Showing posts with label securities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label securities. Show all posts

Straight Through Processing for Financial Services: The Complete Guide (Complete Technology Guides for Financial Services) Review

Straight Through Processing for Financial Services: The Complete Guide (Complete Technology Guides for Financial Services)
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I wanted a book that I could use as a quick reference. I'm in the industry and wanted something I could reference and lend to team members. The book is pretty light on detail. On the technology side it doesn't offer much more than a quick google would uncover. It has some good sections but for the money I wouldn't recommend to others.

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As economic and regulatory pressures drive financial institutions to seek efficiency gains by improving the quality of their trading processes and systems, firms are devoting increasing amounts of capital to maintaining their competitive edge. Straight-Through Processing (STP), which automates every step in the trading system, is the most effective way for firms to remain competitive. According to the Securities Industry Association, the US securities industry will spend $8 billion to implement STP initiatives, and 99% percent of this investment will be made in systems internal to the firm. Straight-Through Processing for Financial Services: The Complete Guide provides the knowledge and tools required by operations managers and systems architects to develop and implement STP processing systems that streamline business processes to maintain competitiveness in the market.* Learn the tools and techniques for developing software systems and for streamlining business processes* Keep up to date and well informed in this highly regulated and ever changing market* Gain the knowledge and experience for a leading consultant in the field

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Exotic Options Trading (The Wiley Finance Series) Review

Exotic Options Trading (The Wiley Finance Series)
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This book is an excellent resource and expose of most exotic options traded around the globe. It cuts to the really essential parts of the options quickly. No in-depth math analysis. De Weert lists the essential formulas and payoff functions in a readable and understandable format. He also gives some practical hints and explains some pitfalls one should be aware of. Both traders and quants will find this an excellent reference.

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Written by an experienced trader and consultant, Frans de Weert's Exotic Options Trading offers a risk-focused approach to the pricing of exotic options. By giving readers the necessary tools to understand exotic options, this book serves as a manual to equip the reader with the skills to price and risk manage the most common and the most complex exotic options.

De Weert begins by explaining the risks associated with trading an exotic option before dissecting these risks through a detailed analysis of the actual economics and Greeks rather than solely stating the mathematical formulae. The book limits the use of mathematics to explain exotic options from an economic and risk perspective by means of real life examples leading to a practical interpretation of the mathematical pricing formulae.

The book covers conventional options, digital options, barrier options, cliquets, quanto options, outperformance options and variance swaps, and explains difficult concepts in simple terms, with a practical approach that gives the reader a full understanding of every aspect of each exotic option. The book also discusses structured notes with exotic options embedded in them, such as reverse convertibles, callable and puttable reverse convertibles and autocallables and shows the rationale behind these structures and their associated risks.

For each exotic option, the author makes clear why there is an investor demand; explains where the risks lie and how this affects the actual pricing; shows how best to hedge any vega or gamma exposure embedded in the exotic option and discusses the skew exposure.

By explaining the practical implications for every exotic option and how it affects the price, in addition to the necessary mathematical derivations and tools for pricing exotic options, Exotic Options Trading removes the mystique surrounding exotic options in order to give the reader a full understanding of every aspect of each exotic option, creating a useable tool for dealing with exotic options in practice.
"Although exotic options are not a new subject in finance, the coverage traditionally afforded by many texts is either too high level or overly mathematical. De Weert's exceptional text fills this gap superbly. It is a rigorous treatment of a number of exotic structures and includes numerous examples to clearly illustrate the principles. What makes this book unique is that it manages to strike a fantastic balance between the theory and actual trading practice. Although it may be something of an overused phrase to describe this book as compulsory reading, I can assure any reader they will not be disappointed."
—Neil Schofield, Training Consultant and author of Commodity Derivatives: Markets and Applications

"Exotic Options Trading does an excellent job in providing a succinct and exhaustive overview of exotic options. The real edge of this book is that it explains exotic options from a risk and economical perspective and provides a clear link to the actual profit and pricing formulae. In short, a must read for anyone who wants to get deep insights into exotic options and start trading them profitably."
—Arturo Bignardi

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Options for the Stock Investor: How to Use Options to Enhance and Protect Returns Review

Options for the Stock Investor: How to Use Options to Enhance and Protect Returns
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I recently added "Options for the Stock Investor" to my financial trading and investment library, hoping it would keep its promise describing it as logically written in a systematic and straightforward manner. I'm pleased to say it HASN'T DISAPPOINTED.
Unfortunately, this book hasn't received the attention it deserves among the many books devoted primarily to intermediate options traders/investors. I've always felt that options were explained in a much too "matter of fact" manner, where the most practical information is inadvertently ignored, obscured or non-existent.
Anyone trying to learn stock options is arguably bombarded by fearful information and disorganized, incomplete explanations. This short but concentrated book cuts through the many counterintuitive aspects and implicit contradictions involving stock options.
Beginners need only go to the Investopedia and similar sites on the internet to reinforce the Introduction and supplement their exposure to the language of options.
I've seen some of the worst. This book ranks highly among the best.

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McGraw-Hill's classic options bestseller, Options for theStock Investor, has been updated to reflect changes in theoptions market. This extensively revised second edition featuresall-new material describing electronic trading, decimalization,and single stock futures, along with increasinglypopular vehicles such as stock indexes, LEAPs, and exchangetradedfunds. The CD-ROM contains all-new OP-EVAL IIsoftware, which eliminates guesswork while providing handsoninformation on spreads, position Greeks, and "what-if"forecasting and graphing features.


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Global Derivatives Debacles: From Theory to Malpractice Review

Global Derivatives Debacles: From Theory to Malpractice
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Professor Jacque provides a detailed and in depth explanation of derivatives, what they are, how they are used, and how they have been abused and their part in spectacular debacles over the last 50 years. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand derivatives and their potential for benefit or peril. Despite the complex nature of the topic, the presentation is straightforward, clear, and exceptionally easy to follow. I highly recommend this terrific book.

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This book analyzes in depth all major derivatives debacles of the last half century including the multi-billion losses and/or bankruptcy of Metallgesellschaft (1994), Barings Bank (1995), Long Term Capital Management (1998), Amaranth (2006), Société Générale (2008) and AIG (2008). It unlocks the secrets of derivatives by telling the stories of institutions which played in the derivative market and lost big. For some of these unfortunate organizations it was daring but flawed financial engineering which brought them havoc. For others it was unbridled speculation perpetrated by rogue traders whose unchecked fraud brought their house down.
Should derivatives be feared as financial weapons of mass destruction or hailed as financial innovations which through efficient risk transfer are truly adding to the Wealth of Nations? By presenting a factual analysis of how the malpractice of derivatives played havoc with derivative end-user and dealer institutions, a case is made for vigilance not only to market and counter-party risk but also operational risk in their use for risk management and proprietary trading. Clear and recurring lessons across the different stories call not only for tighter but also smarter control system of derivatives trading and should be of immediate interest to financial managers, bankers, traders, auditors and regulators who are directly or indirectly exposed to financial derivatives.
The book groups cases by derivative category, starting with the simplest and building up to the most complex namely, Forwards, Futures, Options and Swaps in that order, with applications in commodities, foreign exchange, stock indices and interest rates. Each chapter deals with one derivative debacle, providing a rigorous and comprehensive but non-technical elucidation of what happened.

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McMillan on Options, Second Edition (Wiley Trading) Review

McMillan on Options, Second Edition (Wiley Trading)
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As a ROP (registered Options principal) I feel I am uniquely qualified to review this book. First, understand that Larry McMillan is considered by many to be the best options mind on Wall Street (sorry Bernie Schaeffer). His knowledge of this less-than-logical derivative investment is the equivalent of Alan Greenspan's knowledge of the economy.
My assessment: this is a good book. McMillan covers virtually every aspect of options trading: history, terms, strategies, volatility, theoretical approaches, etc. I am particularly impressed by Larry's use of historical examples to bring complicated strategies down to basic levels.
This is not to say this is an easy read. An easy investment read is Peter Lynch's "One Up on Wall Street". McMillan on Options is more like a doctor's guide to brain surgery: the pictures are cool but the content can be complicated. Topics covered include spreads (verts, calendar, diagonal), straddles, combos, the greeks (delta, rho, theta, vega and gamma) and strategies that employ these. If volatility is your life, and you hold a hefty position in Rolaids futures, then this book is for you. I have not read a more comprehensive, useable options book. I believe all options traders and speculators should own McMillan on Options.

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Legendary trader Larry McMillan does it-again-offering his personal options strategies for consistently enhancing trading profits
Larry McMillan's name is virtually synonymous with options. This "Trader's Hall of Fame" recipient first shared his personal options strategies and techniques in the original McMillan on Options. Now, in a revised and Second Edition, this indispensable guide to the world of options addresses a myriad of new techniques and methods needed for profiting consistently in today's fast-paced investment arena. This thoroughly new Second Edition features updates in almost every chapter as well as enhanced coverage of many new and increasingly popular products. It also offers McMillan's personal philosophy on options, and reveals many of his previously unpublished personal insights. Readers will soon discover why Yale Hirsch of the Stock Trader's Almanac says, "McMillan is an options guru par excellence."

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Securities Operations: A Guide to Trade and Position Management Review

Securities Operations: A Guide to Trade and Position Management
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I am just about finished the book and have found it to be an excellent guide, precise and well written. As an `IT Person' who has steadily moved closer to the business over the years and hence the need to understand how things `work' it has allowed me to consolidate and confirm my understanding of the key areas. Although I have a number of years experience, particularly from the custodian side, this has allowed me to fully appreciate the full process. The examples that run throughout the book that explains the concepts presented are superb and ensure a firm understanding of the subject area

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The only comprehensive account of operational risk in securities settlementsSecurities Operations focuses on the settlement aspects of a securities transaction. As financial analysts make a greater effort toward quantifying and managing operational risk, they are paying more attention to securities transactions in general and to the settlement phase in particular. While describing the practical issues, this book enumerates the different "back office" related risks potentially encountered throughout the settlement. Simmons also covers more advanced topics such as derivatives, trade compensation, internal allocation of funding costs, and operational performance measurement.Michael Simmons (London, UK) is currently Head of Business Consultancy at Wilco International, a major software systems provider to the financial markets.Over the years, financial professionals around the world have looked to the Wiley Finance series and its wide array of bestselling books for the knowledge, insights, and techniques that are essential to success in financial markets. As the pace of change in financial markets and instruments quickens, Wiley Finance continues to respond. With critically acclaimed books by leading thinkers on value investing, risk management, asset allocation, and many other critical subjects, the Wiley Finance series provides the financial community with information they want. Written to provide professionals and individuals with the most current thinking from the best minds in the industry, it is no wonder that the Wiley Finance series is the first and last stop for financial professionals looking to increase their financial expertise.

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Harmonic Trading, Volume One: Profiting from the Natural Order of the Financial Markets Review

Harmonic Trading, Volume One: Profiting from the Natural Order of the Financial Markets
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This book was written to clarify and specifically define the chart patterns used in the Harmonic Trading methodology. These chart patterns use Fibonacci analysis to find price structures that could signal reversals of trends. The author says that these patterns require active management like all trading.The trader must take entries at the reversal confirmation and stop losses if the pattern reversal is not profitable but reverses and continues the trend. This book is an introduction to the Harmonic Trading methodology with pages of chart after chart of real life examples of the Bat, Crab, Butterfly, AB=CD pattern, and the Gartley. The patterns are measured precisely using Fibonacci alignments. This book is a counter trend trading book using price action only to determine technical buy points at possible reversals. I have never been a Fibonacci trader and know of no one who has had success with its patterns. I myself am a trend trader and this book did not convince me to change. I really like to have some examples of real profitable trade specifics, win/lose percentages, or an idea of how much real money someone has made from a trading method. But that is just my opinion.

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The Definitive Introduction to Harmonic Trading--By the Originator of This Approach, Scott Carney!"I have always found it fascinating that, in the field of securities analysis, so few important gains have been made in the body of knowledge since the 1920s and 1930s. There are a small number of modern-day pioneers among us who must be sought out. Scott Carney is one of those pioneers who has devoted himself to the task of uncovering the hidden logic in the movements of the markets. Harmonic Trading: Volume 1 provides a system of critical decision-making based on the natural order of life, which allows investors to replace emotions and guesswork with logic and symmetry so necessary to becoming a successful investor." -- PAUL DESMOND, President of Lowry Research Corporation"I am well aware of the author's dedication and degree of excellence in his work. Scott has not only thoroughly researched and covered the subject well, he has taken that most important step of showing you how to use these tools and apply them to your trading and investing. I currently oversee the management of more than $3 billion in assets using a technical model. I know firsthand that a trading methodology that does not have buy, sell, and trade-up rules will never be successful. Every effort needs to be made to make the process free of subjectivity. Harmonic Trading will help you organize your trading and keep you in sync with the markets. No one has done this better than Scott." --GREG MORRIS, Chief Technical Analyst, Stadion Money Management, and author of Candlestick Charting Explained and The Complete Guide to Market Breadth IndicatorsHarmonic Trading creator Scott Carney unveils the entire methodology to turn patterns into profits. These strategies consistently identify the price levels and market turning points that reveal the natural order within the chaos of the financial markets. Analogous to the predictable behavior of many of life's natural processes, Harmonic Trading examines similar relationships within the financial markets to define profitable opportunities in an unprecedented manner. Carney introduces new discoveries such as the Bat pattern, Alternate AB=CD structures, the 0.886 retracement, and more. These strategies are entirely new to the trading community, and they represent a profound advancement beyond all other Fibonacci methodologies!After you've discovered how to identify harmonic patterns, Carney presents a complete methodology for applying them in trade execution and handling them throughout the entire trade management process. From savage bear to rampaging bull, Harmonic Trading can be employed in all markets--equities, currencies, commodities, and foreign markets--for both short- and long-term timeframes.

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Starting Out in Futures Trading Review

Starting Out in Futures Trading
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For the price this is a great book to learn and help understand the specifics that make up all the basics in trading commodity-futures. After reading this book, I felt as if I had taken a formal college course on the subject of Futures and understood it much better from various angles now. There's no "hype" in the book, no agendas, no further products or services to buy being pitched to you, just plain vanilla (ok, french vanilla) basics being laid out for you in textbook fashion for you to digest in your own terms. I like that - it's refreshing in a way. It is probably like this because it was really written 20+ years ago (don't worry, it's been revised many times to be modernized - 5th edition, 1993). The book was originally written and printed in "Commodities" magazine as a popular mini-course series (before the magazine changed it's name to the modern "Futures" magazine we know it as today). Even though I knew much of the content from personal experience (the most costly way) or from other readings, my CTA, etc, I did not always understand the "why" behind the rules I was following & how the markets work the way they do from both a technical and fundmental perspective (dynamics). Of the some 28 chapters, I really took interest in almost every one. I can't say that about most of the other trading books I've read. Put it this way... if I could keep only 5 trading books, this would be one of them. You'll likely dump more than that on the commissions for 1 trade - or, worse yet, even more than that on 1 bad trade. ** Beginners, I recommend the following: If your goal is to have deeper pockets from trading - then you must first go deeper in your understanding of futures markets & trading them (i.e. Read the book).

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One of the best-known futures traders explains how to trade for profit in today's global futures marketplace
Look into the bookcase of any successful futures trader, and odds are you'll find a worn, well-used copy of Mark Powers's Starting Out In Futures Trading. In this new edition—the best-selling book's first update since 1993—Powers reflects on the many new forces that are shaping the industry. From new rules and regulations to the emergence of electronic trading and the Internet, Powers's unquestioned knowledge and experience cover all the key basics in the world of futures trading—and show traders from novice to veteran how to profit in that world.
The perfect starting point for a new trader, and a valuable refresher for anyone, Starting Out In Futures Trading, Sixth Edition, covers:
How to choose a broker and place an order
The increased importance of stock indices
New research, rules, and regulations

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