Author: Geoffrey Wynne
Publisher: Sweet & Maxwell
ISBN: 9780414045392
Category : Commercial products
Languages : en
Pages : 429
Book Description
This title guides the reader through all the steps involved in commodity financing operations, from pre-export financing to enforcement of security and insolvency issues. It deals with risk and risk transfer issues, regulation and due diligence, and also covers Islamic finance aspects. It is valuable for practitioners and advisers involved at any stage of the deal
A Practitioner's Guide to Trade and Commodity Finance
Author: Geoffrey Wynne
Publisher: Sweet & Maxwell
ISBN: 9780414045392
Category : Commercial products
Languages : en
Pages : 429
Book Description
This title guides the reader through all the steps involved in commodity financing operations, from pre-export financing to enforcement of security and insolvency issues. It deals with risk and risk transfer issues, regulation and due diligence, and also covers Islamic finance aspects. It is valuable for practitioners and advisers involved at any stage of the deal
Publisher: Sweet & Maxwell
ISBN: 9780414045392
Category : Commercial products
Languages : en
Pages : 429
Book Description
This title guides the reader through all the steps involved in commodity financing operations, from pre-export financing to enforcement of security and insolvency issues. It deals with risk and risk transfer issues, regulation and due diligence, and also covers Islamic finance aspects. It is valuable for practitioners and advisers involved at any stage of the deal
Commodity Option Pricing
Author: Iain J. Clark
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444362410
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
Commodity Option Pricing: A Practitioner’s Guide covers commodity option pricing for quantitative analysts, traders or structurers in banks, hedge funds and commodity trading companies. Based on the author’s industry experience with commodity derivatives, this book provides a thorough and mathematical introduction to the various market conventions and models used in commodity option pricing. It introduces the various derivative products typically traded for commodities and describes how these models can be calibrated and used for pricing and risk management. This book has been developed with input from traders and features examples using real-world data, together with relevant up-to-date academic research. This book includes practical descriptions of market conventions and quote codes used in commodity markets alongside typical products seen in broker quotes and used in calibration. Also discussed are commodity models and their mathematical derivation and volatility surface modelling for traded commodity derivatives. Gold, silver and other precious metals are addressed, including gold forward and gold lease rates, as well as copper, aluminium and other base metals, crude oil and natural gas, refined energy and electricity. There are also sections on the products encountered in commodities such as crack spread and spark spread options and alternative commodities such as carbon emissions, weather derivatives, bandwidth and telecommunications trading, plastics and freight. Commodity Option Pricing is ideal for anyone working in commodities or aiming to make the transition into the area, as well as academics needing to familiarize themselves with the industry conventions of the commodity markets.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444362410
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
Commodity Option Pricing: A Practitioner’s Guide covers commodity option pricing for quantitative analysts, traders or structurers in banks, hedge funds and commodity trading companies. Based on the author’s industry experience with commodity derivatives, this book provides a thorough and mathematical introduction to the various market conventions and models used in commodity option pricing. It introduces the various derivative products typically traded for commodities and describes how these models can be calibrated and used for pricing and risk management. This book has been developed with input from traders and features examples using real-world data, together with relevant up-to-date academic research. This book includes practical descriptions of market conventions and quote codes used in commodity markets alongside typical products seen in broker quotes and used in calibration. Also discussed are commodity models and their mathematical derivation and volatility surface modelling for traded commodity derivatives. Gold, silver and other precious metals are addressed, including gold forward and gold lease rates, as well as copper, aluminium and other base metals, crude oil and natural gas, refined energy and electricity. There are also sections on the products encountered in commodities such as crack spread and spark spread options and alternative commodities such as carbon emissions, weather derivatives, bandwidth and telecommunications trading, plastics and freight. Commodity Option Pricing is ideal for anyone working in commodities or aiming to make the transition into the area, as well as academics needing to familiarize themselves with the industry conventions of the commodity markets.
Foreign Exchange Option Pricing
Author: Iain J. Clark
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470683686
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
This book covers foreign exchange options from the point of view of the finance practitioner. It contains everything a quant or trader working in a bank or hedge fund would need to know about the mathematics of foreign exchange—not just the theoretical mathematics covered in other books but also comprehensive coverage of implementation, pricing and calibration. With content developed with input from traders and with examples using real-world data, this book introduces many of the more commonly requested products from FX options trading desks, together with the models that capture the risk characteristics necessary to price these products accurately. Crucially, this book describes the numerical methods required for calibration of these models – an area often neglected in the literature, which is nevertheless of paramount importance in practice. Thorough treatment is given in one unified text to the following features: Correct market conventions for FX volatility surface construction Adjustment for settlement and delayed delivery of options Pricing of vanillas and barrier options under the volatility smile Barrier bending for limiting barrier discontinuity risk near expiry Industry strength partial differential equations in one and several spatial variables using finite differences on nonuniform grids Fourier transform methods for pricing European options using characteristic functions Stochastic and local volatility models, and a mixed stochastic/local volatility model Three-factor long-dated FX model Numerical calibration techniques for all the models in this work The augmented state variable approach for pricing strongly path-dependent options using either partial differential equations or Monte Carlo simulation Connecting mathematically rigorous theory with practice, this is the essential guide to foreign exchange options in the context of the real financial marketplace.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470683686
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
This book covers foreign exchange options from the point of view of the finance practitioner. It contains everything a quant or trader working in a bank or hedge fund would need to know about the mathematics of foreign exchange—not just the theoretical mathematics covered in other books but also comprehensive coverage of implementation, pricing and calibration. With content developed with input from traders and with examples using real-world data, this book introduces many of the more commonly requested products from FX options trading desks, together with the models that capture the risk characteristics necessary to price these products accurately. Crucially, this book describes the numerical methods required for calibration of these models – an area often neglected in the literature, which is nevertheless of paramount importance in practice. Thorough treatment is given in one unified text to the following features: Correct market conventions for FX volatility surface construction Adjustment for settlement and delayed delivery of options Pricing of vanillas and barrier options under the volatility smile Barrier bending for limiting barrier discontinuity risk near expiry Industry strength partial differential equations in one and several spatial variables using finite differences on nonuniform grids Fourier transform methods for pricing European options using characteristic functions Stochastic and local volatility models, and a mixed stochastic/local volatility model Three-factor long-dated FX model Numerical calibration techniques for all the models in this work The augmented state variable approach for pricing strongly path-dependent options using either partial differential equations or Monte Carlo simulation Connecting mathematically rigorous theory with practice, this is the essential guide to foreign exchange options in the context of the real financial marketplace.
Principles of Commodity Economics and Finance
Author: Daniel P. Ahn
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262347881
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
A rigorous but practical introduction to the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodity markets. Commodities have become one of the fastest growing asset classes of the last decade and the object of increasing attention from investors, scholars, and policy makers. Yet existing treatments of the topic are either too theoretical, ignoring practical realities, or largely narrative and nonrigorous. This book bridges the gap, striking a balance between theory and practice. It offers a solid foundation in the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodities markets. The book, which grows out of courses taught by the author at Columbia and Johns Hopkins, can be used by graduate students in economics, finance, and public policy, or as a conceptual reference for practitioners. After an introduction to basic concepts and a review of the various types of commodities—energy, metals, agricultural products—the book delves into the economic and financial dynamics of commodity markets, with a particular focus on energy. The text covers fundamental demand and supply for resources, the mechanics behind commodity financial markets, and how they motivate investment decisions around both physical and financial portfolio exposure to commodities, and the evolving political and regulatory landscape for commodity markets. Additional special topics include geopolitics, financial regulation, and electricity markets. The book is divided into thematic modules that progress in complexity. Text boxes offer additional, related material, and numerous charts and graphs provide further insight into important concepts.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262347881
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
A rigorous but practical introduction to the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodity markets. Commodities have become one of the fastest growing asset classes of the last decade and the object of increasing attention from investors, scholars, and policy makers. Yet existing treatments of the topic are either too theoretical, ignoring practical realities, or largely narrative and nonrigorous. This book bridges the gap, striking a balance between theory and practice. It offers a solid foundation in the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodities markets. The book, which grows out of courses taught by the author at Columbia and Johns Hopkins, can be used by graduate students in economics, finance, and public policy, or as a conceptual reference for practitioners. After an introduction to basic concepts and a review of the various types of commodities—energy, metals, agricultural products—the book delves into the economic and financial dynamics of commodity markets, with a particular focus on energy. The text covers fundamental demand and supply for resources, the mechanics behind commodity financial markets, and how they motivate investment decisions around both physical and financial portfolio exposure to commodities, and the evolving political and regulatory landscape for commodity markets. Additional special topics include geopolitics, financial regulation, and electricity markets. The book is divided into thematic modules that progress in complexity. Text boxes offer additional, related material, and numerous charts and graphs provide further insight into important concepts.
Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and Products
Author: Andrea Roncoroni
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470662506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1067
Book Description
Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and ProductsOver recent decades, the marketplace has seen an increasing integration, not only among different types of commodity markets such as energy, agricultural, and metals, but also with financial markets. This trend raises important questions about how to identify and analyse opportunities in and manage risks of commodity products. The Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and Products offers traders, commodity brokers, and other professionals a practical and comprehensive manual that covers market structure and functioning, as well as the practice of trading across a wide range of commodity markets and products. Written in non-technical language, this important resource includes the information needed to begin to master the complexities of and to operate successfully in today’s challenging and fluctuating commodity marketplace. Designed as a practical practitioner-orientated resource, the book includes a detailed overview of key markets – oil, coal, electricity, emissions, weather, industrial metals, freight, agricultural and foreign exchange – and contains a set of tools for analysing, pricing and managing risk for the individual markets. Market features and the main functioning rules of the markets in question are presented, along with the structure of basic financial products and standardised deals. A range of vital topics such as stochastic and econometric modelling, market structure analysis, contract engineering, as well as risk assessment and management are presented and discussed in detail with illustrative examples to commodity markets. The authors showcase how to structure and manage both simple and more complex multi-commodity deals. Addressing the issues of profit-making and risk management, the book reveals how to exploit pay-off profiles and trading strategies on a diversified set of commodity prices. In addition, the book explores how to price energy products and other commodities belonging to markets segmented across specific structural features. The Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and Products includes a wealth of proven methods and useful models that can be selected and developed in order to make appropriate estimations of the future evolution of prices and appropriate valuations of products. The authors additionally explore market risk issues and what measures of risk should be adopted for the purpose of accurately assessing exposure from multi-commodity portfolios. This vital resource offers the models, tools, strategies and general information commodity brokers and other professionals need to succeed in today’s highly competitive marketplace.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470662506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1067
Book Description
Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and ProductsOver recent decades, the marketplace has seen an increasing integration, not only among different types of commodity markets such as energy, agricultural, and metals, but also with financial markets. This trend raises important questions about how to identify and analyse opportunities in and manage risks of commodity products. The Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and Products offers traders, commodity brokers, and other professionals a practical and comprehensive manual that covers market structure and functioning, as well as the practice of trading across a wide range of commodity markets and products. Written in non-technical language, this important resource includes the information needed to begin to master the complexities of and to operate successfully in today’s challenging and fluctuating commodity marketplace. Designed as a practical practitioner-orientated resource, the book includes a detailed overview of key markets – oil, coal, electricity, emissions, weather, industrial metals, freight, agricultural and foreign exchange – and contains a set of tools for analysing, pricing and managing risk for the individual markets. Market features and the main functioning rules of the markets in question are presented, along with the structure of basic financial products and standardised deals. A range of vital topics such as stochastic and econometric modelling, market structure analysis, contract engineering, as well as risk assessment and management are presented and discussed in detail with illustrative examples to commodity markets. The authors showcase how to structure and manage both simple and more complex multi-commodity deals. Addressing the issues of profit-making and risk management, the book reveals how to exploit pay-off profiles and trading strategies on a diversified set of commodity prices. In addition, the book explores how to price energy products and other commodities belonging to markets segmented across specific structural features. The Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and Products includes a wealth of proven methods and useful models that can be selected and developed in order to make appropriate estimations of the future evolution of prices and appropriate valuations of products. The authors additionally explore market risk issues and what measures of risk should be adopted for the purpose of accurately assessing exposure from multi-commodity portfolios. This vital resource offers the models, tools, strategies and general information commodity brokers and other professionals need to succeed in today’s highly competitive marketplace.
Commodities and Commodity Derivatives
Author: Helyette Geman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470687738
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 479
Book Description
The last few years have been a watershed for the commodities, cash and derivatives industry. New regulations and products have led to an explosion in the commodities markets, creating a new asset for investors that includes hedge funds as well as University endowments, and has resulted in a spectacular growth in spot and derivative trading. This book covers hard and soft commodities (energy, agriculture and metals) and analyses: Economic and geopolitical issues in commodities markets Commodity price and volume risk Stochastic modelling of commodity spot prices and forward curves Real options valuation and hedging of physical assets in the energy industry It is required reading for energy companies and utilities practitioners, commodity cash and derivatives traders in investment banks, the Agrifood business, Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) and Hedge Funds. In Commodities and Commodity Derivatives, Hélyette Geman shows her powerful command of the subject by combining a rigorous development of its mathematical modelling with a compact institutional presentation of the arcane characteristics of commodities that makes the complex analysis of commodities derivative securities accessible to both the academic and practitioner who wants a deep foundation and a breadth of different market applications. It is destined to be a "must have" on the subject.” —Robert Merton, Professor, Harvard Business School "A marvelously comprehensive book of interest to academics and practitioners alike, by one of the world's foremost experts in the field." —Oldrich Vasicek, founder, KMV
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470687738
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 479
Book Description
The last few years have been a watershed for the commodities, cash and derivatives industry. New regulations and products have led to an explosion in the commodities markets, creating a new asset for investors that includes hedge funds as well as University endowments, and has resulted in a spectacular growth in spot and derivative trading. This book covers hard and soft commodities (energy, agriculture and metals) and analyses: Economic and geopolitical issues in commodities markets Commodity price and volume risk Stochastic modelling of commodity spot prices and forward curves Real options valuation and hedging of physical assets in the energy industry It is required reading for energy companies and utilities practitioners, commodity cash and derivatives traders in investment banks, the Agrifood business, Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) and Hedge Funds. In Commodities and Commodity Derivatives, Hélyette Geman shows her powerful command of the subject by combining a rigorous development of its mathematical modelling with a compact institutional presentation of the arcane characteristics of commodities that makes the complex analysis of commodities derivative securities accessible to both the academic and practitioner who wants a deep foundation and a breadth of different market applications. It is destined to be a "must have" on the subject.” —Robert Merton, Professor, Harvard Business School "A marvelously comprehensive book of interest to academics and practitioners alike, by one of the world's foremost experts in the field." —Oldrich Vasicek, founder, KMV
Commodity Trading Advisors
Author: Greg N. Gregoriou
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118160959
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Book Description
Authoritative, up-to-date research and analysis that provides a dramatic new understanding of the rewards-and risks-of investing in CTAs Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) are an increasingly popular and potentially profitable investment alternative for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Commodity Trading Advisors is one of the first books to study their performance in detail and analyze the "survivorship bias" present in CTA performance data. This book investigates the many benefits and risks associated with CTAs, examining the risk/return characteristics of a number of different strategies deployed by CTAs from a sophisticated investor's perspective. A contributed work, its editors and contributing authors are among today's leading voices on the topic of commodity trading advisors and a veritable "Who's Who" in hedge fund and CTA research. Greg N. Gregoriou (Plattsburgh, NY) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance and Research Coordinator in the School of Business and Economics at the State University of New York. Vassilios N. Karavas (Amherst, MA) is Director of Research at Schneeweis Partners. Francois-Serge Lhabitant (Coppet, Switzerland) is a FAME Research Fellow, and a Professor of Finance at EDHEC (France) and at HEC University of Lausanne (Switzerland). Fabrice Rouah (Montreal, Quebec) is Institut de Finance Mathématique de Montréal Scholar in the finance program at McGill University.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118160959
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Book Description
Authoritative, up-to-date research and analysis that provides a dramatic new understanding of the rewards-and risks-of investing in CTAs Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) are an increasingly popular and potentially profitable investment alternative for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Commodity Trading Advisors is one of the first books to study their performance in detail and analyze the "survivorship bias" present in CTA performance data. This book investigates the many benefits and risks associated with CTAs, examining the risk/return characteristics of a number of different strategies deployed by CTAs from a sophisticated investor's perspective. A contributed work, its editors and contributing authors are among today's leading voices on the topic of commodity trading advisors and a veritable "Who's Who" in hedge fund and CTA research. Greg N. Gregoriou (Plattsburgh, NY) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance and Research Coordinator in the School of Business and Economics at the State University of New York. Vassilios N. Karavas (Amherst, MA) is Director of Research at Schneeweis Partners. Francois-Serge Lhabitant (Coppet, Switzerland) is a FAME Research Fellow, and a Professor of Finance at EDHEC (France) and at HEC University of Lausanne (Switzerland). Fabrice Rouah (Montreal, Quebec) is Institut de Finance Mathématique de Montréal Scholar in the finance program at McGill University.
Fixed Income Relative Value Analysis
Author: Doug Huggins
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118477219
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 389
Book Description
As western governments issue increasing amounts of debt, the fixed income markets have never been more important. Yet the methods for analyzing these markets have failed to keep pace with recent developments, including the deterioration in the credit quality of many sovereign issuers. In Fixed Income Relative Value Analysis, Doug Huggins and Christian Schaller address this gap with a set of analytic tools for assessing value in the markets for government bonds, interest rate swaps, and related basis swaps, as well as associated futures and options. Taking a practitioner’s point of view, the book presents the theory behind market analysis in connection with tools for finding and expressing trade ideas. The extensive use of actual market examples illustrates the ways these analytic tools can be applied in practice. The book covers: Statistical models for quantitative market analysis, in particular mean reversion models and principal component analysis. An in-depth approach to understanding swap spreads in theory and in practice. A comprehensive discussion of the various basis swaps and their combinations. The incorporation of credit default swaps in yield curve analysis. A classification of option trades, with appropriate analysis tools for each category. Fitted curve techniques for identifying relative value among different bonds. A multi-factor delivery option model for bond future contracts. Fixed Income Relative Value Analysis provides an insightful presentation of the relevant statistical and financial theories, a detailed set of statistical and financial tools derived from these theories, and a multitude of actual trades resulting from the application of these tools to the fixed income markets. As such, it’s an indispensable guide for relative value analysts, relative value traders, and portfolio managers for whom security selection and hedging are part of the investment process.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118477219
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 389
Book Description
As western governments issue increasing amounts of debt, the fixed income markets have never been more important. Yet the methods for analyzing these markets have failed to keep pace with recent developments, including the deterioration in the credit quality of many sovereign issuers. In Fixed Income Relative Value Analysis, Doug Huggins and Christian Schaller address this gap with a set of analytic tools for assessing value in the markets for government bonds, interest rate swaps, and related basis swaps, as well as associated futures and options. Taking a practitioner’s point of view, the book presents the theory behind market analysis in connection with tools for finding and expressing trade ideas. The extensive use of actual market examples illustrates the ways these analytic tools can be applied in practice. The book covers: Statistical models for quantitative market analysis, in particular mean reversion models and principal component analysis. An in-depth approach to understanding swap spreads in theory and in practice. A comprehensive discussion of the various basis swaps and their combinations. The incorporation of credit default swaps in yield curve analysis. A classification of option trades, with appropriate analysis tools for each category. Fitted curve techniques for identifying relative value among different bonds. A multi-factor delivery option model for bond future contracts. Fixed Income Relative Value Analysis provides an insightful presentation of the relevant statistical and financial theories, a detailed set of statistical and financial tools derived from these theories, and a multitude of actual trades resulting from the application of these tools to the fixed income markets. As such, it’s an indispensable guide for relative value analysts, relative value traders, and portfolio managers for whom security selection and hedging are part of the investment process.
Pricing and Hedging Financial Derivatives
Author: Leonardo Marroni
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119954584
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
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
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119954584
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
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
Trading and Exchanges
Author: Larry Harris
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 9780195144703
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 664
Book Description
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).
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 9780195144703
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 664
Book Description
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).