This open access book addresses four standard business school subjects: microeconomics, macroeconomics, finance and information systems as they relate to trading, liquidity, and market structure. It provides a detailed examination of the impact of trading costs and other impediments of trading that the authors call rictions It also presents an interactive simulation model of equity market trading, TraderEx, that enables students to implement trading decisions in different market scenarios and structures. Addressing these topics shines a bright light on how a real-world financial market operates, and the simulation provides students with an experiential learning opportunity that is informative and fun. Each of the chapters is designed so that it can be used as a stand-alone module in an existing economics, finance, or information science course. Instructor resources such as discussion questions, Powerpoint slides and TraderEx exercises are available online.

An in-depth look at the nature of market making and exchanges From theory to practicalities, this is a comprehensive, up-to-date handbook and reference on how markets work and the nuances of trading. It includes a CD with an interactive trading simulation. Robert A. Schwartz, PhD (New York, NY), is Marvin M. Speiser Professor of Finance and University Distinguished Professor in the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, CUNY. Reto Francioni, PhD (Zurich, Switzerland), is President and Chairman of the Board of SWX, the Swiss Stock Exchange, and former co-CEO of Consors Discount Broker AG, Nuremberg.

"The process by which securities are traded is very different from the idealized picture of a frictionless and self-equilibrating market offered by the typical finance textbook. This book offers a more accurate and authoritative take on this process. The book starts from the assumption that not everyone is present at all times simultaneously on the market, and that participants have quite diverse information about the security's fundamentals. As a result, the order flow is a complex mix of information and noise, and a consensus price only emerges gradually over time as the trading process evolves and the participants interpret the actions of other traders. Thus, a security's actual transaction price may deviate from its fundamental value, as it would be assessed by a fully informed set of investors. The book takes these deviations seriously, and explains why and how they emerge in the trading process and are eventually eliminated. The authors draw on a vast body of theoretical insights and empirical findings on security price formation that have come to form a well-defined field within financial economics known as "market microstructure." Focusing on liquidity and price discovery, the book analyzes the tension between the two, pointing out that when price-relevant information reaches the market through trading pressure rather than through a public announcement, liquidity may suffer. It also confronts many striking phenomena in securities markets and uses the analytical tools and empirical methods of market microstructure to understand them. These include issues such as why liquidity changes over time and differs across securities, why large trades move prices up or down, and why these price changes are subsequently reversed, and why we observe temporary deviations from asset fair values"--

Whether you are an investment professional managing billions of dollars or an individual investor with a small nest egg, TrimTabs Investing shows you how to beat the major stock market averages with less risk. This groundbreaking book begins by comparing the stock market to a casino in which the house (public companies and the insiders who run them) buys and sells shares with the players (institutional and individual investors). TrimTabs Investing argues that stock prices are primarily a function of liquidity—the amount of shares available for purchase and the amount of money available to buy them—rather than fundamental value. Finally, it outlines the building blocks of liquidity theory and explains how you can use them to predict the direction of the stock market. “Charles Biderman, a savvy and battle-scarred veteran of the investment wars, has fashioned an intriguing approach to making money in the stock market that adroitly avoids both heavy-breathing speculation and the standard Wall Street practices that enable investors, big and small, to lose money in good markets as well as bad. Aimed at the sophisticated investor (which may or may not be an oxymoron), the book is written in blessedly straightforward prose and is a worthwhile read for anyone with an urge to have a fling at investing.--Alan Abelson Barron’s “Since the days of Joseph and Pharaoh, it has been axiomatic that the size of the grain harvest affects the level of grain prices; but today’s investors have been slow to appreciate the fact that the supply of stock shares significantly determines the level of stock prices. Biderman’s long overdue book outlines the theory and evidence behind ‘Trading Float,’ the actual—and exploitable—power behind major moves in the stock market. --Paul Montgomery CEO and CIO of Montgomery Capital Management “‘Trade as corporate execs do, not as they say.’ Charles Biderman has built an impressive list of hedge fund clients from this essential insight, and this book does a great job explaining exactly how retail investors can incorporate it into their investing.” --Eric Zitzewitz Assistant Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business “Charles Biderman is a smart thinker, clear writer—and he offers here some very interesting ideas. This book is for the little guy who enjoys reading about money and economics, even if he doesn’t adopt the strategies offered here; and for the professional or sophisticated investor, who, to a greater or lesser degree, just might.--Andrew Tobias author of The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need

Focusing on market microstructure, Harris (chief economist, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) introduces the practices and regulations governing stock trading markets. Writing to be understandable to the lay reader, he examines the structure of trading, puts forward an economic theory of trading, discusses speculative trading strategies, explores liquidity and volatility, and considers the evaluation of trader performance. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

For years, traders and investors have been using unproven assumptions about popular patterns such as breakouts, momentum, new highs, new lows, market breadth, put/call ratios and more without knowing if there is a statistical edge. Common wisdom holds that the stock markets are ever changing. But, as it turns out, common wisdom can be wrong. Offering a comprehensive look back at the way the markets have acted over the last two decades, How Markets Really Work: A Quantitative Guide to Stock Market Behavior, Second Edition shows that nothing has changed, that the markets behave the same way today as they have in years past, and that understanding this puts you in a prime position to profit. Written by two top financial experts and filled with charts and graphs that illustrate the market concepts they develop, the book takes a sometimes contrarian view of everything from market edges to historical volatility, and from volume to put/call ratio, giving you all that you need to truly understand how the markets function. Fully revised and updated, How Markets Really Work, Second Edition takes a level-headed, data-driven look at the markets to show how they function and how you can apply that information intelligently when making investment decisions.

The true meaning of investment discipline is to trade only when you rationally expect that you will achieve your desired objective. Accordingly, managers must thoroughly understand why they trade. Because trading is a zero-sum game, good investment discipline also requires that managers understand why their counterparties trade. This book surveys the many reasons why people trade and identifies the implications of the zero-sum game for investment discipline. It also identifies the origins of liquidity and thus of transaction costs, as well as when active investment strategies are profitable. The book then explains how managers must measure and control transaction costs to perform well. Electronic trading systems and electronic trading strategies now dominate trading in exchange markets throughout the world. The book identifies why speed is of such great importance to electronic traders, how they obtain it, and the trading strategies they use to exploit it. Finally, the book analyzes many issues associated with electronic trading that currently concern practitioners and regulators.