Derivatives For Decision Makers

Derivatives are the power tools that enable users to analyze components of risk and return inherent in an investment or a business. The popularity of derivative use in the marketplace has surged in recent years, spurring financial innovation and better risk management. Yet this popular instrument is double-edged: derivatives are as risky as they are beneficial. In light of recent, highly publicized disasters - the Orange County bankruptcy and the Barings fiasco - it is imperative that business and finance professionals have a current and basic knowledge of this complicated and venturesome field. If you are a shareholder, director, or other decision maker in a company utilizing derivatives, it is important that you know how to maximize the benefits of derivatives and minimize the damage that they can cause. Now, two leading financial experts provide the solid principles you need to understand and properly use derivative products and structured financing.

"A brilliantly conceived and lucidly written exposition of the most important topic on the frontier of modern finance. This book takes the mystery out of derivatives. Bravo!"—John H. Langbein, Professor, Yale Law School "Derivatives for Decision Makers is a first in explaining derivatives to those who need to understand them. It explains what derivatives are, how they can be used as risk management tools, and what managers and decision makers need to know about the subject. Not only is the technical substance superb, but the form is accessible to all decision makers."—Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss, Director, The World Bank Group "Derivatives for Decision Makers is an excellent resource for both users and providers of derivative products, regardless of the reader's level of sophistication. The recent highly publicized derivatives problems are objectively reviewed by the authors who contribute important and sensible recommendations to avoid similar situations in the future."—Dipak K. Rastogi, Executive Vice President and former Head of Global Derivatives, Citibank, N. A. "Derivatives can play a critical role in achieving corporate financing and investment strategies. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned practitioner, Crawford and Sen present a superb roadmap with well-chosen, real-world illustrations. Their vivid insights make this book a 'must-read' for corporate and pension fund managers."—Sandra S. Wijnberg, Vice President & Assistant Treasurer, PepsiCo, Inc. "Crawford and Sen have done a fine job of making derivatives comprehensible for managers who need to understand the basic features and uses of these instruments. This coverage, together with the book's unique emphasis on senior management's fiduciary obligations to the firm's shareholders, sets this book apart from other attempts to make derivatives accessible to senior management. This book is an important read."—John F. Marshall, Executive Director, International Association of Financial Engineers and Professor of Financial Engineering, Polytechnic University Derivatives are the power tools that enable users to analyze components of risk and return inherent in an investment or a business. The popularity of derivative use in the marketplace has surged in recent years, spurring financial innovation and better risk management. Yet this popular instrument is double-edged: derivatives are as risky as they are beneficial. In light of recent, highly publicized disasters—the Orange County bankruptcy and the Barings fiasco—it is imperative that business and finance professionals have a current and basic knowledge of this complicated and venturesome field. If you are a shareholder, director, or other decision maker in a company utilizing derivatives, it is important that you know how to maximize the benefits of derivatives and minimize the damage that they can cause. Now, two leading financial experts provide the solid principles you need to understand and properly use derivative products and structured financing. Starting upwards from the ground floor, this straightforward, no-nonsense resource is replete with tables, graphs, and common examples and common sense, offering invaluable information on: The three major types of derivatives-options, futures, and swaps Leverage—what it is, why it is so important, how it is used to increase returns, and how it multiplies risk Hedging a stock portfolio and hedging industry risk with synthetic futures Business risks—core and secondary risks; which business risks to hedge with derivatives Investment strategies using derivatives Derivative risks—market, credit, legal, and systemic Fiduciary duties—the duties of loyalty and care, exceptions, the prudent investor rule, business judgment, rule and disclosure requirements Delegating management functions—selecting, instructing, and monitoring experts Whether you're a manager, director, attorney, accountant, corporate executive, or corporate shareholder, this comprehensive book will prove to be an invaluable guide on utilizing and handling derivatives wisely, resourcefully, and successfully.

This textbook offers a comprehensive analysis of medical decision-making under uncertainty by combining test information theory with expected utility theory. The authors show how the parameters of Bayes’ theorem can be combined with a value function of health states in order to arrive at informed test and treatment decisions in the face of diagnostic and therapeutic risks. Distinguishing between risk-neutral, risk-averse, and prudent decision-makers, they demonstrate the effects of risk preferences on medical decisions. Furthermore, they analyze individual and multiple tests as well as diagnostic models in which the decision-maker chooses the test outcome. The consequences of test and treatment decisions for the patient are encompassed by quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and the standard economic model, which applies the willingness to pay for health approach. Lastly, non-expected utility models of choice under risk and uncertainty are presented. Although these models can explain some of the test and treatment decisions observed, they are less suitable for normative analyses aimed at providing guidance on medical decision-making. This third edition provides extensively revised versions of all chapters and reflects recent innovations in medical decision-making such as decision curve analysis. New chapters focus on the health economics of and revealed preferences in medical decisions. The book is intended for students of (health) economics and medicine as well as for medical decision-makers and physicians dealing with uncertainty in their test and treatment decisions.

Covers all 2017 exam changes Text matches Wiley CMAexcel Review Course content structure LOS index in Review Course for easier cross-references to full explanations in text Includes access to the Online Test Bank, which contains 1,000 multiple-choice questions and 5 sample essays Features sample essay questions, knowledge checks, exam tips, and practice questions Multiple-choice question feedback helps CMA candidates focus on areas where they need the most work Helps candidates prepare a solid study plan with exam tips Feature section examines Financial Statement Analysis, Corporate Finance, Decision Analysis, Risk Management, Investment Decisions, and Professional Ethics Based on the CMA body of knowledge developed by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA®), Wiley CMAexcel Learning System Exam Review 2017 features content derived from the exam Learning Outcome Statements (LOS).

Widely acknowledged, this popular and detailed text is a comprehensive treatise on Managerial Economics – both micro and macro-economic aspects. This text ensures a thorough understanding of core concepts before advancing to provide an expanded treatment of topics. It explains the economic environment and the impact on managerial decisions regarding price & output determination in different market structures followed by an account of the behaviour of individuals under conditions of uncertainty.

This book consists of invaluable introductions, tutorials and problems which are helpful for teaching purposes and have a very broad appeal and usage. The problems cover many aspects of static and dynamic portfolio theory as well as other important subjects such as arbitrage and asset pricing, utility theory, stochastic dominance, risk aversion and static portfolio theory, risk measures, dynamic portfolio theory and asset allocation. This material could be used with important books that cover these topics including MacLean-Ziemba's The Handbook of the Fundamentals of Financial Decision Making, and Ziemba-Vickson's Stochastic Optimization Models in Finance.

In the twenty-first century the sustainability of energy and transportation systems is on the top of the political agenda in many countries around the world. Environmental impacts of human economic activity necessitate the consideration of conflicting goals in decision making processes to develop sustainable systems. Any sustainable development has to reconcile conflicting economic and environmental objectives and criteria. The science of multiple criteria decision making has a lot to offer in addressing this need. Decision making with multiple (conflicting) criteria is the topic of research that is at the heart of the International Society of Multiple Criteria Decision Making. This book is based on selected papers presented at the societies 19th International Conference, held at The University of Auckland, New Zealand, from 7th to 12th January 2008 under the theme "MCDM for Sustainable Energy and Transportation Systems''.

Information and computer technologies for data analysis and processing in various fields of data mining and machine learning generates the conditions for increasing the effectiveness of information processing by making it faster and more accurate. The book includes 49 scientific papers presenting the latest research in the fields of data mining, machine learning and decision-making. Divided into three sections: “Analysis and Modeling of Complex Systems and Processes”; “Theoretical and Applied Aspects of Decision-Making Systems”; and “Computational Intelligence and Inductive Modeling”, the book is of interest to scientists and developers in the field.