greenspan came to dominate the market news.

This inside look at that 17-year cycle of growth, built upon interviews and unparalleled access to the most important analysts, market observers, and fund managers who eagerly tell the tales of excesses, presents the period with a historical perspective and explains what really happened and why.

Your Essential Guide to Quantitative Hedge Fund Investing provides a conceptual framework for understanding effective hedge fund investment strategies. The book offers a mathematically rigorous exploration of different topics, framed in an easy to digest set of examples and analogies, including stories from some legendary hedge fund investors. Readers will be guided from the historical to the cutting edge, while building a framework of understanding that encompasses it all. Features Filled with novel examples and analogies from within and beyond the world of finance Suitable for practitioners and graduate-level students with a passion for understanding the complexities that lie behind the raw mechanics of quantitative hedge fund investment A unique insight from an author with experience of both the practical and academic spheres.

Forestland investment has surged in the past few decades as a result of land ownership change in the forestry industry. Timberland investment and management organizations and real estate investment trusts have bought up land and resources that were divested by vertically integrated forest products companies. This book provides a seminal coverage of this seismic shift in the industry, exploring the philosophy, driving factors, valuation, theory, research, implementation, practice, and effects of forestland investment. Across 15 chapters the book reviews the history of forestland investment; discusses the optimal forest rotation; explains timberland appraisal; examines the return drivers of forestland; analyzes timberland index construction methods and results; prices timberland assets; reviews financial and real options; investigates real option values in forestland management; evaluates timber harvest contracts; examines new opportunities in the emerging woody bioenergy market; and eventually offers prospects on forestland investment in the future. It also discusses how forest carbon can be used as a nature-based climate solution. This book is essential reading for forestry business students and scholars, as well as practitioners and policymakers in the industry.

Specialists and floor brokers, in direct contact on the trading floor, are at the heart of operations at the national U.S. equity exchanges. At the other end of the spectrum, electronic trading platforms characterize most other equity markets globally. Why have we not followed the international trend, and should we? Can the unique services offered by the floor be provided as effectively in an electronic environment? Which environment would institutional and retail traders each find most suitable to their special needs? These are some of the questions that will be addressed. In so doing, Electronic vs. Floor Based Trading will provide perspective on the future direction that exchange market structure is likely to follow in the coming years.

A collection of papers on the determinants and consequences of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the real and financial sectors of industrial countries. The text sheds new light on the determinants of FDI, in particular the role of governmental incentives. Another main topic is the role of FDI in the east European accession countries. It provides insights into the question of whether EU enlargement will have consequences for capital flows into those countries. Since the start of European monetary union, the discussion on cross-border mergers in the European banking industry has intensified. The final part of the book contains contributions to this debate.

Some of the most successful and well-known hedge funds have long profited from a trading strategy that applies macroeconomic views to global markets: global macro. Pioneered by hedge fund managers such as George Soros and Julian Robertson, this strategy has led to enormous profits. By placing directional bets on liquid assets, it is particularly suited for trending markets.

In Macro Trading and Investment Strategies: Macroeconomic Arbitrage in Global Markets, Gabriel Burstein defines and rigorously analyzes this investment style. He then proposes macro arbitrage as an original alternative to trading subjective macroeconomic views at times when markets are either trending or are extremely volatile, lacking direction, and in crisis, such as during the Asian, Russian, and Latin American economic and financial collapses of the late 1990s. Macro arbitrage is introduced as a new, lower-risk, long/short macro strategy that is based on detecting objective macroeconomic mispricings in global markets. Burstein shows how this trading strategy works in stock market sector spreads (food retailers/general retailers, banks/utilities), stock index spreads (Italy/Spain, Sweden/Finland), and with the European Monetary Union (EMU) ahead of its 1999 single-currency final stage.

In Macro Trading and Investment Strategies, Burstein presents, with examples, the framework for traditional global macro strategies, then shows how to use macroeconomic mispricings in global financial markets to design innovative global macroeconomic arbitrage strategies for trading and investing.

Macro Trading and Investment Strategies is the first thorough examination of one of the most proficient and enigmatic trading strategies in use today—global—macro. More importantly, it introduces an innovative strategy to this popular hedge fund investment style—global macroeconomic arbitrage.

Dr. Burstein, an ex-Goldman Sachs macro proprietary trader who now heads a hedge funds-dedicated equity sales group at Daiwa Europe, proposes a new global macro strategy that is nondirectional and more objective. The classic global macro strategy utilizes macroeconomic information to anticipate market direction through subjective views. As a result, global macro has a strong subjective-directional component. Based on objective mispricings of macroeconomic information in stock market index and stock sector index spreads, a new long/short arbitrage strategy is presented here that capitalizes on the correction of objective macroeconomic mispricings. These macro arbitrage strategies are evaluated and tested in volatile markets such as the "domino effect" of the global financial crises of 1997-1998 that led to a hedge fund crisis. In fact, the book shows how global financial crises create strong macro arbitrage opportunities while also being a catalyst for correcting preexistent macro mispricings.

Macro Trading and Investment Strategies: Macroeconomic Arbitrage in Global Markets presents a new and compelling trading and investment strategy. Written in a clear and concise style, it includes definitions and carefully tested trading examples.Packed with revealing trading case studies, examples, explanations, and definitions, this comprehensive work covers:

• Global directional macro, long/short macro, and macroeconomic arbitrage trading and investment strategies
• Causes of macroeconomic mispricings in markets; tackling secondary macroeconomic variables in trades
• The importance of technical timing in macro arbitrage
• Volatility of macro arbitrage strategies versus volatility of relative-value strategies
• Mispricing opportunities due to the effect of the Asian crisis on global markets
• Macro arbitrage of the EMU convergence mispricing in equity markets
• Mispricings of retail sales, GDP, industrial production, interest rates, and exchange rates in stock markets

In-depth and timely, Macro Trading and Investment Strategies covers an area of intense interest to today's trading and investment community and shows new opportunities. It is invaluable reading for those seeking new ways to tackle today's volatile global markets.

Look to the stars for a whole new approach to market cycle forecasting

"A Trader's Guide to Financial Astrology" is the definitive guide to trading market cycles based on astrological data. Written by a highly-respected technical analyst, this book makes the connection between the movements of planets and the volatility of the market. Readers can draw upon one hundred years of historical data as they learn how to spot correlations from the past, and refer to planetary and lunar data for the next five years as they shape their own strategy. The book covers the principles of astrological forecasting as applied to the financial markets, explaining what to watch for and how to interpret planetary and lunar activity, plus expert insight on everyday practical application.

A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta determined that the U.S. stock markets tend to be negatively affected by geomagnetic storms, and the Royal Bank of Scotland demonstrated that a trading system based on the phases of the moon would have outperformed the market. "A Trader's Guide to Financial Astrology" shows traders how to tap into the planetary forces that influence market activity. Readers will: Learn how planetary and lunar movements relate to the financial marketsDraw upon 100 years of historic correlations and five years of forecast dataForecast long-term and short-term activity based on planetary relationships and lunar movementEnter the markets at key turning points, using price patterns and other tools

When integrated with technical trading patterns, astrology can be an effective way of shifting perspective and approaching the market differently. For traders who have always wanted to know what to do when Mercury is in retrograde or the moon is new, "A Trader's Guide to Financial Astrology" provides information and insight from a leading market educator.

The digital transformation of finance and banking enables traditional services to be delivered in a more effective and efficient way but, at the same time, presents crucial issues such as fast growing new asset classes, new currencies, datafication and data privacy, algorithmization of law and regulation and, last but not least, new models of financial crime. This book approaches the evolution of digital finance from a business perspective and in a holistic way, providing cutting-edge knowledge of how the digital financial system works in its three main domains: banking, insurance and capital markets. It offers a bird's eye view of the major issues and developments in these individual sectors. The book begins by examining the wider framework of the subsequent analysis and over the next three parts, discusses the opportunities, risks and challenges facing the digitalization of these individual financial subsectors, highlighting the similarities and differences in their digitalization agenda, as well as the existing linkages and dependencies among them. The book clarifies the strategic issues facing the development of digital finance in these major subsectors over the coming years. The book has three key messages: that digital transformation changes fundamentally the way financial businesses operate; that individual trades have their own digitalization agenda; and that the State with its regulatory power and central banking and money has a particularly important role to play. It will be of interest to scholars, students and researchers of finance and banking, as well as policymakers wishing to understand the values and limitations of new forms of digital money.

Mergers & acquisitions are an essential instrument of strategic corporate management for companies of all sizes. The success of an M&A project highly depends on an optimal transaction preparation, fast execution and the experience of all parties involved. Due to numerous endogenous and exogenous influences, no two M&A transactions are alike at the detailed level. This book is designed as a practical M&A guide for students and professionals alike. In addition to dealing with important basics of mergers & acquisitions, the focus is on a structured and in-depth examination of the individual process steps of a typical company sale. At various points in this book, specific differences between a company sale of medium-sized companies (mid-caps) and large companies (large-caps) are discussed in detail.

Sixty-one percent of Canadians between the ages of 45 and 64 don't have a formal financial strategy. In The BAPKIN Plan, author and financial planner Gerard Hassprovides simple yet effective guidance for creating a financial plan to help you save, invest, and plan for retirement.

The BAPKIN Plan presents an easy-to-remember framework and explains the basic steps you can use to simplify and improve your life and your financial wellbeing. Offering checklists to help you organize your journey, this reference tool can guide you to a better understandingof what your financial adviser or planner is recommending--including the positive and negative features of potential investments. You'll learn how to

- develop a commitment to setting simple goals and to following a simple plan based on common sense;- commit to strategies to live within your means;- draft a statement of net worth and revisit it every year;- protect yourself with an emergency fund, line of credit, and insurances;- protect your loved ones by having life insurance coverage, a will, and powers of attorney;- understand how you are taxed and the importance of seeking professional help;- develop a personal pension plan strategy based on your life stage;- institute a disciplined investment strategy that will suit your objectives;and- work with the adviser who is a professional--not a salesman.

Communicating a wealth of information, Hass provides advice to help move you forward in your financial empowerment.

Praise for Investment Management

"A compelling analysis of the challenges of investment management, and why investment management firms require innovation to succeed."
--Blake Grossman, CEO, Barclays Global Investors

"Great investment managers understand that positioning portfolios for clients should not be an act of conformity, but rather a constant journey of shifting fundamentals and opinion. Wayne and Ralph bring this fact to life by addressing some of the key challenges to serious investment thinking, using top-level researchers in their respective fields. For those investment managers and clients who want to go beyond the ordinary."
--Jeff Diermeier, former CEO of CFA Institute and retired CIO of UBS Global Asset Management

"The essays in this book provide an invaluable reference point of serious readings for money managers. The works provide the analyst with the most recent scholarship in a single book, presenting ideas and philosophy that will lead me back to its various sections time and time again."
--Kenneth S. Hackel, CFA, President, CT Capital LLC

"The crash of 2007-2009 brought a harsh conclusion to a quarter of a century of unprecedented growth and prosperity for the investment management industry, which faces no less a task than reinventing itself. Rieves' and Wagner's contribution to the way forward couldn't be timelier."
--Richard Ennis, Principal, Ennis Knupp + Associates

"This book uniformly focuses on the best practices to which investment management professionals should commit. I highly recommend this book to investment managers, sales people, and trustees of pensions, endowments, trusts, and mutual funds."
--Jack Clark Francis, PhD, Professor of Economics and Finance, Bernard Baruch College

A proven approach to trading success based on the best commodity trading advisors

Profiting from long-term trends is the most common path to success for traders. The challenge is recognizing the emergence of a trend and determining where to enter and exit the market. "The Trend Following Bible" shows individual traders and investors how to profit from this approach by trading like today's top commodity trading advisors.

In this book, author Andrew Abraham stresses the importance of a disciplined, consistent methodology, with stringent risk controls, that allows you to catch big trends, while limiting losses on unprofitable trades. By trading in this manner, he shows you how to successfully achieve market-beating returns over the long term and multiple your trading capital along the way.Reveals exactly how top commodity trading advisors operate and how individuals can incorporate these methods into their everyday trading endeavorsAddresses key issues like position sizing and risk control, which are critical to trading success, but often underemphasized in other trading literatureHighlights how to effectively execute the trading strategies outlined

Engaging and accessible, "The Trend Following Bible" will put you in a better position to profit as you make more informed trading decisions.

This book offers an updated primer on the valuation of digital intangibles, a trending class of immaterial assets. Startups like successful unicorns, as well as consolidated firms desperately working to re-engineer their business models, are now trying to go digital and to reap higher returns by exploiting new intangibles. This book is innovative in its design and concept since it tackles a frontier topic with an original methodology, combining academic rigor with practical insights. Evaluation issues are increasingly based on an analytical comprehension of augmented business models and virtual function analysis, nurtured by real-time big data. The impact of digitalization on scalable business models is the main competitive advantage factor of the BigTechs and other Unicorns, representing a target for startups and the reengineering of traditional firms. The transition from the Internet to the metaverse represents the last frontier, showing how 3D virtual and augmented reality impacts social networking. The second edition of this book updates the contents of the first edition while comprehensively introduces these innovative topics--such as the metaverse, cloud storage, multi-sided digital platforms, ESG-compliance, and value co-creation patterns of digitized stakeholders--and demonstrates how best practices can be applied to specific asset appraisals, making it of interest to researchers, students, and practitioners alike.

Professional-level guidance on effectively trading ETFs in markets around the world The ETF Handbook is a comprehensive handbook for using Exchange Traded Funds, designed specifically for institutional investors and professional advisors seeking to improve ETF profitability. While ETFs trade like stocks, they are not stocks and the differences impact every aspect of their use. This book provides full guidance toward effectively monitoring, analyzing, and executing ETFs, including the technical details you won't find anywhere else. You'll learn how they work, where they fit, and who is using them, as well as the resources that exist to provide access for investors. This new second edition includes updated coverage on how business has moved from niche to mainstream, ETF performance and issuers around the world, and changes to the users of ETFs in the US. The companion website features instructional video, as well as ready-to-use spreadsheets for calculating NAV and IIV. Most of the literature surrounding ETFs is geared toward individual investors or traders, but this book is written from the professional perspective complete with the deeper mechanical information professionals require. * Learn the analysis and execution methods specific to ETFs * Discover why ETFs require a sophisticated level of skill * Consider how ETFs perform in different market environments * Examine the impact of managed ETF portfolio growth ETFs are incredibly flexible and valuable tools, but using them effectively demands a more sophisticated skillset, even among professional money managers and traders. Daily volumes and spreads do not tell the full story regarding availability and liquidity, and treating ETFs just like stocks can dramatically impact profits. The ETF Handbook is the professional's guide to the ETF markets worldwide with expert insight on the technical details that matter.

This book explores the volatility, efficiency and integration of stock markets in Islamic countries. It presents recent trends, growth and performance, before moving on to explore how patterns change during different business cycles for short-term and long-term investors, and ranks the efficiency of the various markets. It addresses how the level of market integration has been affected during different economic periods, and concludes by summarising the performance of the stock markets, suggesting potential future directions for these markets.

Supercharge options analytics and hedging using the power of Python Derivatives Analytics with Python shows you how to implement market-consistent valuation and hedging approaches using advanced financial models, efficient numerical techniques, and the powerful capabilities of the Python programming language. This unique guide offers detailed explanations of all theory, methods, and processes, giving you the background and tools necessary to value stock index options from a sound foundation. You'll find and use self-contained Python scripts and modules and learn how to apply Python to advanced data and derivatives analytics as you benefit from the 5,000+ lines of code that are provided to help you reproduce the results and graphics presented. Coverage includes market data analysis, risk-neutral valuation, Monte Carlo simulation, model calibration, valuation, and dynamic hedging, with models that exhibit stochastic volatility, jump components, stochastic short rates, and more. The companion website features all code and IPython Notebooks for immediate execution and automation. Python is gaining ground in the derivatives analytics space, allowing institutions to quickly and efficiently deliver portfolio, trading, and risk management results. This book is the finance professional's guide to exploiting Python's capabilities for efficient and performing derivatives analytics. * Reproduce major stylized facts of equity and options markets yourself * Apply Fourier transform techniques and advanced Monte Carlo pricing * Calibrate advanced option pricing models to market data * Integrate advanced models and numeric methods to dynamically hedge options Recent developments in the Python ecosystem enable analysts to implement analytics tasks as performing as with C or C++, but using only about one-tenth of the code or even less. Derivatives Analytics with Python Data Analysis, Models, Simulation, Calibration and Hedging shows you what you need to know to supercharge your derivatives and risk analytics efforts.

LTCM was the fund that was too big to fail, the brightest star in the financial world. Built on genius, by legends of Wall Street and two Nobel laureates, it spiralled to ever greater heights, commanding unimaginable wealth. When it fell to earth in Spetember 1998 it shook the world. This is the story of the rise and fall of LTCM and the legends behind it.
"Inventing Money is a brave and ambitious book....a highly readable account of a financial drama of the highest kind." The Independent
"Nicholas Dunbar's fascinating book is a well-writen chronicle of these events....a book to enjoy." Times Higher Educational Supplement
"A substantial primer on the history of financial theory, not least because of Mr Dunbar's knack for colourful parallels that illuminate his arguments." New York Times
"...not the last word on the subject, but it is a good start." The Economist
"Dunbar's is....a highly readable introduction to the origins of alternative strategies employed throughout the industry today." Portfolio International
"...a fascinating account of this spectacular episode." CIB News
"A well researched book...very readable." Investors Chronicle
"...a penetrating look at this enthralling story, stripping away the shroud of mystery surrounding the drama that rocked the financial world........Dunbar tells the full story of this most public of financial disasters, unveiling previously undisclosed information, in captivating and accessible terms." Euro Business
"...a fast moving and readable account that explains the development of finance over the centuries before recounting the brief but eventful life of LTCM. It gives a strong flavour of the people and the times, their resentments and motivations." Risk
"...an essential insight into the development of financial markets and the history of man's attempt to predict investor behaviour....It should be required reading for anyone considering investing in financial markets." Allianz Global Risk Report

Emerging economies have faced new challenges and opportunities in banking and finance in the post-crisis era under increasing uncertainty. This edited volume of International Finance Review contains original papers that examine rising challenges facing emerging financial markets and institutions. It covers issues such as global banking, risk and contagion, stock market behaviour, global financing for firms, and financial inclusion in the major emerging economies. Particular emphasis on banking is given to the impact of foreign banks on lending by domestic banks, bank loan pricing behaviour with corporate default risk, determinants of nonperforming loans and their macrofinancial implications, foreign bank activities of emerging market entry, international financial shock transmission through the foreign bank lending channel via internal capital markets, and spillover effects of global monetary shocks from an advanced to an emerging economy. Additional emphasis on stock market behaviour and financing is given to emerging stock markets under policy uncertainty from advanced economies, extended multifactor models for emerging stock markets, asymmetric volatility and herd behaviour in geopolitical crises, trade financing as an important cause of the recent trade collapse, determinants of capital structure, and social and financial inclusion in the major emerging markets. This volume also provides significant insight and important policy implications for market participants, researchers, and policy makers in emerging market finance.

Absent evidence to the contrary, it is usually assumed that US financial markets developed in spite of government attempts to regulate, and therefore laissez faire is the best approach for developing critically important and enduring market institutions. This book makes heavy use of extensive archival sources that are no longer publicly available to describe in detail the discussions inside the CBOT and the often private and confidential negotiations between industry leaders and government officials. This work suggests that, contrary to the accepted story, what we now know of as modern futures markets were heavily co-constructed through a meaningful long-term collaboration between a progressive CBOT leadership and an extremely knowledgeable and pragmatic US federal government. The industry leaders had a difficult time evolving the modern institutions in the face of powerful reactionary internal forces. Yet in the end the CBOT, by co-opting and cooperating with federal officials, led the exchange and Chicago markets in general to a near century of global dominance. On the federal government side, knowledgeable technocrats and inspired politicians led an information and analysis explosion while interacting with industry, both formally and informally, to craft better markets for all.

Federal Reserve monetary policy has a profound effect on the U.S. economy and consequently on investments. This unique book combines the institutional approach to monetary policy with the theories and principles involved in applying that knowledge to investing. Although there are many books on the Federal Reserve and a myriad of books on investing, this synthesis of institutional, theoretical, and practical applications is unique to the marketplace.

In part I, Laura Nowak reviews the political origins of the Federal Reserve and follows its growth into the powerful arbiter of U.S. economic policy today. The actual conduct and effects of monetary policy are then explained with an eye toward identifying changes in policy that can be applied to the investment world. In part II, the effects of monetary policies on stock and bond markets and on particular industires are discussed, followed by a description of the investment instruments that will be impacted by different policies. In conclusion, Nowak offers a chapter of suggestions for hedging against changes in monetary policy and another chapter describing the tools that can be used for this purpose. The book will be useful to investment professionals who are intimately involved in their own specialty but who want and need to understand how the system works so they can improve their performance and advise their clients with more knowledge and authority.

In China, aggregate investment levels have been high and the cycles of investment growth rate have been remarkable. In order to reveal the mechanisms which drive investment hunger and cycles, this book develops an integrated growth-cycle framework which integrates the standard theory of socialist economies, the distributive barrier-constrained growth theory of developing economies, and the recent technical progresses in the western business cycle theory. It also analyzes the evolutionary dynamics of China's state investment system and the policy trade-off between industrial expansion and agricultural development.

An engaging exploration of modern-day deals and deal-making

"Gods at War" details the recent deals and events that have forever changed the world of billion-dollar deal-making. This book is a whirlwind tour of the players determining the destiny of corporate America, including the government, private equity, strategic buyers, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds.

It not only examines many of the game-changing takeover events that have occurred in the past years, but also puts them into context and exposes what is really going on behind the scenes on Wall Street. "Gods at War" completely covers the strategic issues that guide the modern-day deal, and since they unfold under the shadow of the law, it also focuses on the legal aspects of deal-making and takeovers.Each chapter unfolds through the lens of a recent transaction, from the battle between Yahoo and Microsoft to the United Rental/Cerberus disputeProvides in-depth explanations and analysis of the events and actors that have shaped this fast-moving fieldExamines the federal government's regulation by deal approach to saving the financial system and explains the government's biggest "deals," including its bail-outs of AIG, Bank of America, and Citigroup

Filled with in-depth insights that will enhance your understanding of this field, "Gods at War" offers an engaging look at deals and deal-makers in the context of recent historical events. It's a book for those who want to understand deals, takeovers, and the people and institutions who shape our world.