Getting agreement between finance theory and finance practice isimportant like never before. In the last decade the derivativesbusiness has grown to a staggering size, such that the outstandingnotional of all contracts is now many multiples of the underlyingworld economy. No longer are derivatives for helping people controland manage their financial risks from other business andindustries, no, it seems that the people are toiling away in thefields to keep the derivatives market afloat! (Apologies for themixed metaphor!) If you work in derivatives, risk, development,trading, etc. you'd better know what you are doing, there's now abig responsibility on your shoulders.
In this second edition of Frequently Asked Questions inQuantitative Finance I continue in my mission to pull quantfinance up from the dumbed-down depths, and to drag it back down toearth from the super-sophisticated stratosphere. Readers of my workand blogs will know that I think both extremes are dangerous. Quantfinance should inhabit the middle ground, the mathematics sweetspot, where the models are robust and understandable, and easy tomend.
...And that's what this book is about.
This book contains important FAQs and answers that cover boththeory and practice. There are sections on how to deriveBlack-Scholes (a dozen different ways!), the popular models,equations, formulae and probability distributions, critical essays,brainteasers, and the commonest quant mistakes. The quant mistakessection alone is worth trillions of dollars!
I hope you enjoy this book, and that it shows you howinteresting this important subject can be. And I hope you'll joinme and others in this industry on the discussion forum onwilmott.com. See you there!"
FAQQF2...including key models, important formulae,popular contracts, essays and opinions, a history of quantitativefinance, sundry lists, the commonest mistakes in quant finance,brainteasers, plenty of straight-talking, the Modellers' Manifestoand lots more.