Foreign-exchange-risk

I first became aware of China specialist William Gamble when I saw his comments earlier this fall in USA Today (of all places). Funny and frank, he's the rare investing expert who's made me laugh. So I picked up his highly readable book which also pulls no punches in precisely outlining and analyzing Chinese legal and economic structures. In explaining the Chinese market's myriad weak links, Gamble is direct, down-to-earth, systematic, involving, understandable, and persuasive. In this valuable, actionable text he effectively makes his case that these legal risks are real and relevant to international investors. When the egg breaks it will be messy. Having enjoyed and learned from it, I recommend this book without reservations.

I wouldn't call it an "Investment" book in the usual sense, however it gave me new and valuable insights into the legal aspects of doing business, or investing in Mainland China.

There is much talk these days, about the coming China boom, but until now, no one seems to be discussing the additional risks of doing business in a region where contracts are often declared void on a politician's whim.

My own international dealings have been mostly in Western Europe, where the legal systems function in a way similiar to our own in the US. Mr Gamble makes clear that things work very differently in China, and that you ignore these differences at your peril.

I should add that "Investing in China" is an excellent refresher course on business law, and it's importance to the international investor. His writing is clear, and to the point, without being patronizing.

Not a heavy tome written for the legal professional, but rather a good read, written by a legal professional, for the rest of us.
Highly reccomended! Well worth your time.

In his book "Investing in China", William Gamble has provided a thorough, thought-provoking and highly readable study of the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances of the Chinese legal and financial infrastructure and apparatus. This is a "how the Chinese system really works" (or doesn't work) guidebook that should be read by anyone contemplating an investment or business dealings in China. Gamble covers the spectrum of contracts, bankruptcy, real estate, securities, judges and lawyers in a work that is full of informative, interesting and intriguing information and anecdotes. Even if I wasn't interested in China trade, I would have enjoyed this book.

Mark Ellison, President
Seven Continents Media LLC

I own pretty much all of the books on quantitative finance
and this one holds a cherished place on my bookshelf.
Anybody either working as a quant or with aspirations to become one should dust off some space on their bookshelf as well.
Anybody who does serious research in finance in either academia or industry already knows that it is somewhat rare for top researchers to pen books of any length. Time is at a premium and the payoff to publishing journal articles or to finishing off code is typically much greater than it is for writing books.

This is what distinguishes this book from its competitors.
The author is well known in financial circles as one of a handful of quants who is capable of meaningfully contributing new results to this fascinating field. The book contains many results which cannot be found elsewhere in the public domain.
Although the book title suggests that the results apply only to
foreign exchange, it is straightforward to adapt the results to

equities, commodities, and many other underlyings.

Wall Street is a very secretive place and it is not easy to get a glimpse of the kind of things that consume a quant's time.
I suspect that the only reason that this book was able to come to light is due to the acquisition of Banker's Trust, the author's former employer. Banker's was well known to be a fertile training ground for the best derivative minds and this book should prove to be a lasting legacy to that view.

Alexander Lipton Lifschitz has brought his extensive
experience and years of research in the most diverse areas
of applied mathematics as well as his experience
in the financial industry to bear in authoring this
very interesting book.

The range of this book is impressive.
Although the author chose to focus on currency
options, his book really is a treatise on
a wide spectrum of problems and methodologies
which any quant wishing to tackle the
sophisticated world of option pricing at a high level
must master.

The author demonstrates his mastery of
the arsenal of the classic applied mathematician,
asymptotic analysis, self-similarity, Laplace
and Fourier transform, and uses these to give an
incisive analysis of both standard topics
such as American options and more exotic topics
such as options on one currency with
barriers on the other currency, passport
options (for which he was a pioneer in developping
pricing tools) , asian options and much much more.

No, this is not as easy a read as Willmott's
books. Willmott's books were and remain
an important contribution with their
quick and intuitive explanation of a variety
of instruments. Lipton- Lifschitz's
book is more challenging and the reader will
have to pull up his sleeves on
occasions where the author, while dealing
with a case analogous to one just treated
says " the details are left to the reader".
But let's face it, if you work on Wall Street
or nearby, you'll have to tackle those details
alone at some point and Lipton-Lifschitz
gives you all you need to know to do
pull this off.

And. last but not least, let's not forget the price. At less than 50$ thisbook is a real bargain and for a first
printing, unusually free of typos or others
errors.

I highly recommend you buy this book now before the publisher
doubles the price.

Most of the books on mathematical finance fall in one of the two domains. Some books are written for people who are new to the field and, as such, do not go deeply into the mathematical details that are crucial for implementing these methods in practice. The more advanced books are usually written by academic mathematicians and sometimes suffer from poor readability and lack of awareness of relevant problems. What many people are looking for is a detailed and readable description of how to apply the latest mathematical methods to solving the problems appearing in day-to-day work of derivatives desks. Such books are few and far between: that is why Alex Lipton's manuscript was so welcome.

As a quant in one of the Wall Street investment banks, I found this book a very valuable resource. Though written on a fairly high level, this book remains a readable and consistent exposition of latest methods of foreign exchange modeling. I particularly appreciated that the author does not skip steps in his derivations and gives out all those little practical details that are so important to people planning to use these methods in their work. The range of topics covered is fairly wide, with main emphasis on derivative pricing. I found the two chapters on path-dependent options to be particularly interesting and extensive. Some of the results included in the book came out of author's original work at Deutsche Bank. I also had an impression that some of his latest work was not included in the book, which is a pity.

All in all, an excellent book. Well worth the price.

This book is the best guide to FX markets and the corresponding instruments. The book structure and contents are extremely well planned and written to provide not only a beginner with first hand knowledge, but can be a good refresher for others.

This book is a definitive masterpiece.

foreign exchange rate ris

Let's start out this review by stating up front that we disagree with Daniel Ben-Ami's assertion that a preoccupation with risk measurement and management is a detriment to the global economy. With that out of the way, we can say that Ben-Ami presents a unique analysis of the modern global economy that is not at all without merit. His contention that lagging growth is a greater peril to the world's economy than financial instability is reasonable and backed up by ample evidence and illustration. And his position that increased regulation could be doing more harm than good will be embraced by all free traders. On the basis of these discussions alone, we [...] recommend this book to anyone thinking seriously about international financial systems. But this book is perhaps most useful as a starting point for debate, which it will certainly generate in the mind of any informed reader. While you might quibble with Ben-Ami's conclusions ' as we do with his assertion that the threat of the 1990s financial crises was overblown ' you will not be bored.

Usually, books on the dry subject of modern finance are a difficult read but this one is a welcome and worthy exception. The text is so fascinating that I managed to "make it" in three rather short sessions - and without the slightest trace of boredom in the process. I found no superfluous or pseudo-profound sentences and even the footnotes of this carefully researched study fully deserve the reader's attention.

Ben-Ami manages to explain in a few dozen pages the basics of apparently difficult concepts (as he rightly tells us, "even the most complex strategies tend to be built from simple components") such as derivatives, mutual funds, pension funds, hedging, etc. In the process, he shatters a lot of mistaken myths and conventional wisdom.

It is simply not true, he explains, that the instruments of modern finance are essentially speculative; on the contrary, they are usually a means for corporations and investors in general to better manage risk. Modern capitalists, unlike their predecessors of a more dynamic era, have an exaggerated aversion to risk and they try to build their portfolio in a way that minimises it. Thus a corporation dedicated to making cars, for instance, might prefer to invest part of its earnings in derivatives or hedge funds instead of innovating its production processes. The result would of course be a less dynamic form of capitalism, where more resources are spent on the financial markets - as opposed to the real, productive side of the economy. This, insists Ben-Ami, is in short what has been happening since the end of the post-war (1945-73) economic boom.

He offers powerful examples to illustrate his thesis. Yes, he says, it's true that George Soros made a billion dollars out of speculating against the British Pound in the early nineties - but that was only because the fundamentals of the British economy were really incompatible with the high value of its currency. A few years later Soros was betting on a fall of the Rouble and eventually lost two billion dollars. This time he had made a wrong analysis of the fundamentals of the Russian economy and got his fingers burned. The conclusion? Well, speculators really don't have the power to dominate events. So much for the idea that modern economies are but passive instruments at the hands of unscrupulous capitalistic sharks!

Ben-Ami regrets the general climate of fear for the future and horror of risk-taking that he thinks has taken hold of Western Europe and even more the USA in the last few decades - and has been, BTW, amply demonstrated in the recent near-hysteria caused by the appearance of a few cases of Anthrax in the US. He sees in this tendency a sign that the "animal spirits" that Keynes considered essential for the proper working of a dynamic capitalist economy are faltering.

The author doesn't present us a "solution" for this problem, probably because he's well aware of the fact that cultural attitudes are very hard to change. But he does warn that the climate of fear that currently permeates western society constitutes a clear impediment to stronger economic growth, both in the First and Third worlds. And he writes in such a clear, unpretentious style that one might just hope his analysis will eventually find a sympathetic hearing in the decision-making centers of Europe and the United States.

The author performs a complete and delicate post-mortem of modern capitalist beliefs and misconceptions. I read Ayn Rand's "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" some time ago. Daniel Ben-Ami constructs a compelling argument in favour of unregulated markets, healthy competition and good old fashioned risk taking. Unlike Raynd he steers away from abstruse philosophical theories and sticks with what really matters to the reader: Real life examples, cataloging the myriad failiures of faux-capitalism. If like me you whince every time you hear about another ill-thought out but well intended goverment safeguard, you'll enjoy this book for the intellectual ammunition it delivers.

Is a very good introduction for a Foreign Exchange Market. Specially in futures markets

firs of all i would pay to thank to the author of the book and then i would say that i am really impressed by the mind of the author any person can get knowldege from the endeavor of the author

The book is a fair overview of foreing exchange risk with lots of formulas. I couldn't find much on "advanced strategies for global corporations." For example, less than two pages are used to discuss zero-premium collar programs. It might be OK for new global investors but it's got very little for corporate treasurers.

This book is a good intro to FX risk. Plenty of real world examples serve to drive key points home. Good deal for those looking to learn the basics very quickly but also provides insight into more sophisticated theory.

This second edition has been greatly expanded with materials on the mechanics of the foreign exchange and options markets. The sections on the international monetary system have been updated, especially with respect to the European monetary system. New sections have been added on exotic currency options, specifically on barriers, average rate, basket and quantos options. There are two new chapters, one on currency option applications and another on currency overlay management.

It is useful for the investment analysts.

This book is written for the reader who has little or no experience in currencies and currency risk. The information provided is very basic, and not of use to anyone wanting to get more than a superficial understanding of the subject. The title is "Introduction", but I still think it is (only) 100 pages of generalities, not worth the $... I paid!