This account of the sophisticated financial hub that was 17th-century Amsterdam “does a fine job of bringing history to life” (Library Journal). The launch of the Dutch East India Company in 1602 initiated Amsterdam’s transformation from a regional market town into a dominant financial center. The Company introduced easily transferable shares, and within days buyers had begun to trade them. Soon the public was engaging in a variety of complex transactions, including forwards, futures, options, and bear raids, and by 1680 the techniques deployed in the Amsterdam market were as sophisticated as any we practice today. Lodewijk Petram’s award-winning history demystifies financial instruments by linking today’s products to yesterday’s innovations, tying the market’s operation to the behavior of individuals and the workings of the world around them. Traveling back in time, Petram visits the harbor and other places where merchants met to strike deals. He bears witness to the goings-on at a notary’s office and sits in on the consequential proceedings of a courtroom. He describes in detail the main players, investors, shady characters, speculators, and domestic servants and other ordinary folk, who all played a role in the development of the market and its crises. His history clarifies concerns that investors still struggle with today—such as fraud, the value of information, trust and the place of honor, managing diverging expectations, and balancing risk—and does so in a way that is vivid, relatable, and critical to understanding our contemporary world.

Resource added for the Financial Institutions Management program 101144.

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? Whilst 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.

Trying to trade stock, bond, commodity and currency markets without intermarket awareness is like trying to drive a car without looking out the side and rear windows--very dangerous. In this guide to intermarket analysis, the author uses years of experience in technical analysis plus extensive charts to clearly demonstrate the interrelationshps that exist among the various market sectors and their importance. You'll learn how to use activity in surrounding markets in the same way that most people employ traditional technical indicators for directional clues. Shows the analyst how to focus outward, rather than inward, to provide a more rational understanding of technical forces at work in the marketplace.

In 2001, the London Stock Exchange will be 200 years old, though its origins go back a century before that. This book traces the history of the London Stock Exchange from its beginnings around 1700 to the present day, chronicling the challenges and opportunities it has faced, avoided, or exploited over the years. Throughout, the history seeks to blend an understanding of the London Stock Exchange as an institution with that of the securities market of which it was - and is - such an important component. One cannot be examined satisfactorily without the other. Without a knowledge of both, for example, the causes of the 'Big Bang' of 1986 would forever remain a mystery. However, the history of the London Stock Exchange is not just worthy of study for what it reveals about the interaction between institution and market. Such was the importance of the London Stock Exchange that its rise to world dominance before 1914, its decline thereafter, and its renaissance from the mid-1980s, explain a great deal about Britain's own economic performance and the working of the international economy. For the first time a British economic institution of foremost importance is studied throughout its entire history, with regard to the roles played and the constraints under which it operated, and the results evaluated against the background of world economic progress.

This timely volume addresses three important recent trends in the internationalization of United States equity markets: extensive market integration through foreign investment and links among stock prices around the world; increasing securitization as countries such as Japan come to rely more than ever before on markets in equities and bonds at the expense of banks; and the opening of national financial systems of newly industrializing countries to international financial flows and institutions, as governments remove capital controls and other barriers. Eight essays examine such issues as the current extent of international market integration, gains to U.S. investors through international diversification, home-country bias in investing, the role of time and location around the world in stock trading, and the behavior of country funds. Other, long-standing questions about equity markets are also addressed, including market efficiency and the accuracy of models of expected returns, with a particular focus on variances, covariances, and the price of risk according to the Capital Asset Pricing Model.