Financial-Math

A cursory review of this title reveals a fair presentation of unremarkable material.

The author is giving away no secrets and is charging a premium for information that is better found away.

This book does not adequately differentiate between ordinary and exact simple interest rates, ordinary and annuity due applications, and does not explain the important applications of the internal rate of return(IRR) method. In fact the IRR is very important and is used by such popular software as Quicken. The applications presented in this book of financial math are limited mostly to bonds. Readers interested in personal applications such as stocks, home mortgages, insurance, income tax, inflation, consumer credit and loans, income taxes, and retirement analyses, etc. would find little use for this book.

Anyone serious about learnig finanal math and its applications should look elsewhere. The book is written for professionals in the financial industry, but they certainly would not learn anything from this simplistic book.

Also the HP-12C financial calculator is considered the standard for the industry. I cannot find a HP-19B, and the HP 17-B I found does not even have financial functions on it.

This would be a good book for new people to the world of finance.
One user wrote that the 17BII and the 19BII are not financial calculators, he is really wrong, and should contact Hewlett Packard if he thinks that the 2 calculators are not financial calculators.

Back to the book, if you are new to world of finance or just taking an into class, this book would be a very helpful learning tool.

Introduction to Financial Math is probably one of the best written, easy to understand, and fun to read math textbook out there! Four years ago, I joined an investment bank and was required to review the Adkins & Matchett's Financial Business Box. Having come from a non quant background, I was quite nervous. This book definitely put me on ease! It's easy to understand, has tons of problem sets, and most importantly isn't boring to read (when was the last time you read that about a math book?)

Now, I am going to Business School and will review all this material again. Without question, this book provides you with all the necessary tools needed in finance.

An excellent book for teaching house-staff. However, it is now out-dated; a new edition is needed.

I read it cover to cover. It is an excellent guide to imaging studies - I really hope they come up with a 2nd edition.

The book provides good reference information with regard to the basic price/yield equations, but John Martin gives short shrift to any discussion of the finance theory behind them. It is not just an academic issue since many instruments will trade a premium or discount to the prices implied by the basic equations.

Go with the classic: Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives (5th Edition) -- by John C. Hull.

I agree with the Mr. Phillips about this book merely presenting the basic valuation equations, but I think that is the beauty of this book. Notice the title made a reference to this book beeing intended for 'non-quants'. However this book still provide 'quants' a valuable reference guide when one needs to brush up on the mechanics of a given derivative valuation.

This book is written from a risk-management practitioner point of view and as such it goes in great length in not just showing the different valuation models, which include most of the models in practice, but also the working mechanism of the specific securities market, and the associated exchange and clearing house settlement procedure. The key strong point of this book is that the author wrote every section of the book with conciseness and to the point. Each instrument's characteristics are presented, the associated equations are explained, and the spreadsheet models are shown in detail (included with the accompanying disk). After reading the book one is left with the feeling that finance is really this simple, involving setting the appropiate model to go with the relevant parameters,

One point regarding the editing: it was simply a great pleasure to browse this book. The clean layout of the book, the consistent sequence of presentation of the materials for all the instruments, and the detailed explaination of each of every equation (all the equations all the cells are shown) allows the reader to follow and comprehend the material with ease.

The contents of the books: market mechanism, valuation and model of interest rate forward, foreign exchange forward, equity forward, interest rate swap (the author is really an expert in these types of intruments, showing models of single-rate bond valuation method, simple offset valuation method, zero-coupon yields bootstrapping, zero-coupon yields: forward rate reinvestment, futures strip swap pricing, forward rate offset valuation method, zero-coupon valuation method), cross-currency swaps, equity swaps, equity options, interest rate options, currency options. The disk includes major valuation models of all the derivatives.(most requires just Excel 4.0 version)

Update: Since this book was published over a year ago, many other fine derivatives books have been published. However its straightforward simplicity still makes it a valuable part of a risk manager's personal library. One minor objection even at [...]its list price it is still priced a tad [...] for an introductory/intermediate level textbook. Anyone more quantitative-oriented, might want to check Cuthbertson's Financial Engineering and Risk Management. Comes with software and real life application examples.

I PURCHASED THIS BOOK AND IT SEEMS TO BE GOOD EXCEPT THAT WHEN THE AUTHOR REFERS TO THE "RULE OF 70", I HAVE ALWAYS HEARS IT REFERRED TO AS "THE RULE OF 72". IS THIS AN ERROR OR A TYPO?

This book is great, now I am succesful and rich and married to many beutiful women. This book changed everything, and it can do the same for you.

Here is a handy guide to life's financial problems. It is more than just an inventory as it provides the steps necessary for working with the numbers that underlie the solutions. You aren't a math wiz? No problem. Every example, and there are so very many of them, comes complete with simple words and an easy walkthrough to the solution. They build on each other, much as our real world financial problems are extensions of each other. Question: What is the world's most powerful financial force? Answer: Compound interest, of course. It is easily applied and can be made to work for anyone. The author suggests using a pocket calculator, and for most of the examples it will suffice. The more adventurous reader will want a spreadsheet, as the more involved (and realistic) examples/problems have many parts. A descriptive phrase can then accompany each number, and the rather straightforward formulas can be programmed at the start. All in all this is an excellent primer for the realities of money. The author's humorous touch adds to the book's enjoyment and utility.