This is an applied book, using the bare minimum of mathematics to give a good understanding of finance. It is ideal for people just starting out in their financial career or those who have some financial experience who want to broaden and refresh their knowledge. A bestiary was a medieval book containing pictures and descriptions of mythical beasts each with its own moral tale to edify the reader. This is a bestiary of finance, and as such starts with a picture book of jobs and traded instruments in finance. Then the "Foundations" section sets out the broad picture of who does what and why in financial markets. Finally there are detailed chapters on financial instruments grouped into sections on "Fixed Income," "Credit," and "Forwards, Futures and Options." The book contains many figures and fully worked exercises to clarify the concepts.

*WINNER* ‘SHORT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR’ – THE BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 2021 Unicorns, narwhals, yaks, cows and civets - what have all these creatures got to do with your hard-earned cash? Well, far more than you would think at first glance. They are all beasts that appear in the global economic ecosystem. They pop up as warnings, messages, signals and useful analogies in order to help us navigate what can sometimes be a confusing, closed-off world. In this book, BBC journalists Dhruti Shah and Dominic Bailey guide you through the confusing world of business jargon with a bold, graphic bestiary. As well as more familiar terms such as piggy bank, loan sharks and rat race, there are alligator spreads - which occur when an investor will never be able to make a profit on their transactions, or a lobster trap, which is a type of strategy a company will deploy in order to prevent a hostile takeover. There is even the memorable honorific of 'vampire squid' given to Goldman Sachs.

The revised and updated 7th edition of this highly regarded book brings the reader right up to speed with the latest financial market developments, and provides a clear and incisive guide to a complex world that even those who work in it often find hard to understand. In chapters on the markets that deal with money, foreign exchange, equities, bonds, commodities, financial futures, options and other derivatives, the book examines why these markets exist, how they work, and who trades in them, and gives a run-down of the factors that affect prices and rates. Business history is littered with disasters that occurred because people involved their firms with financial instruments they didn't properly understand. If they had had this book they might have avoided their mistakes. For anyone wishing to understand financial markets, there is no better guide.

Your Survival Guide to the Hades of Wall Street The Devil's Financial Dictionary skewers the plutocrats and bureaucrats who gave us exploding mortgages, freakish risks, and banks too big to fail. And it distills the complexities, absurdities, and pomposities of Wall Street into plain truths and aphorisms anyone can understand. An indispensable survival guide to the hostile wilderness of today's financial markets, The Devil's Financial Dictionary delivers practical insights with a scorpion's sting. It cuts through the fads and fakery of Wall Street and clears a safe path for investors between euphoria and despair. Staying out of financial purgatory has never been this fun.

From medieval bestiaries to Borges’s Book of Imaginary Beings, we’ve long been enchanted by extraordinary animals, be they terrifying three-headed dogs or asps impervious to a snake charmer’s song. But bestiaries are more than just zany zoology—they are artful attempts to convey broader beliefs about human beings and the natural order. Today, we no longer fear sea monsters or banshees. But from the infamous honey badger to the giant squid, animals continue to captivate us with the things they can do and the things they cannot, what we know about them and what we don’t. With The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Caspar Henderson offers readers a fascinating, beautifully produced modern-day menagerie. But whereas medieval bestiaries were often based on folklore and myth, the creatures that abound in Henderson’s book—from the axolotl to the zebrafish—are, with one exception, very much with us, albeit sometimes in depleted numbers. The Book of Barely Imagined Beings transports readers to a world of real creatures that seem as if they should be made up—that are somehow more astonishing than anything we might have imagined. The yeti crab, for example, uses its furry claws to farm the bacteria on which it feeds. The waterbear, meanwhile, is among nature’s “extreme survivors,” able to withstand a week unprotected in outer space. These and other strange and surprising species invite readers to reflect on what we value—or fail to value—and what we might change. A powerful combination of wit, cutting-edge natural history, and philosophical meditation, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings is an infectious and inspiring celebration of the sheer ingenuity and variety of life in a time of crisis and change.

A celebration of the visual contributions of the bestiary--one of the most popular types of illuminated books during the Middle Ages--and an exploration of its lasting legacy. Brimming with lively animals both real and fantastic, the bestiary was one of the great illuminated manuscript traditions of the Middle Ages. Encompassing imaginary creatures such as the unicorn, siren, and griffin; exotic beasts including the tiger, elephant, and ape; as well as animals native to Europe like the beaver, dog, and hedgehog, the bestiary is a vibrant testimony to the medieval understanding of animals and their role in the world. So iconic were the stories and images of the bestiary that its beasts essentially escaped from the pages, appearing in a wide variety of manuscripts and other objects, including tapestries, ivories, metalwork, and sculpture. With over 270 color illustrations and contributions by twenty-five leading scholars, this gorgeous volume explores the bestiary and its widespread influence on medieval art and culture as well as on modern and contemporary artists like Pablo Picasso and Damien Hirst. Published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center May 14 to August 18, 2019.

While most financial and investment advice focuses on recent trends, or encourages consumers to buy a favoured product, this book breaks the mould, offering eternal wisdom that draws on years of expensive failures and enviable successes. Following on from the success of James Skakoon's The Unwritten Laws of Business (27,000 copies sold to date), this approachable but thoughtful gem brings together these useful lessons for the first time. Covering everything from reminders of the simplest of truths - 'Patience is a virtue' and 'Better safe than sorry' - to the more troublesome - 'Inflation is the stealthiest of enemies' and 'Guarantees are rarely guaranteed' - each law is presented in an accessible, easily digestible manner, and illustrated with examples. This is essential reading for savers and investors, novices and old hands - and these laws are applicable all around the world.

A practical and accessible overview of the fundamentals of business finance -- now in its third edition. Managers are constantly expected to make decisions that reflect a full understanding of the financial consequences. In the absence of formal training, few people are prepared for the responsibilities of dealing with management reports, budgets, and capital proposals, and find themselves embarrassed by their lack of understanding. This book is a practical guide to understanding and managing financial responsibilities. Each chapter examines actual tasks managers have to do, from "how to assemble a budget," "how to read variances on a report," to "how to construct a proposal to invest in new equipment," exploring the principles that can be applied to each task, illustrating practical ways these principles are used, and providing guidance for implementation. Guide to Financial Management will help readers understand financial jargon, financial statements, management accounts, performance measures, budgeting, costing, pricing, decision-making, and investment appraisal. This third edition has been fully revised and expanded with detailed examples from 100 leading businesses around the world.

Shares are a good long-term investment with one hitch: they crash. If you want to make money during market crashes then you can buy volatility, which spikes during these crashes. Volatility can now be traded in the form of exchange traded products that are linked to the value of VIX in the US or VSTOXX in Europe. This book describes volatility and how it is traded in five chapters with many colour illustrations: "What is volatility?," "A brief history of volatility" charting volatility drivers since 1950, "How to invest in volatility" which lists volatility ETFs and ETNs and how they behave, "Volatility Trading Strategies" which describes some rules of thumb that have worked in the past, and "The future" which gives the author's opinion on how volatility will evolve in the coming years. The aim of the book is to help you decide whether to include volatility in your portfolio alongside traditional stocks and bonds.

Discover the wild and wonderful creatures of Thra in this guide to the flora and fauna of the Dark Crystal universe featuring remarkable original illustrations. In a world where rocks talk and trees dispense wisdom from across the ages, anything is possible. The Dark Crystal Bestiary is a comprehensive volume that catalogs the many lifeforms of Thra’s unique ecosystem. Drawing from all aspects of the Dark Crystal saga’s universe, this book is visually dazzling and filled with enthralling information about all of Thra’s lifeforms, making it the definitive guide to a world of wonders. • Own the most comprehensive guide to the Dark Crystal universe: This book showcases fauna from all corners of Thra, from the vile Skeksis and their noble counterparts, the Mystics, to a whole cornucopia of amazing creatures and critters, including Landstriders, Garthim, Peeper Beetles, Fizzgigs, Pluff’m, and many more fan favorites. • Over 200 fantasy illustrations: Featuring all-new illustrations by Iris Compiet, a protégé of the original Dark Crystal concept artist, Brian Froud, this book will show you the world of Thra as you’ve never seen it before. • Learn about the world of Thra: The Dark Crystal Bestiary is packed with lore, drawing information from the original film, the hit Netflix show The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, comic books, and novels. • An epic addition to your home library: Great for fantasy lovers, The Dark Crystal Bestiary will be a perfect addition to your bookshelf or coffee table.