Customized Derivatives: A Step-by-Step Guide
Customized Derivatives: A Step-By Step Guide To Using Exotic Options, SWAPS, And Other Customized Derivatives (418 pages, $70.00, 1997), by K. Ravindran, a principal of Consolidated Risk-Management Solutions, Inc., and published by McGraw-Hill. The world of powerful derivatives and derivative products is explored in detail within these pages. Customized Derivatives teaches the building blocks from which all derivatives are calculated. With this knowledge of the basics, it is possible to understand new derivatives as they are introduced as well as construct other products of one's own design. Ravindran includes the long-used models by which derivatives are priced, and teaches the way to use these models to quickly ascertain the fair value for the product.
BACK TO LIST
Technically Speaking: Tips And Strategies From 16 Top Analysts (488 pages, $43.75 hardcover, 1998) by Chris Wilkinson, published by and available only from Traders Press. For those who are passionate about technical analysis, this book is a special treat. Chris Wilkinson interviewed 16 of the top technical analysts in the US, names such as John Bollinger, John Murphy, Marc Chaikin, Martin Pring and Peter Eliades, just to name a few. Taken as a whole, those interviewed average more than 28 years of experience in technical analysis.
Besides the body of work covered by each analyst, there are many references to the work and teachings of other familiar names. The discussions are easily visualized by the plentiful use of charts, graphs and tables, which clearly display the points made in the text. Technically Speaking is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
BACK TO LIST
Trading 101: How To Trade Like A Pro (202 pages, $29.95 hardcover, 1996) by Sunny J. Harris, published by John Wiley & Sons. If you think that you might like to try your luck in this field, this is the book you need to read first. After Harris matriculated from trading's University of Hard Knocks, she vowed that she would write a book that would make it easier for others who chose a similar career path. This work is the result.
Starting with what the markets are and what trading is, she then walks the beginner through all of the basics associated with trading the many types of financial instruments. The book is an index full of recommendations, which are focused about what to do and a list of ways to do it. Authors/traders no less than John Bollinger praise this as an immense assistance to the novice. The industry is changing so fast that no one can keep up with it completely, but Trading 101 is a wonderful place to start.
Wiley Book Order Dept., 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset, NJ 08875. Phone 800 225-5945. Internet https://www.wiley.comBACK TO LIST
The Education Of A Speculator (444 pages, $18.95 paper, 1998) by Victor Niederhoffer, published by John Wiley & Sons. This book is an autobiographical look at how the facets of the author's life contributed to his becoming one of the world's most prolific speculators.
As a contrarian trader, Niederhoffer made a spectacular compounded annual return of 32% between 1984 and 1996. Toward the end of October 1997, however, the markets went against his positions so heavily that he lost everything. As a colleague and friend of financier George Soros, Niederhoffer often traded over a billion dollars' worth of contracts a month.
This book looks at all of the lessons he learned along the way to The Street, and how they affected him. The entire story is woven with humor, passion and more than a little idiosyncrasy; for instance, the only newspaper he subscribed to was The National Enquirer. His love for, and the devastation brought about by the death of, his father is clear in both the words and feeling of the book.
BACK TO LIST
Women Of The Street: Making It On Wall Street In The World's Toughest Business (208 pages, $16.95 paper, 1998) by Sue Herera, published by John Wiley & Sons. CNBC anchor Sue Herera overheard a comment that most of the finance and investment professionals are men. The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was untrue. She then set about putting together this series of interviews with some of the top women of finance and investment to prove her point.
Well-known Wall Street finance and investment professionals such as Abby Joseph Cohen, Muriel Siebert and Elaine Garzarelli are interviewed here, along with Paine Webber managing director Mary Farrell, Oppenheimer Funds CEO Bridget Macaskill and Bear Stearns chief investment strategist and managing director Elizabeth Mackay, all women whose rises to the top are covered here.
BACK TO LIST
Market Magic: Riding The Greatest Bull Market Of The Century (252 pages, $34.95 hardcover, 1998) by Louise Yamada, published by John Wiley & Sons. Yamada's position as director and senior technical analyst at one of the world's leading brokerage firms lends much credence to this book. She has the resources, the staff and the charts to back up what she suggests. It is her strong belief that this time it really is different. That said, as she points out clearly, there are no guarantees.
Yamada is bullish, not only for the rest of this century, but into the next as well. It is her belief that the emerging nations' younger population will create greater demand and purchasing power for many products, but especially food. The increasing demand for water on a worldwide scale will be greater than the demand for oil. Water will become, in the author's words, "The gold of the 21st century." The ever-increasing power of computers will generate cost savings in many areas not yet even touched. Market Magic is filled with graphs that clarify her perceptions. Yamada's concepts are well-researched, professionally presented and very convincing.
BACK TO LIST
Pattern, Price & Time: Using Gann Theory In Trading Systems (302 pages, $59.95 hardcover, 1998) by James A. Hyerczyk, published by John Wiley & Sons. Of all the books written on the theories of WD Gann, few have been able to explain his works in the exhaustive detail of this book. Gann's mathematical skills combined with his interest in the markets gave the world a set of theories that remain sound even today. Gann maintained that certain patterns, developed in concert with the influence of time and price, could predict exact tops, bottoms, resistance and support.
Gann openly published his predictions, including one in 1929 that called for the crash. He was not a conventional trader, but his ability to predict the actions of the markets and his resulting financial success brought him increasing popularity despite his detractors.
This book by Hyerczyk, a technical expert in Gann's works, gives a comprehensive study of some of the more significant of these theories. There are detailed examinations of Gann angles, percentage retracements, swing charts, cycle dates, and natural cycles, just to name a few. Hyerczyk goes beyond explanation and offers ways to include these theories into some of today's most popular charting software packages. If you are a student of Gann, or think you'd like to be, this book will be of tremendous help.
BACK TO LIST
