Reviews (4)

Cool !
Best investment I have made in years ! The book is clear, detailed and complete. I recommend it to anyone interested in volatilty models.

Finally !
Finally a book explaining all the details and techniques of estimation and volatility arbitrage !
Review of Stochastic Volatility
This book is an excellent overview of all the work that has been done in the field of stochastic vol. There is no area of research that is not touched upon in the book. The mathematics is very dense and it requires a lot of digging through to get to the point. I would highly recommend the book as a reference book for stochastic vol. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. Investments & Securities - Stocks    6. Mathematical models    7. Prices    8. Stochastic processes    9. Stocks    10. Business & Economics / Finance    11. Investment & securities   

Reviews (7)

Excellent
I purchased this book about a week ago and have poured through it. I am new to the Forex market and find this book to easily understand. I focus more on Technicals when i trade rather than fundumentals but the fundamentals provided a new insight. I would highly recommend this book.

Good introduction to Forex
This book is a pretty thorough and informative introduction to Forex.Not only is it helpful for the many people just discovering the Forex market, but also it would benefit many people who are already trading other markets and perhaps think they know what the Forex market is.I believe that if traders of other markets really understood Forex beyond whatever rumors they have heard they would not be trading anything else. The authors cover everything from what the Forex market is through technical analysis techniques and money management.There is a most enlightnening section on the fundamental forces that move the market and how to use various economic data to predict the movement of Forex currency pairs.This book gives an unbiased introduction to Forex that will enable the reader to determine whether she would like to further explore this exciting subject.

EXCELLENT book
I've read two other books on trading the foreign exchange. I've been trading the forex successfully for several months now. After reading this book, I feel that I have several more tools in my arsenal for becoming even MORE successful.The authors present a common sense approach to trading/investing that I didn't receive in the other two books. They take some complex economic topics and break them down into very easy to understand, bite sized pieces that just about anyone can understand. They also lay out a few very good approaches that teach you to consistently make a LOT more money than you lose using some sound technical analysis. This book is VERY good for both beginners AND seasoned forex investors/traders. I give my highest recommendation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Currency convertibility    5. Foreign Exchange    6. Foreign exchange futures    7. Foreign exchange market    8. Investments & Securities - General    9. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    10. Investment & securities   

Reviews (4)

Good but.....
I have started studying trading about three years ago and Forex specifically for about a year. I find Raghee to be honest and her methods to be simple and I can see how they would work if followed. I myself use Fibonacci levels and MACD and find that they work after a fashion like everything else in trading.
Great Teacher
I read thefirst book and of course the second book and now I am a much more confident trader.
This book answers questions!
I have read over 20 books on trading which have all left me saying what?This is the fist book I have read that I can see myself following what is in the book.I am just about done this 30 day exercise and it is working out great!I really love all the charts and how the book follows a day by day trading system. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. Foreign exchange futures    6. Foreign exchange market    7. Investments & Securities - General    8. Speculation    9. Business & Economics / Finance    10. Monetary economics   

Reviews (1)

good, but notwell written
This book is more quantitative than the author's other book, but it is still very basic. The author is also a little redundant in his writing. He spends a lot of time talking about the different types of funds available, but not actually giving that much insight into how they are run.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Capital Management    5. Corporate Finance    6. Hedge funds    7. Institutional Investment    8. Investments & Securities - Futures    9. Investments & Securities - General    10. Business & Economics / Finance    11. Finance & Accounting   

Reviews (12)

The Alchemy of Finance
Was recommended to my by an international banker friend. A bit of a tough read , esp til you understabd what is "reflexivity".A well-written book that any one with a few dollars should read.

Great ideas, put them in practice, made...zero money!
Not Soros fault of course.More down to my trading.Great read though and some nice ideas about how market sentiment works or should work.Another Besife Tonwe recommendation to our book club.

A diatribe from a Billionaire
I first read this book in 1994 and remembered it being unuseful and his kitchen-talk economics being superficial.So, 11 yrs later I picked it up again believing that it was my own lack of understanding and maturity that made me under-appreciate Soros.But, I was wrong.
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Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Finance    6. Financial Markets    7. Investments    8. Investments & Securities - General    9. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities   

Reviews (3)

Best Practical Risk Management Book Ever!
Allen's book is absolutely phenomenal. Most of the risk management books out there are too technical to be of any practical use. Allen truly focuses on the practice of risk management and gives us insights on how to be a truly good risk manager. Traders could benefit from his insights as well. I particularly liked his breakdown of linear vs. non-linear risks, and liquid vs. non-liquid positions. In terms of the practical risk management of options (vanilla and exotics) I haven't seen anything this clear and this comprehensive. The accompanying CD is an absolute blessing in order to fully understand the concepts like price vol matrices, etc. This should be a required additional reading for all students in financial mathematics/MBA programs around the world! Well Done Mr. Allen!!

Smart, Savvy, Practical
Allen delivers the most insightful look at market risk management for dealers since the Group of 30 Report. While other books are taking on an increasingly bureaucratic tone when it comes to risk management, Allen is refreshingly proactive. I really like the treatment of valuation reserves. His discussion of managing spot, forward and options risks bridges the gap between what a trader is thinking and what a risk manager should be thinking. This isn't a book for the sort of risk manager who hasn't been on the trading floor in a few months. It is a tactical book for the pro who works shoulder to shoulder with quants, traders and salespeople. Note that the book is qualitative. For the quantitative side of all this, see Holton's landmark "Value-at-Risk".

An Excellent book on risk management
This is a must buy book for both kinds of people: students or people in academia and practitioners who want to understand different type of risk they face at a macro or micro level. The reasons I like this book on risk management better than thousand others already out there are following. I like to describe this book as having two sections, both the sections are very important and people can focus on either depending on what they are looking for.The first part of the book provides a very good understanding of the risks faced by managers, for example risk managers, head of a trading portolfio or a desk or even CEOs. Very often these people face risk which are hard to quantify or even understand and are not often talked about. The author draws from personal experience and provides interesting case studies,. which makes this part of the book a pleasure to read. I learnt about model risk, reputation risk and other such risks which typically a junior person on a trading desk is not exposed to. So this understanding is very valuable in order to communicate with your boss or to get more insights about risks that management may care about. Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Corporate Finance    6. Finance    7. Financial Economics (General)    8. Financial risk management    9. Risk management    10. Budgeting & financial management    11. Business & Economics / Finance    12. Risk assessment & analysis for business   

Reviews (14)

Unnecessarily Complex
Author devotes 2 pages to mathematically prove & philosophically justify that a manager should chose the highest NPV project before chosing the next highest NPV project.Such logic continues ad infinitum throughout the 800+ page text.Time for 3rd Ed.

A finance textbook full of errors and holes
I am a postgraduate student in finance and this book is on my reading list for corporate finance. I must say that I am not very pleased with this book. First, it seems to skip around from chapter to chapter with no real logical organizational structure. Second, it is full of typos and mistakes -- some that are quite dangerous for a proper understanding of the material. Third, it does not develop fully the statistically techniques in Chapter 4 that it builds on in later chapters. This is a major problem in my opinion. What saves this book from the lowest rating is that it does discuss empirical studies and journal articles, and it does not do an entirely awful job about the more qualitative subjects like adverse selection and capitalization policy.
A Wonderful Approach to Corporate Finance
After reading the reviews for this book, I feel obligated to write a review, although I will admit a bias since one of the co-authors was a favorite professor of mine in college.
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Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Corporate Finance    6. Corporations    7. Economics - General    8. Finance    9. Financial Markets    10. Financial institutions    11. Strategic planning    12. United States    13. Business & Economics / Corporate Finance    14. Investment & securities   

Reviews (2)

Market Analysis
If you believe Market Analysis,you ought to choose Jesse Livermore.If you believe Company Analysis,you ought to choose Warren Buffett.If you believe Country Analysis,you ought to choose Jim Rogers.Good lucky!

Picture this; it's the early 1900's, the dawn of the Roaring 20's. Gatsby like characters abound ...
Picture this; it's the early 1900's, the dawn of the Roaring 20's. Gatsby like characters abound and are romanticized in the Saturday Evening Post, Horatio Alger rags to riches stories are all the rave. Along comes Jesse Livermore, a ballsy, throw caution to the wind and risk it all by leveraging it up to the hilt and letting it ride type of guy. It's a time when the market is on fire and behaves something like the late 90's but the regulators are nowhere to be seen. Charles Ponzi takes Boston by storm with his promises of 50% in 45 days with his Ponzi Notes and creates an all out frenzy engulfing what seems like half of the City.
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Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Finance    6. Investments & Securities - General    7. Investments & Securities - Stocks    8. New York Stock Exchange    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Securities    11. Speculation    12. Stocks    13. Business & Economics / Finance    14. Stocks & shares   

Reviews (111)

waste of paper
This book is a total waste of time.Stick to books by Pring, Murphy and Elder...
Why and how to design a successful trading system
Thousands, if not millions, of people waste huge amounts of money and time every year searching for some get-rich-quick Holy Grail of trading.Tharp's somewhat misleadingly titled Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom is definitely not a get-rich-quick technique.Nor is it even a guide to analyzing the markets; there are no fundamental analysis approaches, no technical chart patterns, no quantitative formulae.Instead, Tharp offers something totally different and far more useful: he systematically describes why you should develop your own trading system and how you should go about building and testing it.
Read It
There is a lot to learn from this book.If you can exersice the things taught in this book you can make a ton of money in the market.RE read it several times.Every time you read it you learn something new and better understand the conceps being taught. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Consumer Finance    4. Finance, Personal    5. Investment Finance    6. Investments & Securities - General    7. Personal Finance    8. Personal Finance - Investing    9. Stocks    10. Budgeting & financial management    11. Business & Economics / Personal Finance / Investing    12. Investment & securities   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Corporate Finance    5. Finance    6. Budgeting & financial management    7. Business & Economics / Finance   

Reviews (17)

For those who love going into the detail...
This is one of the best books I have read to date on Valuation.It spanks various methodologies and speaks to their differences.It goes into the detail and stays there to provide the depth necessary to get a intuative understanding.WARNING:not for those who do not like math.You can follow the derivations and I found it very good practice and reinforcement to learning the concepts.
OK but very technical
Overall, the book covers relevant M&A material but it's difficult to read. Coming from a finance background, I was looking for a reference book to be used at work. There are other books that are more user-friendly. Recommendation: get Applied Mergers & Acquisitions from Wiley Finance instead; same topics but a pleasure to read.

Purely for Reference
As an M&A finance practitioner, I am torn between giving this book a 3-star or 4-star rating.As many reviewers have noted, this is structured to be a reference book.There is more math than is typically needed or used in most small or medium-sized transactions, and there is very little introductory material for the uninitiated to get their bearings.Instead, the books delves straight into valuation exercises that are at times even more difficult than what I have encountered in the profession.The examples, while numerous and varied, are often reviewed much too quickly, and occasionally with so many permutations and small digressions that it is difficult to keep track of the purpose of the original endeavor.And as good students know, it is very hard to remember how to do something when you do not know *why* you are doing it. As such, it is difficult to recommend this book with much enthusiasm to anyone who does not at least have a few transactions under their belt because as a general guide it does not at all do the trick.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Consolidation and merger of co    5. Consolidation and merger of corporations    6. Corporate Finance    7. Corporate Mergers And Acquisitions    8. Corporations    9. Finance    10. Industries - General    11. Investments & Securities - General    12. Mergers & Acquisitions    13. Textbooks    14. Valuation    15. Budgeting & financial management    16. Business & Economics / Finance    17. Finance & Accounting    18. Takeovers, mergers & buy-outs   

Reviews (4)

Good Book
Very good book, i think the chapters are organized in a way that an individual can understand the subject systematically, I would not highly recommend this book to a starter, but overall i was pretty satisfied

Excellent but Compiled Work
I have seven years of experience selling these products, and I use Fabozzi's book often.This is a good reference, and a good treatment of mortgage and asset backed securities.I only gave it four stars because the fact that this is a compiled work of research material interrupts the flow of ideas.On the other hand, there is some merit to getting different angles on the subject from different viewpoints. A major reference
A vast collection of articles by practitioners on Wall Street, this book covers a broad number of topics on Mortgage Backed Securities. While not ascholarly approach, 'street research' typically aims to educate the fixedincome portfolio manager. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Consumer Finance    5. Finance    6. Investments & Securities - Bonds    7. Investments & Securities - General    8. Mortgage-backed securities    9. Personal Finance - Investing    10. Portfolio management    11. United States    12. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    13. Investment & securities   

Reviews (6)

User-Friendly
This is an excellent book for anyone who needs an easy to understand approach to Corporate Finance.I'll be holding on to my copy.

Look elsewhere for Finance intro...
I'm an adjunct professor at a regional liberal arts university, and I admit I've not read as many textbooks as the average ivory tower dweller. That being said, I used this book (through no choice of my own) to teach an Undergraduate Intro to Finance class. Decent text, and some good explanation of the more complex ideas in the second half of the book, but what kills this as a textbook is the HORRIBLE support materials. Errors throughout the Power Point presentations, test bank questions, study problems...I was so disgusted by the end of the semester. It's probably okay as a brush-up text, but not what I'd recommend for newbies.

Great Experience
This book arrived on a timely manner and in real good condition. It was exactly what they said it would be in their description. Wouldn't mind doing business with them again in the future! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Corporate Finance    5. Finance    6. Business & Economics / Finance   

Editorial Review

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. ... Read more

Reviews (132)

Ingenious ways to measure probability
"Against the Gods; The remarkable story of risk," is a world-class history of ingenious ways to measure probability.Author Peter L. Bernstein approaches the subject of risk/uncertainty with patience and unfolds a stirring tale of how civilization dicovered ways to improve the understanding of probability.
Enjoyable
It has interesting parts. Good for those looking for a recreational reading rather than a good manual for beginners. On this count, I recommend Barboianu's "Understanding and Calculating the Odds".

A good non-mathematical introduction to economic risk
For people who are interested in the economic side of risk (mainly stock), rather than the probabilities and risks of every day things.
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Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Decision making    6. Decision-Making (Psychological Aspects)    7. Finance    8. Insurance - Risk Assessment & Management    9. Probabilities    10. Probability & Statistics - General    11. Risk management    12. Budgeting & financial management    13. Business & Economics / Management    14. Management decision making    15. Probability & statistics    16. Psychology   

Reviews (16)

Entertaining & creative book
This is an entertaining book with a creative approach to concepts in Positive Psychology. Its style and content is a reflection of the combined efforts of a psychologist (K Cramer)& a creative advertising executive (H Wasiak).
Forget Perfection
This book truly brought positive and new insight into my life.As a person who often veers towards a path of perfection the wisdom of this book reminded me that trying to do everything flawlessly is not the key to success.Instead, taking the "magnify what's best and focus on what's next" approach has opened up a whole new world of possibilities and happiness for me.The simple but powerful messages, accompanied by the inviting photographs found inside the book will engage all readers and help them to make the most of their assets.

I Liked This Book
I enjoyed reading this book and recently purchased it for many of my sales reps. Its an easy read and gives you quick straight forward ideas on how to look at life, work... everything, with a positive and productive slant. Too quickly we respond with negative emotions as a way to protect ourselves from confrontation, disappointment or stress. This book helps you remember we have the natural skill set to handle these sorts of things while maintaining a positive attitude and gives you ideas on how to tap into that natural positive resource. I really liked this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. General    6. Motivational    7. Popular psychology   

Reviews (14)

Entertaining but Lacking Any True Gems
This book has a particular appeal for two reasons: 1) Citigroup is the world's largest financial institution 2) it describes in some detail, the conflict between two storied CEO's - John Reed and Sandy Weill.Coming from the school of thought that says analyzing great business leaders may lead to my own success, I considered this book a must.
Disappointing...
I love and admire sandy weill.i purchased this book to learn more about the man and his deal making prowess.although this book was well research,its presentation was what turned me off.i have never read a book so disjointed and dull.it doesnt follow the conventional chronological sequence that most biographies does but skips back and forth from one event to another i.e 60's-to-the-80's-to-the-70's-to 60's again...this goes on and on and on.this can be very very very frustrating.Also i dont think the authors did a good job in capturing the readers since the paragraphs come and go in that fasion throughout the entire book!
A recommended read
I liked the way Stone and Brewster broke the book into small, interesting chapters.It made for an easy read.I felt like I had a good sense of Weill's character and business style by the end of the book.The only criticism I would make is that the book seemed like an "authorized" biography in that it was overly flattering of Weill at times - like commending him for his restraint in only having three large mansions.Also, like all biographies written during the person life, there needs to be more chapters for events that take place after the book stops.In spite of that, I recommend the book to anyone who likes good biographies of business leaders. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bankers    2. Banks & Banking    3. Banks And Banking    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Business    8. Business / Economics / Finance    9. Citigroup (Firm)    10. Corporate & Business History - Strategies    11. Finance    12. Financial Economics (General)    13. Financial services industry    14. United States    15. Weill, Sandy    16. Banking    17. Biography & Autobiography / Business    18. Biography: general   

Reviews (1)

Everything you need to know in finance - superb!
I found this book very complete and comprehensive as a reference source.It covers the strategic and operational perspectives of the finance function.This is one of the best "CFO" books, together with "CFO Architect" and "CFO Handbook".A little bit overpriced - I would have put it in the US$60 range.Reading this book is like taking an advanced course in preparing yourself for the CFO career.It is very didactic and straightforward. A recommendation for the author: in a future edition, you might consider expanding on the topics of international finance, value based management and corporate restructurings. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - Managerial    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Chief financial officers    6. Corporate Finance    7. Corporations    8. Entrepreneurship    9. Executive Management    10. Finance    11. Handbooks, manuals, etc    12. Management    13. Management - General    14. Budgeting & financial management    15. Business & Economics / Accounting / Management   

Reviews (7)

Don't waste your money
This is a terrible manual. I hope it stays out of print. Poorly-written, unedited, slapped together, it is a mishmosh of outdated, compiled, swiped material that will be of no use to anyone looking to learn about residential mortgage loan origination. There are a lot of good manuals out there, and this sure ain't one of them.

Highly recommended
I wish I had this book 25 years ago when I first got in the business. Instead, I got it for my daughter when she joined my company. She picked up the concepts and jargon within a week! I now keep this book in the office and it is required reading for all new loan officers.

A Great Help
This manual was a great help in helping me understand the mortgage business. After my divorce I was left with little money and no prospects. So I turned to the mortgage business. After months of being in over my head, I found this book and things have never been the same. By learning actually how to properly take a loan and how it gets processed I was able to answer my customer's questions that before I had to get the answer from someone else. My confidence shot up through the roof and so did my income.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics / Banks & Banking    2. Business & Economics / Real Estate    3. Handbooks & Manuals    4. Real Estate - Mortgages    5. Reference    6. Bank loans    7. Bankers    8. Banks & Banking    9. Business & Economics    10. Mortgage banks    11. Mortgage loans    12. Real Estate    13. Training    14. United States   

Reviews (5)

One of the best books about Monetary Theory and Policy.
One of the best books about Monetary Theory and Policy.

Superb book, detailed and thorough
This great book helped me to get a better understanding of modern monetary theory, and so I thought I'd make a few comments on that, perhaps couched in easier to understand language and more mundane examples than in this much more sophisticated and technical book.
Great Book
This book deals with most of the modern monetary theory issues. Eventhough it clearly says it is written for graduate students, undergraduate ones with good algebra and calculus levels could accomplish the basic acknowledgement of the book. The second edition has been improved a lot as I see it. Bonds have been added to the agent's budget constraint. This is very helpful for the interpretation of the first order conditions. Chapter 4, mainly the first part was rewritten in a most comprehensible way. There are a few things to highlight about the dark sides: In chapter 3, Professor Walsh did not include bonds in the budget constraint which would have been really useful. Besides there are a few mistakes in the appendix regarding the expected values. Chapter 7, "Macroeconomic Implications" is not very clear which assumptions have been made to approximate around the steady state. Despite there are still a few little mistakes, the book is excellent, I guessthe best in Monetary Theory and Policy. Totally recommendable!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economics - General    5. Finance    6. Medical    7. Monetary Policy    8. Monetary Theory    9. Money    10. Money & Monetary Policy    11. Business & Economics / Economics / General    12. Monetary economics