The World Scientific Handbook Of Futures Markets

The World Scientific Handbook of Futures Markets serves as a definitive source for comprehensive and accessible information in futures markets. The emphasis is on the unique characteristics of futures markets that make them worthy of a special volume. In our judgment, futures markets are currently undergoing remarkable changes as trading is shifting from open outcry to electronic and as the traditional functions of hedging and speculation are extended to include futures as an alternative investment vehicle in traditional portfolios. The unique feature of this volume is the selection of five classic papers that lay the foundations of the futures markets and the invitation to the leading academics who do work in the area to write critical surveys in a dozen important topics.

This book introduces the readers to the rapidly growing literature and latest results on financial, fundamental and seasonal anomalies, stock selection modeling and portfolio management. Fifty years ago, finance professors taught the Efficient Markets Hypothesis which states that the average investor could not outperform the stock market based on technical, seasonal and fundamental data. Many, if not most faculty and investors, no longer share that opinion. In this book, the authors report original empirical evidence that applied investment research can produce statistically significant stock selection and excess portfolio returns in the US, and larger excess returns in international and emerging markets.

Forbes Magazine called the 1,600-page, original Handbook of Futures Markets ``an exceptionally fine collection of work on every phase of the futures market.'' Now in paperback (and weighing much less than the six-and-a-half pound hardcover edition), this concise version covers the essential principles and methods in the encyclopedic original in 800 pages. Comprising all the material in Parts I through V of the original handbook, this edition brings together the know-how of the markets' foremost authorities. It covers futures markets and their operation; factors that influence the markets; uses of the markets, including hedging, managing interest rate risk, commodity spreads and options; forecasting methods and tools; and risk and money management.

The futures and options bible from the world's first, and America's largest, futures exchange Through nine editions over three decades, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) has provided futures and options traders with the self-published Commodity Trading Manual. Now the CBOT has entered into an exclusive agreement with McGraw-Hill to bring you this vital book. The Chicago Board of Trade Handbook of Futures and Options delivers valuable information on everything from the uses and purposes of the futures market to nuts-and-bolts descriptions of day-to-day exchange operations.

This book contains several innovative models for the prices of financial assets. First published in 1986, it is a classic text in the area of financial econometrics. It presents ARCH and stochastic volatility models that are often used and cited in academic research and are applied by quantitative analysts in many banks. Another often-cited contribution of the first edition is the documentation of statistical characteristics of financial returns, which are referred to as stylized facts. This second edition takes into account the remarkable progress made by empirical researchers during the past two decades from 1986 to 2006. In the new Preface, the author summarizes this progress in two key areas: firstly, measuring, modelling and forecasting volatility; and secondly, detecting and exploiting price trends. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Introduction (1,134 KB). Contents: Features of Financial Returns; Modelling Price Volatility; Forecasting Standard Deviations; The Accuracy of Autocorrelation Estimates; Testing the Random Walk Hypothesis; Forecasting Trends in Prices; Evidence Against the Efficiency of Futures Markets; Valuing Options; Appendix: A Computer Program for Modelling Financial Time Series. Readership: Academic researchers in finance & economics; quantitative analysts.

This is a comprehensive guide to the workings of the world’s commodity and financial futures and options markets. For all those new or already active in the futures and options markets, it is a handbook of first and last resort for traders, brokers, advisers and investors alike, and is written by a highly experienced market practitioner with contributions from leading experts in the field. It begins with an examination of the markets and instruments - including the OTC market and erivatives, and goes on to explain trading, regulation and management. It also evaluates the likely future developments in futures and options.

In this book, Dr Mak views the financial market from a scientific perspective. The book attempts to provide a realistic description of what the market is, and how future research should be developed. The market is a complex phenomenon, and can be forecasted only with errors — if that particular market can be forecasted at all. The book reviews the scientific literatures on the financial market and describes mathematical procedures which demonstrate that some markets are non-random. How the markets are modeled — phenomenologically and from first principle — is explained. It discusses indicators, which are quite objective, rather than price patterns, which are rather subjective. Similarities between indicators in market trading and operators in mathematics are noted, and particularly, between oscillator indicators and derivatives in Calculus. It illustrates why some indicators, e.g., Stochastics, have limited usage. Several new indicators are designed and tested on theoretical waveforms to check their validity and applicability. The indicators have a minimal time lag, which is significant for trading purposes. Common market behaviors like divergences between price and momentum are explained. A skipped convolution technique is introduced to allow traders to pick up market movements at an earlier time. The market is treated as a nonlinear phenomenon. Forecasting of when the market is going to turn is emphasized. Contents:Is the Market Random?Models of the Financial MarketsSignals and IndicatorsTrending IndicatorsOscillator IndicatorsVertex IndicatorsVarious TimeframesWavelet AnalysisOther New TechniquesTrading SystemsFinancial Markets are Complex Readership: Investors, traders and undergraduate students of finance. Keywords:Trading;Complexity;Financial Market;Digital Signal ProcessingReviews:“… chapters of the book are devoted to signals and indicators that can model differences in successive price values, market tops and bottoms and other market's specific features. Several new indicators are designed. They are tested on theoretical wave forms before being applied on real market data. It is explained why certain market movements follow certain indicator response. Divergences between price and certain indicator responses are interpreted … Computer programs of the new indicators are included.”Zentralblatt MATH “The Science of Financial Market Trading by Don K Mak is an advanced level book that addresses several methodologies related to technical analysis in trading. The audience for the book may include (1) Institutional investment analysts with graduate level academic background, (2) Fund managers, who use many external sources for trading, (3) Graduate students in the field of finance and financial economics who want to find a career in financial market trading, and (4) PhD students who want to research in technical analysis … The book is written to draw audiences from both practitioners and academics and manages to keep the readers away from too much mathematical derivations. However, mathematical derivations are left in the Appendix for those who are interested in understanding the details … the book is well written from the beginning to the end, and chapters are well developed and well connected.”Journal of Risk and Insurance “The book draws heavily on mathematical modeling, digital information processing methods and mathematical tables to explain the movement of indicators under different conditions. The mathematical derivations and other mathematical techniques performed on these new indicators are useful for readers who want to acheive a deeper understanding of the financial market.”Translated from the Overseas Humanities Literature Wuhan University Newsletter

Everything you need to know about the futures market Getting Started in Futures, Fourth Edition, covers everything investors need to know about the futures market, including how margins are set, how an order is handled in the trading pit, and the steps a producer or user must take to effectively hedge a cash commodity. Featuring new examples, charts, and timely additions to reflect important changes in the markets, the Fourth Edition also includes a new chapter on trading futures online. Todd Lofton (Great Falls, VA) is a past member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange and a popular speaker and writer on the subject of futures.