Option

Book reviews for "Option" sorted by average review score:

Futures, Options and Swaps

Published in Hardcover by Kolb Publishing Company (February, 1994)

Author: Robert W. Kolb

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I bought it becasue I had to....

Many of us ended up with this book on the shelf because it was recommended by the AIMR for the CFA course. This book was so badly edited that it was distracting - figures in tables not matching figures in the text, some calculations just plain wrong, and everything covered at a very superficial level. This had the potential to bridge the gap between a Hull-type presentation and an undergrad-type. Sadly, this book really disappoints.

This book delivers on its title

After studying this book, you will know the technical intricacies of futures, options, and swaps. It has also excellent definitions of all the "Greek" risk measures (Delta, Vega, Gamma, etc...).

The book is well organized. The chapter sequence makes good sense. This is a good book overall.

Comprehensive book on Derivatives

Got many books on derivatives, but Kolb's is my favourite one. He covers the topic in a slightly less quantitative way than Hull does and goes straight to all the different derivatives while avoiding any further explanations like Ito's Lemma etc. I especially liked the part on swaps with many examples like flavoured swaps or equity swaps. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a good software, than I would recommend The Complete Guide to Option Pricing Formulas (build on Excel VBA).

Silent Option

Published in Mass Market Paperback by Pocket Books (June, 1997)

Authors: Larry Simmons and Larry Simmmons

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Good first half, tied to a plot aimed at Joe Six-pack

This is definately a dual-personality book. The training and background information is wonderful and gives excellent first-hand insight. In fact, I could have been perfectly satisified if the book finished with the deployment of the team. While it is obvious what characters will survive the training - this is but a minor flaw to the first half.

However, then there is the rest of the book. Where our wonderfully square-jawed superman hero fights against someone that only he seems able to stop. The women are little more than hookers, while the bold American men stride through obstacles that nobody else can handle - characterization takes a drop and realism takes a back seat to flights of fantasy. I really hate to see such a transparent plot jacked into what could have been an excellent book.

Rip out the last half of the book and you have a good story and some over-the-top, but acceptable characters. Taken as a whole........well, it's a poor read. Still, if you are a fan of Clancy's later books (where everyone is incompetant except our brave perfect and god-like heroes) then you should be able to muddle through.

A good way to kill your time, but it may kill your brain also

If you want a no-brainer book with lots of action, lots ofblood & lots of sex, than this book is for you. Because this bookhas a lot of those elements, but nothing more. It offer absoluatly nothing new concerning the tactic, the technology or the thinking of special operation. It seems that all the female agents in the world only use sex to collect intellence. So, if you want only sex & blood, this is your book. Otherwise, avoid this.

Great book but...

I will make this short and sweet...

If you want to know what seals go though with training, and carry out missions its a great book...it just can get a little confusing with all the abreviations.

Options For The Stock Investor: How Any Investor Can Use Options to Enhance and Protect their Return

Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Trade (01 September, 1995)

Author: James B. Bittman

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The Key word is Enhance

There are things you can do with options that you can not do with any other investment tool. This book, and most of the others, do a good job of explaining the theory behind options and their math. This book is no exception, and neither is the software.

Best options book I've read

Despite being an author, I do not buy many books, but I snatched this one up. The book clearly describes options, how they work, how to use them, and includes software I find invaluable for evaluating them. In my mind, this is the best book I've read on options and it is well worth considering.

Thomas N. Bulkowski, author, "Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns," (Wiley, 2000) and "Trading Classic Chart Patterns" (Wiley, due in spring 2002)

A Must Read for Option Traders

From the beginning pages, the explanations are flowing and account for all levels of competency in options. When you finish the very readable book, you will no longer need to depend on others for advice; you become your own advisor. The graphs are excellent while the mathematical concepts are carefully explained. I now have confidence in my knowledge and my decisions. Hats off to Mr. Bittman! Only downside is that the software is out dated, but it was written in 97.

Ghostwalk: Campaign Option (Dungeons & Dragons Setting)

Published in Hardcover by Wizards of the Coast (28 June, 2003)

Authors: Monte Cook and Sean K. Reynolds

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Unnecessary

You have a great 20th level character, he flubs his saving throw, he dies!...

...so his friends take him to the party cleric or the local high temple and get him resurrected.

As with most of the books from Wizards of the Coast, this, too, is not needed. Anyone with a brain and a smidgen of imagination (and if you role-play, you have to have it) can change a few details of the pre-generated undead in the Monster Manual and save themselves $30.

You want innovation? Go to Green Ronin.

Ghostwalk as a Meta-setting

Like a lot of newer D&D stuff, Ghostwalk's application in games is up to the player. As a standalone game it is fair, though its ties into the D&D cosmology poses more questions than it answers.

It is best used as a meta-setting the same way that Planescape or Spelljammer are used. Making a few assumptions helps this game truly shine and answer some of the great unanswered questions of the D&D Cosmology:

Assumption 1-
Each prime has a "ghostwalk" leading to a distinct True Afterlife maintained by the gods of their world.

Assumption 2-
Souls that "willingly discorporate" in the True Afterlife are lead into the Well of Souls and out into the Planes.

Assumption 3-
Demihumans everywhere go through the Etherial voyage mentioned in the book, however in most primes the etherial boundary is too thick for ghosts to manifest through sheer will--so they either remain stranded or embrace the seductive power of the Negative Energy Plane into themselves, becoming corrupted into undead forever, even in the True Afterlife.

This resolves a lot of questions. What's the difference between the dead and undead and why do the undead have a connection to the Negative Energy Plane?

With infinite Prime planes, why isn't the flood of souls to the Outer planes neverending?

How do dead folks get to the planes?

If Ghostwalk is it's own cosmology, why does it mention the planes and intrinsically D&D characters like Orcus?

But yeah, Ghostwalk is a lot of fun. The entries on the various cultures are awesome, the listing on the city of Manifest is great. It contains the origins of the Yuan-Ti, which by itself is reason enough to get the book. The authors really put did put some quality effort into this--the writing is very polished and the artwork is very impressive on the whole. The absence of a name for the game world is very strange, as I would like at least a suggestion of what to call the world where this all happens, but otherwise an excellent setting.

Nicely done!

Who hasn't felt the sting of pain when a favorite character dies? What to do? Do you make a new character or spend the agonizing hours trying to rebuild the character that just died after suffering the level loss? No more, I say! Just pick up your corpse and keep adventuring. Ghostwalk allows characters to do just that, and in addition provides a well fleshed out setting and ethos for the adventure. I heartily endorse it.

Zero Option

Published in Audio CD by Brilliance Audio (August, 2002)

Authors: Dick Hill, Peter T. Deutermann, and Bill Weideman

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P.T. Deutermann's latest is a topnotch topical thriller bursting with the expected expertise and insider knowledge he picked up as a Navy captain and arms control specialist. It's also something else: an unexpectedly resonant portrait of people, good and bad, who have been chewed up and spit out by military bureaucracies. Both the hero (an unlucky military investigator named David Stafford, whose career has been short-circuited by whistle-blowing and whose personal life is a disaster area) and the heavy (a career Army bean counter and petty thief, Wendell Carson, who suddenly gets the chance to move up and almost blows it at every occasion) are carefully drawn and fully credible. So are the underlings, officers and FBI agents who thread through their lives. This becomes especially important when Stafford--trying to track down a container of deadly biological nerve gas that Carson has stolen from an Army base in Georgia--crosses paths with a young girl who seems to have psychic powers. In less skilled hands, this kind of rogue element could send a vehicle skittering. But Deutermann quickly gives the girl and her keepers (a mysteriously intriguing woman teacher, a protective small-town policeman) such a strong presence that they become vital to the story's exciting and moving conclusion. Other of his excellent thrillers available in paperback include The Edge of Honor, Official Privilege, Scorpion in the Sea, and Sweepers. --Dick Adler

Average review score:

Quite Chilling

Very descriptive of the Monster and its workings. Could have been a little overly stated. As the story progressed my interest perked and suddenly it turned into a full fledged rampant read.
The chenical weapons of the world could reek more havoc than any army in history has. The sad fact is most countrys have a great array of these killers and the ability to produce many more. Let us hope that this fiction never turns into fact for the sake of humanity. The last fifty pages will surely give a cold feeling up your spine.

Excellent fast-paced read

What more can I say?...This book had interesting characters, believable actions, and a story-line that captures and holds your interest. I listened to the unabridged audiobook version and you simply cannot beat reader "Dick Hill" for drawing the listener into a book. He's my favorite. This was my first P.T. Deutermann book -- and it prompted me to pick up another of his. An excellent author and book!

Great story. My only cricism is that it is too short.

Deutermann's other books would benefit by offering a tear-out Navy acronym cheat-sheet. This one is shy of acronyms. Wow, what a story! Deutermann has a great gift for narrative and the ability to paint rich, believable characters. Dave Stafford, the principal character, is the only one who doesn't come off as a butt covering macho bureaucrat. Highly recommended to anyone who likes believable action yarns.

The Day Trader's Guide to Technical Analysis: How to Use Chart Patterns, Level II and Time of Sales to Profit in Electronic Markets

Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Trade (19 October, 2000)

Author: Chris Lewis

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These strategies don't work

I lost money using these strategies. Buy Steve Nison book if you want a good book on TA. This one just doesn't measure up.

Very useful, if somewhat out of date...

There is much useful material, along with a thoughtful approach to creating a daytrading discipline, in this book. I don't fully agree with (and wouldn't expect to) all of Lewis' statements, and, as you might expect, given the changes in the trading environment over the last couple of years, many of his methods and observations are arguably already out of date, but others still apply, and his overall philosophy, perspective, and attitude are probably more important, in my opinion, than the particulars of his personal approach as practiced in and around late 2000. The text includes numerous clear, concrete, and detailed examples, though you may have to look past an L2 screen with a stack of QCOM buyers at 343 13/16 (I just never get over mania-market prices) to receive the message.

SOMEONE SUCCESSFULL WITH THE SAME INTERESTS AS US FINALLY TA

SOMEONE SUCCESSFUL WITH THE SAME INTEREST AS OURS REVEALS TO US HIS SYSTEM. CLEAR, THRUTFUL AND CONCISE. THIS BOOK WAS THE ULTIMATE REVELATION FOR ME. GOT ALL MY IDEAS CLEAR ON MY OWN APPROACH AND PERMIT ME, COMBINED WITH DIFFERENT MOMENTUM CONCEPTION TO GAIN MASTERY IN TRADING. MY DREAM HAS BECOME REALITY AFTER 10 MONTHS.
THANK YOU A LOT Mr. LEWIS for your GENEROSITY AND plain english FOR TREATING SUCH COMPLEX MATTERS.

(OTHER PARALLEL READINGS TO GET TO THE ULTIMATE RESULT:
STAN WEINSTEIN/ WILLIAM O'NEIL (TRADING PHILOSOPHY!!
ALAN FARLEY (ORIGINAL SWING TRADING CONCEPTION
JOSH LUKEMAN (MARKET MAKERS MENTALITY
& ARI KIEV (PSYCHOLOGY ASPECTS FOR TRADING

The New Options Market

Published in Paperback by Walker & Co (January, 1988)

Author: Max G. Ansbacher

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Average review score:

Good book to bring you down to earth

I found this book very useful in bringing people back to reality as to the speculative nature of option trading. It even includes very good advice as to how to avoid (or mitigate if you will) losses. I only gave 3 stars to this book as it does not provide strategies as to how to pick correct stocks, and as they say, winning in options is 90% stock selection and 10% option trading.

It is a good purchase for anyone starting in this business. Wish you all luck.

A Clear, Concise Overview with an *Opinion*

The strengths of this book are the clarity with which it has been written, the numerous practical examples provided, and most importantly, the opinions which the author, an experienced options trader, freely provides. Ansbacher has avoided dealing with the complexities of options such as the Black-Scholes pricing model, the greek sensitivities, etc., instead focussing on the basics: common strategies and analyzing what to do when things don't work as planned (in contrast to Fontanills' whose examples always make money!), but it is his experience which really shines. Reading this book is straightforward, owing to its conversational tone and is really like having an experienced options trader at your disposal -- Ansbacher is no flake, he's traded SPX options for years and runs a successful hedge fund....This one belongs on the bookshelf with McMillan and Natenberg...

Finally--solid strategies for success!

If you are serious about trading options, BUY and study this book! Ansbacher explains the concepts needed to understand options in clear and nontechnical terms. Often he is brutally honest in ways the force you to think. The most valuable parts of the book are the strategies that he provides for each type of trade to inform you of what action to be prepared to take if (and when!) the market turns against you. Ansbacher repeatedly tells you that it is not easy to make money with options, but the thesis of the book is that if you approach options trading with some of the strategies he shares, you will be able to keep the premiums you collect and not get an ulcer. His ideas about trading two-strike prices out and about how to easily figure the margin requirements on options are well worth the price of the book. The purpose of this book is not to tell you how to find good stocks for writing options; the book's purpose is to provide you with sound strategies to be successful once you identify stocks in which you are interested. If you want to identify the good stocks, spend a few dollars and sign up for a program like VectorVest. Then you will have both the process and the content for success...

Options on Futures: New Trading Strategies

Published in Hardcover by John Wiley & Sons (30 November, 2001)

Authors: John F. Summa and Jonathan W. Lubow

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Options on Futures

This is a very simple, canned presentation. The book is primarily boilerplate that may be read free on any exchange website. There may be value for the novice here, but anyone with experience will put the book down 15 minutes after picking it up.

Another book about selling options...

This book is really no different from the many other books about options and why it is better to be a seller of option premium rather than a buyer. ... The only real difference from most other options books is that this book focuses on futures options instead of stock and index options. The only chapter that addresses any slightly new material is the chapter about the margin requirements of trading futures options. And even that chapter is lacking. In order to fully be able to employ the material abouts margins, you have to buy a ...computer program. I can't really recommend this book to anyone with even slight experience trading options. For beginners only!

Bravo

I recently carefully studied your book entitled "Options on
Futures" and found it just fascinating. Of course, I have long been a
seller of SPX cash market options and your book broadened my understanding
of what can be done in the futures and options on futures markets. Your book
and workbook are very clear, understandable, and applicable.

The Elements of Successful Trading: Developing Your Comprehensive Strategy Through Psychology, Money Management, and Trading Methods

Published in Hardcover by Prentice Hall Press (25 August, 1992)

Author: Robert Rotella

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completely useless?

There is an old joke about a guy who wakes up in a car in the middle of a field and has no idea where he is or how he got there. He flags down the first guy he sees and asks him where he is, to which he replies, "you are sitting in a car in the middle of a field". Our lost friend replies, "you must be an accountant, because while everything you say is totally accurate, it is completely useless".

This 600-plus page book is written like a sterile academic textbook for a course devoid of any real world knowledge or experience. Ironically, the author states that the book evolved as a result of a course he teaches.

It is stated that the author was a floor trader with many years experience on a Wall Street futures exchange (been there, done that). If this is in fact true, there is not a single anecdote about his own trading experiences in the entire book, at least what I read of it. What we would be interested in is a chronicle of how the author achieved competency and his experiences on the road to trading success, if in fact he achieved this. Did he have a successful trader as a mentor? How long did he lose money as a trader before achieving success? What were some of his significant breakthroughs as a trader? Did he have a "trading epiphany"? What were the major mistakes he saw traders make who ultimately failed? What is his greatest advice for new traders?

Unfortunately, we will never know the answer to these questions, because this author completely missed the point in writing a book on trading.

3 to 4 pages to everything in trading, really everything

There are 33 chapters in this 639 page book which practically put everything you can think of about trading or investment into it. Technical Analysis, Fundamental Analysis, Trading Psychology, Options, Commodities... simply everything. The problem is: dont know whether it's the intent of the author to give so general an idea of everything to its readers or he is too agressive to encompass so much in one single book. He just used a page or two to describe very complicated items like MACD, Stochastics, Gann Fan, Fibonnaci numbers, Bonds, Computer Trading, Crude Oil, Platinum, Gamma, Theta, Rho, Delta Neutral Trading........

In case you just want to have a close to nothing idea of the highly complicated trading or investment market, it's for you. In case you read in order to earn an edge to profit in market where 90% to 95% of the participants are doomed to fail, forget about this.

Excellent book

Robert Rotella captures the essence of trading psychology. This book is a must read for all investors - regardless of timeframe, experience, or markets traded. I rank it in the top five trading books I've ever read.

Turing Option

Published in Paperback by Warner Books (01 October, 1993)

Author: Marvi Harry/Minsky Harrison

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Too bad, it had potential

I picked this one up at a second hand book shop -- Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky? Wow, how could I go wrong!

Unfortunately, the ideas are not backed up by very solid storywriting here. Very little characterization is used, and the interaction comes across as somewhat dull and empty. None of the characters seem much to act realistically to what happens to them, except possibly Shelly, and Brian's personality never seems consistent.

As for the ideas, most are predictable and very straightforward extrapolations. The mecahnics of the AI is interesting, but comes across at times almost as textbook lecture, and many of the other more interesting ideas are left undeveloped.

Well folks, this is just my comments. Personally, I was disappointed somewhat by the book, but didn't consider it a collossal waste, either.

Your Mileage May Vary

An excellent story and presents AI in an understandable form

I was not really interested in reading a Sci-Fi book but when I turned to an arbitary page and read a few lines I was snared. This presented ideas and complex material in a manor that most anyone could enjoy. Being a Computer Science student working on my M.S. I found this to be interesting, exciting and not very predictable. I recommend this to anyone in computer related field that enjoys Sci-Fi writings. I like Clancy, but I loved Marvin Minsky. I am recomending this reading to all that I come in contact with. I obtained this book at the public library and must have it for my personal library.

A.I. - Absolutely Intriguing

As far as I know this novel is the only collaboration between Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky. And given the quality of this book I find that truly sad. Harrison is of course one of the most prolific writers in the field of Science fiction and Minsky is a scientist with MIT, working in the area of A.I., who is more used to writing scientific articles than fiction. The two together bring a great story to life in an extremely believable way.

The "Turing Option" is set in the near future and concentrates on the experiences of a brilliant scientist who has just suffered a major brain trauma. His own cybernetic researches help doctors to bring him back to life and allow him to pursue his murderers. This pursuit leads him back to his research into artificial intelligence which it seems was the motivation behind the first attack.

The plot and story telling, whilst top notch, are not what prompted me to include the book on this page. No, it was the A.I. or M.I. (Machine Intelligence), that I became fascinated with. As far as I am concerned, the concept of a robotic entity has never been explored so well as in this novel. (yes I have read all of Asimov's robot stories). If you are at all interested in this area of science, then this book must be read.

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Option

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