A concise yet comprehensive guidebook that addresses the practical aspects of investing in derivatives. Written for the professional market but accessible enough for individual investors, The Investor’s Guidebook to Derivatives includes all the information needed to succeed in today’s complex derivatives market, including: • What constitutes a “derivative instrument” • The difference between forward and forecast prices • Pricing and using forward contracts • Swaps: pricing and applications • Option vocabulary • Pricing options—a framework • Implementing directional and volatility strategies • Exotic options: pricing and applications • Options on natural occurrences: rain, snow, and wind The Investor’s Guidebook series presents investment vehicles and strategies from both the issuers’ and the investors’ perspectives. Starting with basic concepts and then building to state-of-the-art pricing models, strategies, and tactics, these succinct handbooks will be useful for everyone from new hires through experienced professionals. Unlike most books, which are read once and sit on the shelf, professionals will refer to these books repeatedly throughout their careers.

A guide to understanding the complex derivatives market, by the acclaimed author of After the Trade is Made In today’s highly charged and rapidly changing financial climate, derivatives are dominating global headlines. It is essential for financial professionals to have a strong grasp of the products, practices, and regulatory agencies associated with the complex derivatives market in order to keep up. In this book, financial expert David Weiss introduces readers to the basic concept of a derivative and offers a thorough examination of the many derivative products. Breaking down a complex market into its basic parts, he systematically explains the structure, usage, and value aspect of all the products constituting the derivatives universe, including: Credit Default Swaps (CDS) Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) Exchange-Traded Funds Currency Rates Swaps Options Futures Forwards For each of these types of derivatives, Weiss introduces the players in the market, outlines the mechanics of trading, and explains the role of regulation and oversight in the process. Written for portfolio managers, brokers, financial planners, and institutional investors, this book is an indispensable tool for today’s investor and will leave readers better equipped to understand one of finance’s most complex arenas.

The only guide focusing entirely on practical approaches to pricing and hedging derivatives One valuable lesson of the financial crisis was that derivatives and risk practitioners don't really understand the products they're dealing with. Written by a practitioner for practitioners, this book delivers the kind of knowledge and skills traders and finance professionals need to fully understand derivatives and price and hedge them effectively. Most derivatives books are written by academics and are long on theory and short on the day-to-day realities of derivatives trading. Of the few practical guides available, very few of those cover pricing and hedging—two critical topics for traders. What matters to practitioners is what happens on the trading floor—information only seasoned practitioners such as authors Marroni and Perdomo can impart. Lays out proven derivatives pricing and hedging strategies and techniques for equities, FX, fixed income and commodities, as well as multi-assets and cross-assets Provides expert guidance on the development of structured products, supplemented with a range of practical examples Packed with real-life examples covering everything from option payout with delta hedging, to Monte Carlo procedures to common structured products payoffs The Companion Website features all of the examples from the book in Excel complete with source code

As one of the more complex but higher yielding financial opportunities available, derivative investing has become a multi-trillion dollar industry. According to a recent Bank for International Settlementsâe(tm) Second Quarter Reports, there were more than $6 trillion in contracts outstanding in one year âe" more than $800 billion of that held by non-financial customers around the world. The physical number of contracts broke the 300 trillion mark and the numbers continue to rise annually around the globe. The combination of lower risks and potential skyrocketing gains that a derivative offers has made many people stop and take notice, yet the seemingly complex nature of such an investment is cause for pause. With this complete guide to understanding derivative investment though, you will not only understand how they work, you can also start making incredibly high returns on a regular basis, all while minimizing your risk. You will start by learning exactly what derivatives are and how the various different forms, including forward contracts, futures contracts, swaps, and options, allow you to make trades on less tangible things outside of the various different trading opportunities you normally have. You will learn why it is important to know everything about derivatives before you start to trade and the vital use of risk analysis and management to maintain the economic stability of your portfolio. You will learn how to use post data and other variables to manage your risk and what the market uses to determine the futures and forward contract prices. In addition, the prices of commodities, exchanges rates, and interest rates as they apply to derivatives will be discussed, including how they are established. You will learn what a contract provides, how the futures markets operate, what taxes and commissions you can expect in futures trading, and what people are currently working on in the futures market. In addition, you will learn the various forms of futures, such as stock index futures, Treasury bond and Treasury note futures, and also Treasury bill and Eurodollar futures. You will learn directly from the experts, thanks to dozens of hours of interviews with the nationâe(tm)s top derivatives trading experts. You will learn how to trade and add swaps to your portfolio, manage the risk associated with them, and how they are priced and valued. You will learn what options allow you to do and how you can utilize call and put options. You will learn the various different option pricing models and trading strategies, and also how the continuous time option pricing model operates in different markets. For anyone who wants to take advantage of the derivative market but does not yet have the necessary knowledge to do so, this book will provide you with a comprehensive outlook on every detail involved in trading within these complex, more advanced markets. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company presidentâe(tm)s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

A concise, yet comprehensive, guidebook that addresses the practical aspects of investing in fixed income investments The Investor’s Guidebook series presents investment vehicles and strategies from both the issuers’ and the investors’ perspectives. Starting with basic concepts and then building to state-of-the-art pricing models, strategies, and tactics, these succinct handbooks will be useful for everyone from new hires through experienced professionals. Unlike most books, which are read once and sit on the shelf, professionals will refer to these books repeatedly throughout their careers.

“A hands-on introduction to what happens on the Street—if you are entering or thinking of joining the financial industry . . . this book is a must.” —Nikunj Kapadia, Professor, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst Written by an experienced trader in a clear, conversational style and assuming no previous background in finance, The Practical Guide to Wall Street provides a thorough schooling in the core curriculum of the equity and equity derivatives sales and trading business—exactly what you’d learn sitting beside the traders at a tier-one Wall Street investment bank (except that in practice, traders rarely have time to provide such detailed explanations!). Topics include: Clear, detailed, intuitive explanations of all major products, their function, pricing and risks (several unavailable elsewhere despite producing billions in annual revenue for Wall Street) The layout of the trading floor, the roles and responsibilities of the different sales and trading groups, and how they interact to service the client business An overview of the structure of the macro-economy and the trader’s perspective on the significance of economic data releases and their impact on the financial markets A review of those concepts from fundamental valuation and financial statement analysis of greatest relevance on the trading floor (as opposed to abstract valuation models) Practical details of the structure and functioning of the equity and derivative markets including translations of trader jargon, Bloomberg tips, market conventions, liquidity and risk considerations, and much more This book provides the first comprehensive explanation of all aspects of the functioning of the equities division, with information, details, and insights previously available only to those who already worked on a trading floor. In a format accessible to non-professionals, it fundamentally changes the level of knowledge employers in the industry can expect of new hires.

Apply practical derivatives knowledge to truly test your understanding Derivatives Workbook offers practical instruction for students and professionals seeking additional guidance on working with derivatives instruments. Created by CFA Institute as a companion to the comprehensive Derivatives text, this book helps you practice using what you've learned through problems that mimic real-world scenarios. Working with different derivatives instruments helps you gauge how well you understand the instruments' characteristics, both shared and unique; this intimate knowledge is essential to effective portfolio management, and this book provides an expertly-designed, low-stakes environment ideal for self-assessment. Derivatives—financial instruments that derive their value from the value of some underlying asset—have become increasingly important for effective risk management, and fundamental for creating synthetic exposures to asset classes. Whether you're a student aspiring to a career in finance, or a professional seeking a stronger skill set, this workbook is an invaluable tool for simulating the use of derivatives in everyday practice. Work more effectively with different types of derivative instruments Master the valuation of forward, future, options, and swap contracts Utilize options for risk management and portfolio optimization Explore the practical aspects of working within the derivatives markets As in other security markets, arbitrage and market efficiency play a critical role in derivative pricing. The experts at CFA Institute recognize the need for realistic, practical derivatives training that translates well into real-world practice; this workbook fills the gap with a wealth of practice problems that have value to both aspiring and practicing investment professionals. Derivatives Workbook provides authoritative training and comprehensive practical instruction on derivative instruments, their markets, and valuation.