Financial-future

Contrary to the academic snobs this book presents a basic overview with enough general content to get you going in this area. If you are looking for a seminal book on the subject full of derivatives and summation signs compounded with footnotes to obscure books whose seminal ideas are now dated, then look elsewhere. In the retrospect the book is now 3 years old. Given that technology and markets have changed the book still remains current. For you techies still having to buy this book maybe you never applied what the author also taught in the book. Maybe a little realization that this book is also geared to make you money should have any potential buyer realize that the stock market is made up of all kinds of folks who even with no education become millionaires. Such is the difference between Europe and America. Great starting point book to move on to next level with.

This book explains how to assign a value to options in understandable terms. Some knowledge of calculus is helpful but not necessary to grasp the concepts. Equations are given for those interested.

A number of example portfolios consisting of calls and/or puts are given. Each portfolio is described in terms of aggressive or conservative, sensitivity to volatility, and performance relative to movements in the underlying stock. Graphs show the current and expiration date values of the portfolio versus the price of the underlying stock.

Baxter's book, "Financial Calculus: An Introduction to Derivative Pricing", concentrates on the math. This book puts its emphasis on trading strategies.

This was the second book I read on financial markets. There is a wealth of information on all kinds of financial stuff.
I specially liked the Options chapter. I think the Stocks chapter was an overkill but still there was much useful info.
Pretty organized and fairly unbiased. The retirement piece at the end of the book was definitely underdone but I don't think this book was meant to cover retirement anyways.
The author doesn't try to portray the financial markets as a road to riches. He lets the reader draw his own conclusions from the topics covered. An educational read overall.

Hello,
Robert Hashemian here, author of the book. Obviously you can ignore my own rating for the book. No surprise that I think it's a pretty good book.
You can also read this book online at www.hashemian.com and decide for yourself.

I learned a great deal from this book and I can tell you it is worth every cent of its price, which I considered high before purchasing. The author has a very creative style and yet is able to explain even the most complicated information in an easy to understand and often humorous way. Even if you don't think you will take advantage of all the knowledge you will gain from reading it, I suggest you do read it all, as you never know what may prove useful in the future.