The Money Formula

Author: Paul Wilmott
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119358612
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 279

Book Description
Explore the deadly elegance of finance's hidden powerhouse The Money Formula takes you inside the engine room of the global economy to explore the little-understood world of quantitative finance, and show how the future of our economy rests on the backs of this all-but-impenetrable industry. Written not from a post-crisis perspective – but from a preventative point of view – this book traces the development of financial derivatives from bonds to credit default swaps, and shows how mathematical formulas went beyond pricing to expand their use to the point where they dwarfed the real economy. You'll learn how the deadly allure of their ice-cold beauty has misled generations of economists and investors, and how continued reliance on these formulas can either assist future economic development, or send the global economy into the financial equivalent of a cardiac arrest. Rather than rehash tales of post-crisis fallout, this book focuses on preventing the next one. By exploring the heart of the shadow economy, you'll be better prepared to ride the rough waves of finance into the turbulent future. Delve into one of the world's least-understood but highest-impact industries Understand the key principles of quantitative finance and the evolution of the field Learn what quantitative finance has become, and how it affects us all Discover how the industry's next steps dictate the economy's future How do you create a quadrillion dollars out of nothing, blow it away and leave a hole so large that even years of "quantitative easing" can't fill it – and then go back to doing the same thing? Even amidst global recovery, the financial system still has the potential to seize up at any moment. The Money Formula explores the how and why of financial disaster, what must happen to prevent the next one.

Quantum Economics

Author: David Orrell
Publisher: Icon Books
ISBN: 1785784005
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Book Description
A decade after the financial crisis, there is a growing consensus that economics has failed and needs to go back to the drawing board. David Orrell argues that it has been trying to solve the wrong problem all along. Economics sees itself as the science of scarcity. Instead, it should be the science of money (which plays a surprisingly small role in mainstream theory). And money is a substance that turns out to have a quantum nature of its own. Just as physicists learn about matter by studying the exchange of particles at the subatomic level, so economics should begin by analysing the nature of money-based transactions. Quantum Economics therefore starts with the meaning of the phrase 'how much' – or, to use the Latin word, quantum. From quantum physics to the dualistic properties of money, via the emerging areas of quantum finance and quantum cognition, this profoundly important book reveals that quantum economics is to neoclassical economics what quantum physics is to classical physics – a genuine turning point in our understanding.

Trading at the Speed of Light

Author: Donald MacKenzie
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691217785
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
A remarkable look at how the growth, technology, and politics of high-frequency trading have altered global financial markets In today’s financial markets, trading floors on which brokers buy and sell shares face-to-face have increasingly been replaced by lightning-fast electronic systems that use algorithms to execute astounding volumes of transactions. Trading at the Speed of Light tells the story of this epic transformation. Donald MacKenzie shows how in the 1990s, in what were then the disreputable margins of the US financial system, a new approach to trading—automated high-frequency trading or HFT—began and then spread throughout the world. HFT has brought new efficiency to global trading, but has also created an unrelenting race for speed, leading to a systematic, subterranean battle among HFT algorithms. In HFT, time is measured in nanoseconds (billionths of a second), and in a nanosecond the fastest possible signal—light in a vacuum—can travel only thirty centimeters, or roughly a foot. That makes HFT exquisitely sensitive to the length and transmission capacity of the cables connecting computer servers to the exchanges’ systems and to the location of the microwave towers that carry signals between computer datacenters. Drawing from more than 300 interviews with high-frequency traders, the people who supply them with technological and communication capabilities, exchange staff, regulators, and many others, MacKenzie reveals the extraordinary efforts expended to speed up every aspect of trading. He looks at how in some markets big banks have fought off the challenge from HFT firms, and how exchanges sometimes engineer technical systems to favor certain types of algorithms over others. Focusing on the material, political, and economic characteristics of high-frequency trading, Trading at the Speed of Light offers a unique glimpse into its influence on global finance and where it could lead us in the future.

Financial Stability

Author: Frederick L. Feldkamp
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118935802
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Book Description
Applying the Lessons of History to Understanding Fraud Today and Tomorrow Financial Stability provides a roadmap by which the world can anticipate and avoid future financial disruptions. This unique discussion of past and present financial events offers new insights that explain economic, political, and legal antecedents of financial crises in Western markets. With a detailed discussion of the history of finance, this book shows modern investors and finance professionals how to learn from past successes and failures to gauge future market threats. Readers will gain new insight into the antecedents of todays financial markets and the political economy that surrounds them. Armed with this knowledge, they will be able to craft a strategy that steers away from financial disorder and toward maximum stability. Coverage includes discussion of capital, forecasting, and political reaction, and past, present, and future applications within all realms of business. The companion website offers additional data and research, providing a complete resource for those seeking a better understanding of the risk at hand. As the world struggles to emerge from the latest financial crisis, professionals in finance, the law and other disciplines, and the people they advise, are searching for understanding to avoid future crises. Financial Stability argues that the best lessons are learned from our own mistakes, and that the ability to look ahead depends upon our willingness to look back. Readers will: Review the historical laws, practices, and outcomes that shaped the modern day financial markets of the great western economies Understand the theory of financial stability, the roles of law and transparency, and the importance of action to punish fraud in order to prevent future contagion Work through the theoretical proofs in terms of math, law, accounting, economics, philosophy, and international trade Build a strategy for the future with consideration toward needs, sources, balance, and learning from past mistakes Everywhere around the globe, at all points in history, financial crises have always been rooted in the confluence of politics, finance, and law. Financial Stability puts the latest global financial crisis in perspective, highlighting the lessons we have already learned, and those we need to internalize today.

Safe Haven

Author: Mark Spitznagel
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1394214855
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 247

Book Description
What is a safe haven? What role should they play in an investment portfolio? Do we use them only to seek shelter until the passing of financial storms? Or are they something more? Contrary to everything we know from modern financial theory, can higher returns actually come as a result of lowering risk? In Safe Haven, hedge fund manager Mark Spitznagel—one of the top practitioners of safe haven investing and portfolio risk mitigation in the world—answers these questions and more. Investors who heed the message in this book will never look at risk mitigation the same way again.

Dark Data

Author: David J. Hand
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691234469
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
"Data describe and represent the world. However, no matter how big they may be, data sets don't - indeed cannot - capture everything. Data are measurements - and, as such, they represent only what has been measured. They don't necessarily capture all the information that is relevant to the questions we may want to ask. If we do not take into account what may be missing/unknown in the data we have, we may find ourselves unwittingly asking questions that our data cannot actually address, come to mistaken conclusions, and make disastrous decisions. In this book, David Hand looks at the ubiquitous phenomenon of "missing data." He calls this "dark data" (making a comparison to "dark matter" - i.e., matter in the universe that we know is there, but which is invisible to direct measurement). He reveals how we can detect when data is missing, the types of settings in which missing data are likely to be found, and what to do about it. It can arise for many reasons, which themselves may not be obvious - for example, asymmetric information in wars; time delays in financial trading; dropouts in clinical trials; deliberate selection to enhance apparent performance in hospitals, policing, and schools; etc. What becomes clear is that measuring and collecting more and more data (big data) will not necessarily lead us to better understanding or to better decisions. We need to be vigilant to what is missing or unknown in our data, so that we can try to control for it. How do we do that? We can be alert to the causes of dark data, design better data-collection strategies that sidestep some of these causes - and, we can ask better questions of our data, which will lead us to deeper insights and better decisions"--

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies

Author: Arvind Narayanan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400884152
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Book Description
An authoritative introduction to the exciting new technologies of digital money Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies provides a comprehensive introduction to the revolutionary yet often misunderstood new technologies of digital currency. Whether you are a student, software developer, tech entrepreneur, or researcher in computer science, this authoritative and self-contained book tells you everything you need to know about the new global money for the Internet age. How do Bitcoin and its block chain actually work? How secure are your bitcoins? How anonymous are their users? Can cryptocurrencies be regulated? These are some of the many questions this book answers. It begins by tracing the history and development of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and then gives the conceptual and practical foundations you need to engineer secure software that interacts with the Bitcoin network as well as to integrate ideas from Bitcoin into your own projects. Topics include decentralization, mining, the politics of Bitcoin, altcoins and the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the future of Bitcoin, and more. An essential introduction to the new technologies of digital currency Covers the history and mechanics of Bitcoin and the block chain, security, decentralization, anonymity, politics and regulation, altcoins, and much more Features an accompanying website that includes instructional videos for each chapter, homework problems, programming assignments, and lecture slides Also suitable for use with the authors' Coursera online course Electronic solutions manual (available only to professors)

Machine Learning

Author: Paul Wilmott
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781916081604
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
Machine Learning: An Applied Mathematics Introduction covers the essential mathematics behind all of the following topics - K Nearest Neighbours; K Means Clustering; Naïve Bayes Classifier; Regression Methods; Support Vector Machines; Self-Organizing Maps; Decision Trees; Neural Networks; Reinforcement Learning

Disrupting Finance

Author: Theo Lynn
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030023303
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
This open access Pivot demonstrates how a variety of technologies act as innovation catalysts within the banking and financial services sector. Traditional banks and financial services are under increasing competition from global IT companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon and PayPal whilst facing pressure from investors to reduce costs, increase agility and improve customer retention. Technologies such as blockchain, cloud computing, mobile technologies, big data analytics and social media therefore have perhaps more potential in this industry and area of business than any other. This book defines a fintech ecosystem for the 21st century, providing a state-of-the art review of current literature, suggesting avenues for new research and offering perspectives from business, technology and industry.

The Origin of Financial Crises

Author: George Cooper
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307473686
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
In a series of disarmingly simple arguments financial market analyst George Cooper challenges the core principles of today's economic orthodoxy and explains how we have created an economy that is inherently unstable and crisis prone. With great skill, he examines the very foundations of today's economic philosophy and adds a compelling analysis of the forces behind economic crisis. His goal is nothing less than preventing the seemingly endless procession of damaging boom-bust cycles, unsustainable economic bubbles, crippling credit crunches, and debilitating inflation. His direct, conscientious, and honest approach will captivate any reader and is an invaluable aid in understanding today's economy.