Part of a series which focuses on advances in futures and options research, this volume discusses a variety of topics in the field of advances in futures and options research.

Paul Mumford is a noted stock-picker with over 50 years' experience in the markets - first as a stock broker and then as a star fund manager. In The Stock Picker, Mumford takes a deeply personal look back at his time investing: exploring not only the secrets of his successful approach to the markets and how to find great shares but reminiscing about the changes that have taken place in the investing world since the early 1960s. This book is not an investing how-to: instead it is a financial history straight from the horse's mouth. While there is much for investors to learn from, it is an also evocative window into a vanished City of stock jobbers, messenger boys, luncheon vouchers and ledger-keepers - not to mention financial crises, booms and busts, and the life and death of companies great and small. Mumford also covers how his own personal life has influenced his stock-picking approach: from running his own bookmaking business as a schoolboy to an ill-fated attempt at oil painting at night school (not to mention the vibrant music scene of the late 1950s).The Stock Picker is a charming and readable autobiography that pulls no punches - ideal for any investor interested in what has made a leading fund manager tick, or who simply wants to spend some time nostalgically looking back at how the investing and wider world has changed over the years.

Based on a study covering a one-year financial reporting cycle at a commercial subsidiary of a well-known scientific research organization, Inside Accounting examines how accountants and non-accounting managers construct their company's earnings. Addressing issues in both internal management accounting, such as budgeting, performance evaluation, and control, as well as external financial accounting, such as book keeping, monthly/year end accounts and auditing, David Leung focuses on how people classify transactions, make professional judgments and use computer software for accounting, and prepare for and facilitate the auditing process. He also looks at accountancy training and the impact of people's affiliations to the accounting profession or other professions on their accounting and on their perceptions of financial statements. Other contingent or contextual factors that influence the choice of accounting method, such as time pressure, reward structures, management authority and institutions are also considered. David Leung's research employs an innovative blend of theory and practice that redresses the imbalance between ethnographic studies of financial accounting, and management accounting and helps close the gap between the academic curriculum and the experiences of practitioners. His research leads the author to conclude that no act of accounting classification is ever indefeasibly correct; that the accounting community's institutions and authority are central to the accounting process and to the 'truth and fairness' of accounting numbers; that accounting training involves extensive use of learning by doing; and that both accountants and non-accounting managers have goals and interests that often result in no better than 'good enough' accounting. This book will appeal to accounting and finance professionals and academics in finance, as well as to sociologists and academic researchers interested in research methods and science studies.

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.

1. Main Goals The theory of asset pricing has grown markedly more sophisticated in the last two decades, with the application of powerful mathematical tools such as probability theory, stochastic processes and numerical analysis. The main goal of this book is to provide a systematic exposition, with practical appli cations, of the no-arbitrage theory for asset pricing in financial engineering in the framework of a discrete time approach. The book should also serve well as a textbook on financial asset pricing. It should be accessible to a broad audi ence, in particular to practitioners in financial and related industries, as well as to students in MBA or graduate/advanced undergraduate programs in finance, financial engineering, financial econometrics, or financial information science. The no-arbitrage asset pricing theory is based on the simple and well ac cepted principle that financial asset prices are instantly adjusted at each mo ment in time in order not to allow an arbitrage opportunity. Here an arbitrage opportunity is an opportunity to have a portfolio of value aat an initial time lead to a positive terminal value with probability 1 (equivalently, at no risk), with money neither added nor subtracted from the portfolio in rebalancing dur ing the investment period. It is necessary for a portfolio of valueato include a short-sell position as well as a long-buy position of some assets.

The evaluation of IT and its business value are recently the subject of many academic and business discussions, as business managers, management consultants and researchers regularly question whether and how the contribution of IT to business performance can be evaluated effectively. Investments in IT are growing extensively and business managers worry about the fact that the benefits of IT investments might not be as high as expected. This phenomenon is often called the IT investment paradox or the IT Black Hole: larges sums are invested in IT that seem to be swallowed by a large black hole without rendering many returns. Information Systems Evaluation Management discusses these issues among others, through its presentation of the most current research in the field of IS evaluation. It is an area of study that touches upon a variety of types of businesses and organization essentially all those who involve IT in their business practices.

The convertible bond market has recently gained increasing significance on a global basis with particularly notable growth among very fast growing companies hungry for capital. Philip's Convertible Bond Markets is a comprehensive assessment of this market place, illustrating clearly how investors of all risk persuasions may best utilise the instrument. It will be of great interest both to academics and to professionals including equity fund managers, bond fund managers, 'swaps' teams, stock loan departments, risk controllers, treasurers and proprietary traders.

Energy Price Risk is the practitioner's guide to optimizing company performance using the correct price risk strategies and tools. Based on the author's extensive experience in the commodity derivatives industry, it comprehensively covers the full spectrum of the energy complex, including crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, LPG/LNG, and electricity. Using many worked examples, this book offers practical insights and solutions.

Probabilistic and percentile/quantile functions play an important role in several applications, such as finance (Value-at-Risk), nuclear safety, and the environment. Recently, significant advances have been made in sensitivity analysis and optimization of probabilistic functions, which is the basis for construction of new efficient approaches. This book presents the state of the art in the theory of optimization of probabilistic functions and several engineering and finance applications, including material flow systems, production planning, Value-at-Risk, asset and liability management, and optimal trading strategies for financial derivatives (options). Audience: The book is a valuable source of information for faculty, students, researchers, and practitioners in financial engineering, operation research, optimization, computer science, and related areas.

Critical Praise for Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings

"You will find lots of jewels in these pages that may do as much for you as they have for me."
–– Kenneth L. Fisher

"I sought out Phil Fisher after reading his Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings. When I met him, I was as impressed by the man as by his ideas. A thorough understanding of the business, obtained by using Phil’s techniques . . . enables one to make intelligent investment commitments."
–– Warren Buffett

"Little known to the public, rarely interviewed, and accepting few clients, Philip Fisher is nevertheless read and studied by most thoughtful investment professionals . . . everyone will profit from pondering–as Warren Buffett has done–the investment principles Fisher espouses."
–– James W. Michaels
former editor, Forbes

"My own copy [of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings] has underlinings and marginal thoughts throughout."
–– John Train
author of Dance of the Money Bees

Updated features include a new Preface and Introduction from Kenneth L. Fisher

Widely respected and admired, Philip Fisher is among the most influential investors of all time. His investment philosophies, introduced almost forty years ago, are not only studied and applied by today’s finance professionals, but are also regarded by many as gospel. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings reveals these timeless philosophies.

The analysis of investment decisions today draws upon a wide range of sources, from economics and finance to engineering economy and operations research. Dr. Beenhakker's book reflects this interdisciplinary approach, and without assuming prior knowledge of these fields or a sophisticated understanding of mathematics, provides professionals and upper-level students with the concepts and tools they need to make englightened investments in new ventures. Arranged to permit rapid review of an entire investment subject and written in a modular manner to allow readers to jump among chapters without losing their bearings, the book will help business managers deal intelligently with corporate financial and economic issues and government contracts. It will also help planners of the public sector incorporate the views of private industry in their own investment decision making. A unique, readable, comprehensive treatment for investment professionals and also for academics and their graduate-level students.

The analysis of investment decisions today draws upon a wide range of sources, from economics and finance to engineering economy and operations research. Dr. Beenhakker's book reflects this interdisciplinary approach, and without assuming prior knowledge of these fields or a sophisticated understanding of mathematics, provides professionals and upper-level students with the concepts and tools they need to make enlightened investments in new ventures. Arranged to permit rapid review of an entire investment subject and written in a modular manner to allow readers to jump among chapters without losing their bearings, the book will help business managers deal intelligently with corporate financial and economic issues and government contracts. It will also help planners of the public sector incorporate the views of private industry in their own investment decision making. A unique, readable, comprehensive treatment for investment professionals and also for academics and their graduate-level students.

Dr. Beenhakker begins with a study of financial statements and ratios, and covers annual reports, balance sheets, income and retained earnings statements, cash flow statements, and financial ratios. In Chapter 2 he looks at the valuation and investment problems when shares are under- or overvalued. He moves then to derivative securities, and in Chapter 4 to a discussion of diversification planning. In Chapter 5 he takes up the cost of capital, with special attention to risk, uncertainty, and certainty, and in Chapter 6 covers that and other topics in the context of project appraisal. Chapter 7 digs into programming and planning and covers topics such as the marginal cost of capital in capital budgeting, the optimal capital budget, capital rationing, and economic development plans. The book ends with a discussion of cost minimization problems, such as leasing and purchasing, replacement investments, expansion investments, decision trees, and the problem of how to ship quantities from supply to demand centers such that the total cost of transport is minimized. Five appendices provide readers with various tables and formulas to assist in their own calculations.

With the relaxation of capital controls in a large number of developed and developing countries and the globalization of capital markets, economies of emerging markets have attracted a great deal of attention. The objective of this book is to better understand the economic characteristics and shortcomings of emerging markets and provide a discussion of some of the policies which may have to be adopted in conjunction with financial reforms in developing countries in order to reduce the risk of another financial crisis. The book includes case study material.

Why do some companies stay out of stock markets? How crucial are stock markets for competition between financial centres? How can local information help investors outperform the market?
While mainstream financial economics treats stock markets as consisting of anonymous actors interacting in space, with no consideration of the friction caused by distance or geography, this book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the global stock market by focusing on the relationships between issuers, investors, and intermediaries, and how these relationships impact on the performance of stock markets and the economy of cities, countries, and the world.
The book uses rich data and global case studies to examine the rise of emerging markets, the impact of the global financial crisis, the revolution in the stock exchange business model, and the continued dominance of London and New York as stock market centres.
Drawing on economic geography, financial economics, sociology, history, and globalization studies, the book explores the geographical constitution and footprint of stock markets and contributes to the broader debate on the role of stock markets in the global economy. Its conclusions are relevant to investors, companies issuing stocks, exchanges, analysts, investment banks, and policy-makers.

Eschewing a more theoretical approach, Portfolio Optimization shows how the mathematical tools of linear algebra and optimization can quickly and clearly formulate important ideas on the subject. This practical book extends the concepts of the Markowitz "budget constraint only" model to a linearly constrained model.

Only requiring elementary linear algebra, the text begins with the necessary and sufficient conditions for optimal quadratic minimization that is subject to linear equality constraints. It then develops the key properties of the efficient frontier, extends the results to problems with a risk-free asset, and presents Sharpe ratios and implied risk-free rates. After focusing on quadratic programming, the author discusses a constrained portfolio optimization problem and uses an algorithm to determine the entire (constrained) efficient frontier, its corner portfolios, the piecewise linear expected returns, and the piecewise quadratic variances. The final chapter illustrates infinitely many implied risk returns for certain market portfolios.

Drawing on the author 's experiences in the academic world and as a consultant to many financial institutions, this text provides a hands-on foundation in portfolio optimization. Although the author clearly describes how to implement each technique by hand, he includes several MATLAB programs designed to implement the methods and offers these programs on the accompanying CD-ROM.

This study provides a timely and useful benchmark for analysis of the effects of the recently negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement on investment flows. It also presents a unified history of foreign investment in Canada, Mexico, and the United States over the twentieth century, stressing interactions among these countries and their changing policies towards inward and outward investment. Twomey analyzes economic theories of foreign investment from the perspectives of neoclassical economics and political science and places them in the context of the ongoing debate over neo-protectionist policies and the role of the United States in the global economy.

The advent of new stock markets (the German Neuer Markt, the French Nouveau March??, the Italian Nuovo Mercato and Nasdaq Europe) has been one of the most important reforms of stock exchanges in Continental Europe in the 1990s. These stock markets aimed at attracting early stage, innovative and high-growth firms that would not have been viable candidates for public equity financing on the main markets of European stock exchanges. Of these new markets, the Neuer Markt emerged as Europe's answer to NASDAQ. However, Europe's new stock markets met with only limited success. Stock prices plummeted after the ending of the stock market bubble and new markets suffered from poor liquidity, insider trading scandals and accounting frauds. This volume provides an overview of the rise and fall of Europe's new stock markets. It contains twelve papers which investigate the characteristics, the ownership structure and the market performance of companies in the short and long run, In addition this volume examines the role of venture capitalists. New stock markets offered venture capitalists an attractive exit for their investments and helped to create a more vibrant venture capital industry in Europe. The private equity market in Europe today is as large as it was just before the advent of new stock markets. As such, the need for stock markets that allow private equity investors to divest their equity stakes in growth companies continues to exist.

Master the lucrative discipline of quantitative trading with this insightful handbook from a master in the field In the newly revised Second Edition of Quantitative Trading: How to Build Your Own Algorithmic Trading Business, quant trading expert Dr. Ernest P. Chan shows you how to apply both time-tested and novel quantitative trading strategies to develop or improve your own trading firm. You'll discover new case studies and updated information on the application of cutting-edge machine learning investment techniques, as well as: Updated back tests on a variety of trading strategies, with included Python and R code examples A new technique on optimizing parameters with changing market regimes using machine learning. A guide to selecting the best traders and advisors to manage your money Perfect for independent retail traders seeking to start their own quantitative trading business, or investors looking to invest in such traders, this new edition of Quantitative Trading will also earn a place in the libraries of individual investors interested in exploring a career at a major financial institution.

The taxation of equity derivatives and financial products is analyzed in detail by Tony Rumble and his contributors, Mohammed Amin and Ed Kleinbard. The book covers the financial and tax technical analysis of issues relating to equity derivatives and financial products. Part I examines the derivatives building blocks and financial market/corporate finance drivers of the equity derivatives and financial products market, and includes case studies of typical and landmark transactions. Part II looks at the tax technical rules in each of the target countries and examines the specific products highlighted in the first part of the book.

Since financial myths exploded in the 1980s, the perspective of time creates a unique opportunity to update and expand the analysis begun in Glenn Yagos 1991 book, Junk Bonds: How High Yield Securities Restructured Corporate America (Oxford University Press). At the time of its publication, Junk Bonds drew controversial responses from the Federal Reserve and government agencies. In retrospect, the evidence clearly casts favorable light on the role of high yield securities. The research presented here demonstrates how financial innovations enabled capital access for industrial restructuring, capital and labor productivity gains, and improved global competitiveness. Enough time has now passed to allow this dispassionate empirical analysis to shear away the hype and hysteria that surrounded the Wall Street scandals, Washington controversies, and media frenzy of the time.

Beyond Junk Bonds provides a one-stop data, reference and case study presentation of the firms and securities in the contemporary high yield market and the financial innovations that spurred growth in the nineties and will continue to finance the future. The high yield market incubated successive waves of financial technologies that now proliferate beyond junk bonds to all the dimensions and dynamics of global debt and equity capital markets. It charts the recovery of the market in the 1990s, the recent wave of fallen angels, distressed credits and defaults, and suggests how the high yield market will be recreated in the global market of the 21st century. It explicates the linkages between the high yield market, and other credit and equity markets in managing a firms capital structure to execute its business strategy. The weakening of the U. S. economy in 2001 and the huge shock to Wall Street from the terrorist attacks of September 11 witnessed a historic increase in the yield to maturity of high yield bonds. Despite the volatility in the flow of funds to high yield mutual funds and occasionally sharp increases in non-investment grade debt yields, the asset class has been one of the best performing fixed income investments of the past decades. In fact, high yield bonds offer an attractive risk-reward ratio competitive with more traditional asset classes.

Anyone active in corporate finance, financial institutions and capital markets will find this book a must read for interpreting and understanding the recent history both of the high yield marketplace and its interaction with private equity, public equity, and fixed income markets. This new perspective recalling the ten years after the explosion of financial myths in the 1980's offers a unique opportunity to update and continue the arguments that were presented in Glen Yago's 1991 book, Junk Bonds: How High Yield Securities Restructured Corporate America. Beyond Junk Bonds provides a comprehensive presentation of the firms and securities represented in the high yield market. In addition, there are examples of the firms and institutions who are benefitting from the "new cycle", both in the US and abroad.

Bankers in Japan and China are masters of accounting, not risk management, and American-style rescue packages won't solve their banking crises. Cleaning up balance sheets and purging non-performing loans won't work either, say Arayama and Mourdoukoutas. The problem goes deeper. It stems from high growth environments and tight government regulation. The result has been to limit competition in Japan and eliminate it in China. And that led to the control of management behavior, which weakened incentives for Japanese and Chinese bank decision-makers to manage, hands-on, their traditional and nontraditional banking risks. Adding to the problem is rationed credit, reflecting MITI and MOF priorities in Japan and those set by the central planning authorities in China. Japanese bankers have been turned into experts on the abacus, the ancient calculator, but they have little experience with or understanding of the other more important aspects of the banking enterprise. Arayama and Mourdoukoutas lay it all out in a challenging, provocative, readable study and analysis. It is an essential resource for academicians and policymakers in business, government, and international finance and investment.

Arayama and Mourdoukoutas make it clear that Japanese and Chinese bankers must learn how to behave as for-profit institutions, where managers are accountable to the owners and other stakeholders. Second, they must be freed from government directives (in China) and guidance (in Japan) that control their day-to-day operations, and which restrict freedom to develop new products and businesses. Third, Japanese and Chinese bank managers must learn to act as true bankers. They must learn how to manage credit risk and function as public trading corporations. They must also learn how to deal with transparency and full disclosure rules and regulations, just as their Western counterparts must and do. In other words, say the authors, bank managers must escape the abacus mentality and learn how to use their brains rather than their fingers... and that may take much longer than anxious Western observers would have expected.