I was assigned this text for a course. Since it was an intro course the instructor really didn't use the book as intended, though I was assured they did at the graduate level.
This is a great intro book. However, as with all books on derivatives and fianancial engineering, you have to have the math foundation.
Again, people do not realize that derivatives and fianancial engineering use very sophisticated math. Which is why wall street finds it easier to hire math guru's like electrical engineers and physics people and teach them fianance than it is to hire fianance majors and teach them the math.
It has gotten better since universities have dedicated graduate programs. And textbooks like this are as soft of an intro as you will find.
I found the coverage of topics excellent. From options to swaps, from stocks to currencies.. and every strategy. the author does not miss anything.
It is not an easy subject matter, but the author does a great job of introducing it.
I was little skeptical when I placed an order for book that was in backlog order. But to my surprise, I got the book very fast in just 2 days, kudos to Amazon.
It has important facts that I needed to learn for the Actuary Exam FM.
Unfortunately, I find textbooks to be tedious, and it does not provide the answers to the questions at the end of the chapters.
I bought this book to teach myself more about financial markets after the meltdown of 20xx (insert any number between 08 and 11).
This book is a great first book on financial markets. The assumed knowledge is minimal: at best, the first few chapters assume that you understand how simple interest work. All the concepts are explained in great detail, with many examples, and the various positions that players on the market can assume are explained very clearly.
The later chapters assume marginally more mathematics, but not much more than most college graduates with some courses on calculus can handle.
Over all, this book competes with the book by Hull for being a great introduction to ingredients of the financial markets.
For those studying for the Actuary Exam MFE, this is a decent textbook to refer back to. I am also using Weishaus's Exam MFE study manual. It's nice to read the textbook and get the background for what is basically just included as Cliff's notes in Weishaus's study manual. The two paired together provides a comprehensive background for the material.
I used this book in an actuarial Exam FM/2 prep course at my university. We only covered the material through swaps (i believe chapter 8). Easily understandable. I had trouble understanding the swaps portion of the text. Definitely a more valuable source if accompanied with instruction. Tons of information... no information on directional trading and prediction of market movements, but that is not what the book was intended for.
This book is actually quite weak. While, the other books recommended by Actuarial Societies are quite strong, this one does not hold up. There are not enough examples or problems in the book. In addition, the book continually reuses the same information in its examples requiring less thought to get through them.
My biggest complaint is how the book approaches Put-Call Parity. This book offers the worst explanation for that concept I have ever read, which is sad because it is the basis for pricing calls and puts.
This seems to be the book chosen by most instructors so there must be some reason for assigning it. I am familiar with the material from reading corporate finance texts. This text, however, is not written well and is actually confusing. So one struggles to understand what the author is actually saying. Hope it gets better.
This is a great book. Not only was it very useful in my derivatives class, it also was useful for other finance subjects. I often found its explanations helpful for completing assignments in fixed income and international finance courses. McDonald's clear explanations and explicit examples set this book apart from others.
Very easy to understand. IMO, it is the only book that is at par with, if not better than, John C. Hull's "Options, Futures And Other Derivatives."
Strongly recommended for everyone with even an oblique interest in the study of derivatives.
If Shreve and Karatzas is/are too dense, read this instead.
With all due respect, this book should inspire the Broadies and Dermans of the world to write such textbooks themselves, and the Sundaresans and Glassermans of the world to (also) cater to less scholarly minds (such as the undersigned).
I got this book few months back, though little pricy but someone recommended it. I found it to be a wonderful blend of the economics and mathematics of derivatives pricing. After reading the book, i was comfortable with :
understanding of derivatives pricing models &
derivatives markets
I strongly recommend people giving their FRM, CFA and / or SOA certifications to get their hands on this book.
You would like it. A good reference book. Only issue is it is little too heavy, hence you cannot lie down and read it for a long time.
I was recommended this text book by the study material I was using to prepare the acturial exam FM. Then I came to check this book here and I found out that the price here is way too much higher. With this price, you can buy both the text book and its solution mannual in Actex Mad River with free UPS shipping. Hope this will help.
Product Details :
Hardcover: 912 pages
Publisher: Addison Wesley; 2 edition (December 25, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 032128030X
ISBN-13: 978-0321280305
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 1.4 x 9.4 inches
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