Product Description

Mastering Derivatives Markets is the most widely read book on the general derivatives market, and is read by everyone from bankers and brokers to journalists.

The latest edition once again offers a comprehensive overview of everything a professional investor needs to know regarding the derivative process and its instruments.

 This include recent changes in derivative trading, and explanations into options, swaps and futures across the key asset classes of rates, currency, equity, commodity and credit. In support of this, it also covers newer and more complex tools such as credit derivatives, and answers the following questions:

            What happens after the deal is done?

            What is benchmarking?

            How does STP work in this market?

            What are electronic templates?

            How is technology evolving?

            How do the new accounting regulations work, IAS 39, FASB 133?

            How will MiFID affect what we do?

This book is your passport to derivative success. Don’t enter the market without it.

The Mastering Series

are your practical guides to gaining the knowledge you need to succeed in the financial world. With the very latest practical examples, exercises and templates used throughout for ease of understanding, The Mastering Series covers every aspect of the topic from the basic essential skills you need to perform your job effectively to the more advanced skills to get you to the top. Written by practitioners for practitioners, these books give you just what you need - and nothing more - to succeed in finance. Several of the titles also come with companion CDs to allow you to put the book's ideas into action straightaway.

The Mastering Series: Practical, comprehensive, essential.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111139 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From the Publisher
Financial Times Prentice Hall
Derivative instruments are the future for financial markets - no finance professional can survive without a working knowledge of their characteristics, operation and behaviour.

Mastering Derivatives Markets provides practical advice, focusing on instruments, trading techniques, key players and market conditions.

"An invaluable and straightforward guide" - Nick Maggs, Training Manager, International Petroleum Exchange

"A vital book for every new entrant into the market" - Christopher Bellew, Director, Prudential-Bache (Futures) Ltd

"An indispensable book for both the novice and the seasoned practitioner" - David Joyce, Applications Marketing Manager, UK & Ireland, Reuters

From the Back Cover

"The definitive passport to success in derivatives. Don't enter the market without it!"

Bill Hodgson, Business Development, DTCC

“As a trader I crave clarity. Mastering Derivatives Markets integrates tradable insights with a nuanced account of the mechanics of the trade. My suspicion is that if you lost money recently in a derivatives trade it was to a trader who reads Ms Taylor's books.”

Joseph M. Brooks, Independent FX Trader, Las Vegas, USA

“We run a number of courses on financial products and this book serves as excellent pre-course reading as well as an everyday reference handbook.”

Maricar Obieta, Senior Vice President, Capital Markets Learning & Development Manager, Corporate and Investment Bank, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Citigroup

“An essential read for anyone serious about understanding the impact of technology on the global derivatives market.”

Kevin Thorogood, Director of Investment Bank Solutions, Thunderhead Ltd

Mastering Derivatives Markets provides full up-to-the-minute explanations of the basic building blocks of options, swaps and futures across the key asset classes: rates, currency, equity, commodity and credit as well as the downstream processes essential to an understanding of today’s new exchange traded instruments.

Can you answer the following questions with confidence?

• Do you understand Credit Derivatives, CDOs and tranches?
• What happens after the deal is done?
• What is benchmarking?
• How does STP work in this market?
• What are electronic templates?
• How is technology evolving?
• How do the new accounting regulations like IAS 39 and FASB 133 work?
• How will MiFID affect what we do?

If you can, great. If not, you will find all the answers, and more besides, in this revised third edition of Mastering Derivatives Markets, which is the most widely read, easy to understand book on the general derivatives market. It is read by finance students and graduates, bankers, brokers, hedge fund managers and journalists as well as being mandatory reading in most IT, operations and technology departments.

Keep this book at your side for future reference and don't enter the derivatives market without it!

About the Author

Francesca Taylor is the principle of Taylor Associates, one of the City’s leading financial training companies, specialising in derivatives, capital markets, risk and treasury training.

Customer Reviews

What People think I know but Don't
As an accountant I have the opportunity to eat lunch with the "finance" guys. One man mentioned a movie, "The Smartest Guys in the Room" about the ENRON scandal. The conversation quickly got technical about "derivatives" something I vaguely remember from a Finance class. I quite honestly feel people assume I know far more about this stuff than I really do. There seemed to be a lot of confusion about the role of "Mark to Market" accounting and its role in the Enron debacle. My opinion was asked about FAS 133 and derivatives. Since I felt I was out of my element, I quickly changed the subject. After lunch I asked my friend to recommend a book on "Derivatives". He gave me Ms. Taylor's book which quite honestly has been the best book in the area of Finance I have read since college. The reasons are many but here are a few. At the very outset she quite politely described my predicament without any condescension. She includes a Chapter designed for those who "maybe, just maybe feel that somewhere somehow you missed something along the line". In this chapter I finally got a crystal clear understanding of the difference between LIBOR/ LIBID and the TVM connection to the Mark to Market process. It's not that I didn't know how to use EXCEL to plug in the right numbers but somehow I felt unclear about the underlying connections. Ms. Taylor's book got rid of my vague feeling of confusion without losing any precision. There is a real cut-to-the-chase feel about this stuff which is still more warmly inviting than most financial texts. Her definition of a Forward Rate Agreement as a "user-friendly packaging" of an over-the-counter financial future made perfect sense to me. There is plenty of material in my area about the new accounting standards for derivatives. What is great about Ms. Taylor's approach is that she incorporates information referencing US and International standards. Needless to say I learned more than I expected from those chapters. Last of all I need to thank her because the whole layout of the book seemed to recognize that a reader like me is not going to take away every detail. Her use of Headings and bold case reminders was far more polite than the "Dummies" books so popular today but recognizes that abstract material must get packaged for easy digestion. I remember how in a philosophy class one British writer, Bertrand Russell, seemed hell bent on turning on the lights making the toughest stuff clear. Ms. Taylor must be the Bertrand Russell of Derivatives.

Easy to follow
An excellent introduction to options and the over-the- counter foreign exchange markets.Lays out in simple plain English trading strategies and goes about removing some of the mystery that surrounds this subject

The definitive passport
The new edition enables readers to understand the rapidly moving world of OTC derivatives - in effect the way the financial industry has translated fundamental financial risks (such as interest rates, foreign exchange rates, credit risk) into contracts which can be priced and managed to provide solutions to an every expanding audience of users, including pension funds, investment managers and all major corporations in the world.

The book is readable by anyone from beginner onwards and includes an updated section on credit derivatives, the most dynamic sector of the OTC market at this time. This edition is expanded to include contributions from industry experts on specialist topics to widen the coverage of the book.

I have to recommend that any person who needs to know more about the OTC derivatives market buy the book. A training course (such as those provided by Francesca the author) provides more intensive coverage, but the book is a simple and (relatively) cheap way to orient yourself.

I have a number of books on financial markets and OTC derivatives which are only readable by people with significant maths ability, this one explains the basic maths but shouldn't be beyond most readers.

I should also be honest and point out I wrote chapter 17 of the book. ;-)

Bill Hodgson.