An Arbitrage Guide to Financial Markets is the first book to explicitly show the linkages of markets for equities, currencies, fixed income and commodities. Using a unique structural approach, it dissects all markets the same way: into spot, forward and contingent dimensions, bringing out the simplicity and the commonalities of all markets. The book shuns stochastic calculus in favor of cash flow details of arbitrage trades. All math is simple, but there is lots of it. The book reflects the relative value mentality of an institutional trader seeking profit from misalignments of various market segments. The book is aimed at entrants into investment banking and dealing businesses, existing personnel in non-trading jobs, and people outside of the financial services industry trying to gain a view into what drives dealers in today’s highly integrated marketplace. A committed reader is guaranteed to leave with a deep understanding of all current issues. "This is an excellent introduction to the financial markets by an author with a strong academic approach and practical insights from trading experience. At a time when the proliferation of financial instruments and the increased use of sophisticated mathematics in their analysis, makes an introduction to financial markets intimidating to most, this book is very useful. It provides an insight into the core concepts across markets and uses mathematics at an accessible level. It equips readers to understand the fundamentals of markets, valuation and trading. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to understand the essentials of successfully trading, structuring or using the entire range of financial instruments available today." —Varun Gosain, Principal, Constellation Capital Management, New York "Robert Dubil, drawing from his extensive prior trading experience, has made a significant contribution by writing an easy to understand book about the complex world of today’s financial markets, using basic mathematical concepts. The book is filled with insights and real life examples about how traders approach the market and is required reading for anyone with an interest in understanding markets or a career in trading." —George Handjinicolaou, Partner, Etolian Capital, New York "This book provides an excellent guide to the current state of the financial markets. It combines academic rigour with the author’s practical experience of the financial sector, giving both students and practitioners an insight into the arbitrage pricing mechanism." —Zenji Nakamura, Managing Director, Europe Fixed Income Division, Nomura International plc, London

A whole is worth the sum of its parts. Even the most complex structured bond, credit arbitrage strategy or hedge trade can be broken down into its component parts, and if we understand the elemental components, we can then value the whole as the sum of its parts. We can quantify the risk that is hedged and the risk that is left as the residual exposure. If we learn to view all financial trades and securities as engineered packages of building blocks, then we can analyze in which structures some parts may be cheap and some may be rich. It is this relative value arbitrage principle that drives all modern trading and investment. This book is an easy-to-understand guide to the complex world of today’s financial markets teaching you what money and capital markets are about through a sequence of arbitrage-based numerical illustrations and exercises enriched with institutional detail. Filled with insights and real life examples from the trading floor, it is essential reading for anyone starting out in trading. Using a unique structural approach to teaching the mechanics of financial markets, the book dissects markets into their common building blocks: spot (cash), forward/futures, and contingent (options) transactions. After explaining how each of these is valued and settled, it exploits the structural uniformity across all markets to introduce the difficult subjects of financially engineered products and complex derivatives. The book avoids stochastic calculus in favour of numeric cash flow calculations, present value tables, and diagrams, explaining options, swaps and credit derivatives without any use of differential equations.

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.

An informative guide to market microstructure and trading strategies Over the last decade, the financial landscape has undergone a significant transformation, shaped by the forces of technology, globalization, and market innovations to name a few. In order to operate effectively in today's markets, you need more than just the motivation to succeed, you need a firm understanding of how modern financial markets work and what professional trading is really about. Dr. Anatoly Schmidt, who has worked in the financial industry since 1997, and teaches in the Financial Engineering program of Stevens Institute of Technology, puts these topics in perspective with his new book. Divided into three comprehensive parts, this reliable resource offers a balance between the theoretical aspects of market microstructure and trading strategies that may be more relevant for practitioners. Along the way, it skillfully provides an informative overview of modern financial markets as well as an engaging assessment of the methods used in deriving and back-testing trading strategies. Details the modern financial markets for equities, foreign exchange, and fixed income Addresses the basics of market dynamics, including statistical distributions and volatility of returns Offers a summary of approaches used in technical analysis and statistical arbitrage as well as a more detailed description of trading performance criteria and back-testing strategies Includes two appendices that support the main material in the book If you're unprepared to enter today's markets you will underperform. But with Financial Markets and Trading as your guide, you'll quickly discover what it takes to make it in this competitive field.

A wave of corporate mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and similar transactions has created unprecedented opportunities for those versed in contemporary risk arbitrage techniques. At the same time, the nature of the merger wave has lent such transactions a much higher degree of predictability than ever before, making risk arbitrage more attractive to investors. Surprisingly, there is little transparency and instruction for investors interested in learning the latest risk arbitrage techniques. Merger Arbitrage – A Fundamental Approach to Event-Driven Investing helps readers understand the inner workings of the strategy and hedge funds which engaged in this investment strategy. Merger arbitrage is one of the most commonly used strategies but paradoxically one of the least known. This book puts it in the spotlight and explains how fund managers are able to benefit from mergers and acquisitions. It describes how to implement this strategy, located at the crossroad of corporate finance and asset management, and where its risks lie through numerous topical examples. The book is split into three parts. The first part, examining the basis of merger arbitrage, looks at the key role of the market in takeover bids. It also assesses the major changes in the financial markets over recent years and their impact on M&A. Various M&A risk and return factors are also discussed, alongside the historical profitability of merger arbitrage, the different approaches used by fund managers and the results of academic studies on the subject. The second part of the book deals with the risk of an M&A transaction failing in terms of financing risk, competition issues, the legal aspects of merger agreements and administrative and political risks. The third part of the book examines specificities of M&A transactions, comprehensively covering hostile takeovers and leveraged buyouts. Each part contains many recent examples and case studies in order to show how the various theories and notions are put into practice. From researching prospects and determining positions, to hedging and trading tactics, Lionel Melka and Amit Shabi present the full complement of sophisticated risk arbitrage techniques, making Merger Arbitrage a must read for finance and investment professionals who want to take advantage of the nearly limitless opportunities afforded by today’s rapidly changing global business environment. The book builds on its authors’ diverse backgrounds and common experience managing a merger arbitrage fund, providing readers with an enriching inside view on M&A operations. Translated by Andrew Fanko and Frances Thomas

The Complete Guide to Capital Markets for Quantitative Professionals is a comprehensive resource for readers with a background in science and technology who want to transfer their skills to the financial industry. It is written in a clear, conversational style and requires no prior knowledge of either finance or financial analytics. The book begins by discussing the operation of the financial industry and the business models of different types of Wall Street firms, as well as the job roles those with technical backgrounds can fill in those firms. Then it describes the mechanics of how these firms make money trading the main financial markets (focusing on fixed income, but also covering equity, options and derivatives markets), and highlights the ways in which quantitative professionals can participate in this money-making process. The second half focuses on the main areas of Wall Street technology and explains how financial models and systems are created, implemented, and used in real life. This is one of the few books that offers a review of relevant literature and Internet resources.

While statistical arbitrage has faced some tough times?as markets experienced dramatic changes in dynamics beginning in 2000?new developments in algorithmic trading have allowed it to rise from the ashes of that fire. Based on the results of author Andrew Pole?s own research and experience running a statistical arbitrage hedge fund for eight years?in partnership with a group whose own history stretches back to the dawn of what was first called pairs trading?this unique guide provides detailed insights into the nuances of a proven investment strategy. Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, Statistical Arbitrage contains comprehensive analysis that will appeal to both investors looking for an overview of this discipline, as well as quants looking for critical insights into modeling, risk management, and implementation of the strategy.

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to arbitrage, and he will eat for a lifetime' Warren Buffett Warren Buffett and the Art of the Stock Arbitrageis the first book to explore the secret world of Buffett's arbitrage and special situations investing. Long considered one of the most powerful and profitable of Buffett's investment operations, but the least understood, these special types of investments have been the edge that has made Warren Buffett the world's greatest investor. This book examines Buffett's special brand of arbitrage investing,which involves taking advantage of short term price discrepancies that often occur when one company offers to buy another companyary Buffett and David Clark, the authors of four best-selling books on Warren Buffett's investment methods, take the reader deep into the world of Buffett's arbitrage and special situation operations, giving us his strategies, his equations for determining value, and dozens of examples of his investments in this very lucrative segment of Buffett's investment operations. They offer detailed analysis and explanations of Buffett's arbitrage and special situations operations and techniques for the first time ever.

COVERS THE FUNDAMENTAL TOPICS IN MATHEMATICS, STATISTICS, AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT THAT ARE REQUIRED FOR A THOROUGH STUDY OF FINANCIAL MARKETS This comprehensive yet accessible book introduces students to financial markets and delves into more advanced material at a steady pace while providing motivating examples, poignant remarks, counterexamples, ideological clashes, and intuitive traps throughout. Tempered by real-life cases and actual market structures, An Introduction to Financial Markets: A Quantitative Approach accentuates theory through quantitative modeling whenever and wherever necessary. It focuses on the lessons learned from timely subject matter such as the impact of the recent subprime mortgage storm, the collapse of LTCM, and the harsh criticism on risk management and innovative finance. The book also provides the necessary foundations in stochastic calculus and optimization, alongside financial modeling concepts that are illustrated with relevant and hands-on examples. An Introduction to Financial Markets: A Quantitative Approach starts with a complete overview of the subject matter. It then moves on to sections covering fixed income assets, equity portfolios, derivatives, and advanced optimization models. This book’s balanced and broad view of the state-of-the-art in financial decision-making helps provide readers with all the background and modeling tools needed to make “honest money” and, in the process, to become a sound professional. Stresses that gut feelings are not always sufficient and that “critical thinking” and real world applications are appropriate when dealing with complex social systems involving multiple players with conflicting incentives Features a related website that contains a solution manual for end-of-chapter problems Written in a modular style for tailored classroom use Bridges a gap for business and engineering students who are familiar with the problems involved, but are less familiar with the methodologies needed to make smart decisions An Introduction to Financial Markets: A Quantitative Approach offers a balance between the need to illustrate mathematics in action and the need to understand the real life context. It is an ideal text for a first course in financial markets or investments for business, economic, statistics, engineering, decision science, and management science students.