Here is the first rigorous and accessible account of the mathematics behind the pricing, construction, and hedging of derivative securities. With... mathematical precision and in a style tailored for market practioners, the authors describe key concepts such as martingales, change of measure, and the Heath-Jarrow-Morton model. Starting from discrete-time hedging on binary trees, the authors develop continuous-time stock models (including the Black-Scholes method). They stress practicalities including examples from stock, currency and interest rate markets, all accompanied by graphical illustrations with realistic data. The authors provide a full glossary of probabilistic and financial terms.

This book covers the mathematics of time value of money and mortgages by developing both elegant and easy to follow mathematical models. It breaches the... gap between the derivation and application of the time value of money formula by exploring common applications in real estate, resource allocation (capital budgeting), and commercial loans. In most instances, a concept is introduced and a formula derived with the help of a time line diagram or a simple intuitive explanation. The general solution is immediately followed by an application, which clarifies exactly how the numbers fit into the sometimes complicated formula. In many cases, a slight twist is introduced to enable the reader to learn how to actually apply the formulas rather than just plugging in the numbers.

The indispensable guide to detecting and solving financial crime in the officeLow-level financial crimes are a fact of life in the modern workplace.... Individually these crimes are rarely significant enough to warrant the hiring of professional investigators, but if left unchecked, small crimes add up to big losses. In companies without dedicated fraud investigators, detecting and solving low-level crimes generally falls to managers and internal auditors. Financial Crime Investigation and Control offers tips, tools, and techniques to help professionals who lack investigative experience stem the tide of small financial crimes before it becomes a tsunami.Inside you'll find expert guidance on investigating and uncovering common types of fraud, including:* Credit card fraud* Consumer fraud* Kickbacks* Bid rigging* Inflated invoices* Inventory theft* Theft of cash* Travel and subsistence claims* Check fraud* ID fraud* Ghost employees* Misappropriation schemes* Computer-related crime* Financial statement fraud

In this newly revised and updated edition, Roy E. Allen documents and explains major financial instabilities and trends across the global economy since... the 1970s, including the crisis that began in 2008 and the long boom preceding it. The author expands our understanding of the most recent crisis using evolutionary and complex systems approaches, particularly ones that privilege the role of interactive knowledge and belief systems. Various large-scale economic crises are shown to be driven more by psychological and social constructs than is commonly understood. In both boom and bust, financial markets absorb money away from GDP uses; capital and wealth can be created, transferred, and destroyed across time and space more powerfully and independently of GDP processes than is commonly understood. The author also advances our understanding of the free-trade versus mercantilism debate by showing that the US economy has benefited from what he calls 'money-mercantilism' at the expense of other regions of the world. This learned yet accessible book will be of great value to a wide range of scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and interested observers of the global economy.

Focuses on financial decisions individuals face as they approach, reach, and pass retirement age and on the tools and techniques financial advisors may... employ to assist their clients with these decisions. Topics covered include the minimum distribution rules, Social Security, sources of retirement income (qualified and nonqualified plans, IRAs, SEPs, and SIMPLE[s]), investing, planning for pension distributions, and decisions on rolling over lump-sum pension distributions to IRAs. Provides extensive perspectives on dealing with the aging and retired clients and their families.

The market for financial derivatives is far and away the largest and most powerful market in the world, and it is growing exponentially. In 1970 the... yearly valuation of financial derivatives was only a few million dollars. By 1980 the sum had swollen to nearly one hundred million dollars. By 1990 it had climbed to almost one hundred billion dollars, and in 2000 it approached one hundred trillion. Created and sustained by a small number of European and American banks, corporations, and hedge funds, the derivatives market has an enormous impact on the economies of nations—particularly poorer nations—because it controls the price of money. Derivatives bought and sold by means of computer keystrokes in London and New York affect the price of food, clothing, and housing in Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, and Buenos Aires. Arguing that social theorists concerned with globalization must familiarize themselves with the mechanisms of a world economy based on the rapid circulation of capital, Edward LiPuma and Benjamin Lee offer a concise introduction to financial derivatives.LiPuma and Lee explain how derivatives are essentially wagers—often on the fluctuations of national currencies—based on models that aggregate and price risk. They describe how these financial instruments are changing the face of capitalism, undermining the power of nations and perpetrating a new and less visible form of domination on postcolonial societies. As they ask: How does one know about, let alone demonstrate against, an unlisted, virtual, offshore corporation that operates in an unregulated electronic space using a secret proprietary trading strategy to buy and sell arcane financial instruments? LiPuma and Lee provide a necessary look at the obscure but consequential role of financial derivatives in the global economy.

Financial Economics has quickly established itself as a strong and growing market. Introduction to Financial Economics by Frank Fabozzi, Ted Neave, and... Gaofu Zhou presents an introduction to basic financial ideas through a strong grounding in microeconomic theory. This calculus based text explores the theoretical framework for analyzing the decisions by individuals and managers of firms, and area which is common to both the financial economics and microeconomics. It also explores the interplay of these decisions on the prices of financial assets.

KEY BENEFIT: This significant new guide to finance has a broader scope and greater emphasis on general principles than most other books of its kind,... which typically focus exclusively on corporate finance. Acclaimed authors Bodie and Merton offer an approach balanced among the three "pillars" of finance–optimization over time, asset valuation, and risk management. KEY TOPICS: Encompasses all subfields of finance within a single unifying conceptual framework. Offers the "big picture" of resource allocation over time under conditions of uncertainty. Focuses on personal finance topics, such as saving and investing, as well as asset valuation. Provides spreadsheet modeling exercises in the accompanying Prentice Hall Finance Center CD. MARKET: Ideal for executives or for anyone seeking a solid understanding and overview of the field of finance.  

Like its predecessor, each unit in More Discussion Starters contains exercises that provide speaking interaction about a central topic or idea, and most... require students to work together in pairs or small groups to reach a conclusion about a topic. Though most of the topics in the text are serious (corporal punishment, abortion, and gun control), many others deal with lighter topics (humor and culture). The activities, tasks, and topics chosen for this book are real situations from all over the world.Most of the units in this book introduce a problem or controversial topic at the beginning of the unit. This is then followed by a series of exercises designed to prepare all of the students so that they can express their ideas at the next class meeting. A unit usually includes several kinds of oral fluency activities, such as problem-solving tasks, court cases, "finish the story," role plays, "put the story together," small group discussions, and oral presentations.

Financial economics is a fascinating topic where ideas from economics, mathematics and, most recently, psychology are combined to understand financial... markets. This book gives a concise introduction into this field and includes for the first time recent results from behavioral finance that help to understand many puzzles in traditional finance. The book is tailor made for master and PhD students and includes tests and exercises that enable the students to keep track of their progress. Parts of the book can also be used on a bachelor level. Researchers will find it particularly useful as a source for recent results in behavioral finance and decision theory.

"Financial Economics, Risk and Information" presents the fundamentals of finance in static and dynamic frameworks with focus on risk and information.... The objective of this book is to introduce undergraduate and first-year graduate students to the methods and solutions of the main problems in finance theory relating to the economics of uncertainty and information. The main goal of the second edition is to make the materials more accessible to a wider audience of students and finance professionals. The focus is on developing a core body of theory that will provide the student with a solid intellectual foundation for more advanced topics and methods. The new edition has streamlined chapters and topics, with new sections on portfolio choice under alternative information structures. The starting point is the traditional mean-variance approach, followed by portfolio choice from first principles. The topics are extended to alternative market structures, alternative contractual arrangements and agency, dynamic stochastic general equilibrium in discrete and continuous time, attitudes towards risk and towards inter-temporal substitution in discrete and continuous time; and, option pricing. In general, the book presents a balanced introduction to the use of stochastic methods in discrete and continuous time in the field of financial economics.

The recent global economic crisis has drawn a spotlight on the world of finance. Financial exchanges are changing, and this insightful, new book... examines the manner and reasons for these changes. Financial Exchanges: A Comparative Approach offers an in-depth analysis of this sector. Surveying thirty different financial exchanges, including stock, derivative, commodity and offshore exchanges, this book examines the challenges they face and the ways in which they are adapting. The book includes a pertinent chapter on the dominance of derivatives, examining a number of derivative exchanges in detail.   Taking in a host of international exchange powerhouses, including those in Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, New York and the Persian Gulf, this book will benefit students taking courses on financial markets and institutions, as well as professionals interested in international financial markets.