This unique book on the basics of option pricing is mathematically accurate and yet accessible to readers with limited mathematical training. It will appeal to professional traders as well as undergraduates studying the basics of finance. The author assumes no prior knowledge of probability, and offers clear, simple explanations of arbitrage, the Black-Scholes option pricing formula, and other topics such as utility functions, optimal portfolio selections, and the capital assets pricing model. Among the many new features of this second edition are: a new chapter on optimization methods in finance; a new section on Value at Risk and Conditional Value at Risk; a new and simplified derivation of the Black-Scholes equation, together with derivations of the partial derivatives of the Black-Scholes option cost function and of the computational Black-Scholes formula; three different models of European call options with dividends; a new, easily implemented method for estimating the volatility parameter.

Finance is one of the fastest growing areas in the modern banking and corporate world. This, together with the sophistication of modern financial products, provides a rapidly growing impetus for new mathematical models and modern mathematical methods; the area is an expanding source for novel and relevant 'real-world' mathematics. In this book the authors describe the modelling of financial derivative products from an applied mathematician's viewpoint, from modelling through analysis to elementary computation. A unified approach to modelling derivative products as partial differential equations is presented, using numerical solutions where appropriate. Some mathematics is assumed, but clear explanations are provided for material beyond elementary calculus, probability, and algebra. Over 140 exercises are included. This volume will become the standard introduction to this exciting new field for advanced undergraduate students.

内容简介 金融工程是现代金融学的最新发展，标志着金融科学走向产品化和工程化。本书正是一部系统、全 面介绍这一新兴学科的名著。作者约翰・马歇尔（JohnF.Marshall）是国际金融工程师协会执行主席，金 融工程学科的创始人之一。 全书共分五篇二十七章，分别讲述了金融工程发展的基本概况、金融工程师所必备的概念性工具和 实体性工具、金融工程的手段和策略以及金融工程的未来发展前景。 该书适合高等院校金融专业及相关专业师生、金融理论研究者或爱好者、金融领域工作者阅读。

This book serves as the standard reference for fixed income portfolio managers. Despite their conservative nature, fixed income instruments are among the investment industry's most complex and potentially risky investments. "Fixed Income Mathematics" is recognized worldwide as the essential professional reference for understanding the concepts and evaluative methodologies for bonds, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and other fixed income instruments. This fully revised and updated fourth edition features all-new illustrations of the future and present value of money, with appendices on continuous compounding and new sections and chapters addressing risk measures, cash flow characteristics of credit-sensitive mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, and more.

The scientific study of complex systems has transformed a wide range of disciplines in recent years, enabling researchers in both the natural and social sciences to model and predict phenomena as diverse as earthquakes, global warming, demographic patterns, financial crises, and the failure of materials.In this book, Didier Sornette boldly applies his varied experience in these areas to propose a simple, powerful, and general theory of how, why, and when stock markets crash. Most attempts to explain market failures seek to pinpoint triggering mechanisms that occur hours, days, or weeks before the collapse. Sornette proposes a radically different view: the underlying cause can be sought months and even years before the abrupt, catastrophic event in the build-up of cooperative speculation, which often translates into an accelerating rise of the market price, otherwise known as a "bubble." Anchoring his sophisticated, step-by-step analysis in leading-edge physical and statistical modeling techniques, he unearths remarkable insights and some predictions - among them, that the "end of the growth era" will occur around 2050.Sornette probes major historical precedents, from the decades-long "tulip mania" in the Netherlands that wilted suddenly in 1637 to the South Sea Bubble that ended with the first huge market crash in England in 1720, to the Great Crash of October 1929 and Black Monday in 1987, to cite just a few. He concludes that most explanations other than cooperative self-organization fail to account for the subtle bubbles by which the markets lay the groundwork for catastrophe. Any investor or investment professional who seeks a genuine understanding of looming financial disasters should read this book. Physicists, geologists, biologists, economists, and others will welcome "Why Stock Markets Crash" as a highly original "scientific tale," as Sornette aptly puts it, of the exciting and sometimes fearsome - but no longer quite so unfathomable - world of stock markets.

在线阅读本书 Book Description Human existence is based upon risk. This text charts the adventures of a group of thinkers who embarked on a voyage of intellectual discovery, transforming primeval superstition into the powerful tools of risk control employed today. Amazon.com With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking. From Publishers Weekly Risk management, which assumes that future risks can be understood, measured and to some extent predicted, is the focus of this solid, thoroughgoing history. Probability theory, pioneered by 17th-century French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, has made possible the design of great bridges, electric power utilities and insurance policies. The statistical sampling methods invented by dour Swiss scientist Jacob Bernoulli undergird diverse activities such as the testing of new drugs, stock-picking and wine tasting. Bernstein (Capital Ideas) animates his narrative with a colorful cast of risk-analyzers, including gambling addict Girolamo Cardano, 16th-century Italian physician to the Pope; and John Maynard Keynes, whose concerns over economic uncertainty compelled him to recommend an active, interventionist role for government. Bernstein also traces the development of business forecasting, game theory, insurance and derivatives, and surveys recent advances in risk forecasting made possible through chaos theory and by the development of neural networks. From Library Journal For several centuries, mathematics has been the language of the exact sciences. Only in the 20th century has mathematics become predominant in other fields, particularly economics and finance. In this book, Bernstein (Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street, LJ 12/91), head of an economic consulting firm, traces the development of probability theory from its beginnings in analyzing games of chance, through its application to statistical theory and insurance, up to its present use in developing investment strategies to control risk. He includes excellent sections on portfolio analysis and on investments in derivatives. Bernstein clearly describes the people, their work, and the events that have revolutionized the thinking on Wall Street. A worthwhile acquisition for business and math collections. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Harold D. Shane, Baruch Coll., CUNY From Booklist Bernstein's lively history chronicles a profound transformation in attitudes about the future. How one's fate changed from depending less on capricious outcomes and more on predictable ones forms the backbone of the narrative. His central characters are mathematicians who began pondering the statistics of gambling, or gamblers pondering the risks of gambling: about one sixteenth-century polymath, Girolamo Cardano, Bernstein writes that his "credentials as a gambling addict alone would justify his appearance in the history of risk," and that comment is typical of Bernstein's engaging presentation. Amid his recounting of the insights into probability from Pascal to Keynes, he touches on an array of modern fields in which risk analysis is crucial--insurance, commodities futures, stock markets, and that old standard, gambling. This cornucopia of biographical sketches, mathematical examples, and reflections on the nature of human expectations about the future faces little risk of idling in libraries; patrons of the business section might be keenest to read it. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Gilbert Taylor From AudioFile Jesse Boggs honed his expressive, laid-back vocal style narrating his own award-winning documentaries. Here, as reader and abridger, he goes a long way to clarify Bernstein's convoluted theory of risk management. His careful phrasing also brings into high relief the sweeping generalizations and questionable axioms that give pause to the analytic listener. Only in this careful frame of mind can one separate wheat from chaff and learn whatever this book has to teach. Y.R. The Washington Post Book World, September 20, 1998 AGAINST THE GODS appeared in the "Washington Is Also Reading..." section of The Washington Post Book World. The book is described as, "A comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, from ancient gamblers in Greece to modern chaos theory." Book Dimension length: (cm)22.7 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)15.2