Option Books

This is a very important book because the author does an outstanding job of explaining intermarket relationships in a very readable manner. I studied economics in college and finance in grad school and I didn't think I learned enough about how the financial markets actually work until I read this book. This book blends the two topics in an easy-to-understand manner. I definitely recommend it.

Any economist would consider markets related, often in very complex manner. This book takes up these theme and presents a lot of examples mainly from the 90s and onwards. The descriptions have an ad hoc feel to them. One is left wondering "so what?". In my view all this descriptive content has to lead up to some kind of useful theory for trading. Or at least an approach. This is unfortunately totally lacking. If markets are interrelated the easist way to show that is through correlation analysis. That is very crude but would be a beginning. The author could have provided past correlations in different periods so that the reader gets an understanding of what the relationships are and how they might change.

A lot of proprietary research is done in this area. Unfortunately it is not published and this book is probably the best available, for that reason I give it 3 starts. But once other books appearing this book can be passed over.

I have written several short reviews on trading books. The best way is to compare the score on the books I've read. Many reviews on amazon.com are just glorious 5 star reviews. I use all five categories; sorry but everything isn't "great". Books rated 5 are very good. Books rated 4 are good solid books well worth reading. Books rated 3 can be bought by some people who read a lot or have very specific needs. Books rated 1 or 2 I would not recommend buying or reading. Naturally all in my humble opinion.

Good book for beginners who will like to know the intermarket relationship between the 4 markets under different scenarios - inflation, deflation etc.

Through analysis of scenarios 1930s to 2000s were provided with various charts supporting the points.

Relationship between the different sectors in stock under the economic cycle were also given.

Sort of like an economics thesis rearranged nicely and combined with trading and investment pointers.

Will recommend this book to beginners who like a basic fundamental understanding of the relationship between the different markets.

It's a small book (compared to Murphy's classic, Tech. Anal. of the Fin. Mrkts., which is a very good starter book of technical analysis). It has good info in it. The newer verions of his classic covers much of the same info, but this one goes into more depth. Murphy is easy to read. But the book seemed rather repetitive. Murphy should have spent some time telling us how to get all the comparative info at the best price. Then the book would more useful.

Probably the most bizarre thing about the stock market is it's explosive rallies and catastrophic crashes. Both occur with little warning and seemingly with little reason, but by studying intermarket analysis you quickly learn the relationship between currency trends, commodity prices, bond yields and their strong influence on the bond and stock markets. This book is one that every serious investor should own.

One warning...do not start this series unless you have designated reading time. You will be mesmerized! A marvelous mix of scripture and fiction.

I have purchased all of Joel Rosenberg's books, both written and audio. My wife read them; and then we listened to them as we were traveling. I highly recommend this author using either format. This CD collection is abridged but it covers all the key materials and the three-book audio CDs were about the same price as two paperback copies. I am eagerly looking forward to his next books.

The CDs skipped throughout all three books. I would have sent them back but had thrown away the packaging and didn't know how to send the back. I don't feel I got my money's worth. I don't know if the CDs are tested or not but they should be. It is a shame that so many of the disks were damaged. I liked the stories however, there are so many characters in the books that it is hard to keep track of everyone. I enjoyed what I could hear and understand.

Joel Rosenburg is an excellent writer. The first book I read of his was Epic center, and I didn't want to put it down. I have since purchased several of his other books in this series. I am able to line up many of the things he writes about with the Bible, and that makes these books that much more fascinating.

I am enjoying listening to these books on audio CD. We just returned from vacation and we listended to them all of the way home. My family can't wait to borrow the CDs from me. I recommend the set. They might be to graphic for younger children.

This is a must have for all serious traders. Robert Ward does a masterful job of explaining probability and statistics, the foundation for option pricing and delves deep into market psychology, hedging, and numerous advanced topics.

To truly get the most of this book read it slowly and learn all it has to offer. This is, by far, the best book I have ever purchased on Options trading. It is full of wisdom, explanations, examples, diagrams, and quizes (with answers at the back of the book) to assure you truly master the language, mathematics and psychology of options trading.

Congratulations to Robert Ward on writing a great, great book!

An excellent, clear, easy to follow exposition of the
concepts underlying Black-Scholes. A good intuitive understanding
of what is going on is the first step in acquiring a mastery of
a complicated mathematical arguement. Ward certainly provides that.
He also takes you, step by step, through the essential mathematics.
I was reminded of Gleason' view on how calculus should be taught - The
Rule of Four,namely, a concept should be seen graphically, numerically,
analytically and verbally where appropriate( see Hughes-Hallett).
Altogether an impressive, useful piece of work.

I originally bought this book at the beginning of the Iraq war as I wanted to make a play in Oil & Gas options. Wanting to do more than gamble, this book was purchased to learn the ins and outs of options. Ward prefaces his book saying his intended audience is the CFO or Cash Manager in a corporation that use derivatives to hedge risk. He wants this finance professional to be able to understand the trader in order to judge for himself how much risk the trader is taking. If you've ever had a conversation with a trader, a combination of their tendency toward the obtuse and inherent arrogance can easily overwhelm a corporate finance professional. It is perfectly suited for the intended audience. The book is complex yet understandable for an extremely difficult subject. After reading this book, I realized I was gambling with my position. Mr. Ward inadvertently saved me from blowing my fortune. I'm sure he can do the same for you if you have the financial ability or desire to play for your own account in a world where games are played in a casino and hedging is done in the boardroom.

When I first saw this book I thought: "this looks like a heavy-duty textbook and I'll need to be a maths genius to understand it". However, as soon as I started reading I realised that I had nothing to fear - the book assumes almost no knowledge about stocks and the financial markets. It starts off very clearly and simply explaining key terms and concepts about the markets and options, and carefully builds on those until it reaches a level of learning which most traders have never gone to. All the way along it recaps what has been taught and constantly repeats the important principles on which options and option theory are based.

I strongly recommend you buy this book before even thinking about investing in options. It will answer all your questions and more, and will be the invaluable resource that will help you minimise risk through a solid understanding of what you, and the markets, are doing.

Okay book. Definately learned from it, but I'll tell you from first hand experience that you can learn the same thing for FREE at 888options.com, which is the industry organization that champions education in options trading.

This book is a slow, long, round about way to learn Black-Scholes. I could write a pamphlet that teaches the same thing.

Wilmott certainly is not a mainstream guy and so his boks aren't mainstream either. As some topics (e.g. portfolio theory) are dealt with in a rather shallow fashion, this is not the most brilliant book on quant finance conceivable. But as Wilmott takes a no-nonsense, practical perspective it is by far the best textbook on (equity) derivatives and a great reference. Best of all: It is fun to read...

After Fin. Engineering with math major still found the book very useful. Easy understanding, skipping tedious proofs to prevent sidetrack readers from the core of subjects.

What I enjoy most of the book is the VBA programming, not all the sourcecodes are mentioned in the book, but readers should figure out the reason behind. Very worth to keep one at your office.

Just an encyclopedia, however the author's way of telling the things and his extra comments make the reading of the book a very pleasant occupation.

Wilmott compendium is nothing more but a summary of all the other books that he managed to publish thus far. This, however, is not the problem. The real problem is that his books continue to lack depth and applicability. None of the chapters will help you to solve real problems nor will it give you guidance of how to implement the models (which some few exceptions). If you are looking to buy a real comprehensive compendium on quantitative finance, which is full of state-of-the-arte examples, problems (problems that really count) and explanations go for the new Carol Alexander books on quantitative finance (part I-IV). She has set the industry standards.

This book was a big disappointment for three reasons: 1) it doesn't have a proper focus. Author wanted to cover everything and that's why the book is making sloppy impression, i.e. too wide and not too deep when it is necessary; 2) it doesn't help you as a quant in the everyday quant life. It doesn't show you how to backtest models, it doesn't tell you how to use all this knowledge in the practical way, it doesn't even tell about the robustness and out of sample testing; 3) it is an arbitrary collection of known theories with some unexplained extracts from the different fields which are not connected with each other in the logical way.

As the final accord: why the "quant bible" is based on the "normal" distribution. How long are we going to use all this useless in practice old concepts like Black-Scholes models etc?

I was pleasantly surprised with how easy this book was to read and understand. I would be interested in reading more of his titles based on my experience.

Mr. Irwin states in this book that a real estate agent taking a commission on his own purchase can get sued on the grounds that he is effectively acting as an agent for the seller, and this creates a conflict of interest. This is based on the antiquated notion that a buyer's agent is construed to be a subagent of a seller's agent. Today, a buyer's agent is construed to act independently of a seller's agent, and is thus free to take a commission on his own purchase. The matter is simply one of an agreement between agents to share the commission.

This book is very easy to read, well organized, and contains a LOT of essential information for anyone looking to purchase a home. I recommend it without any reservations.

One issue: I'm not sure if there's a newer edition of this book than I received last year, but it's a bit out of date. For better or worse, a lot of mortgages floating around out there today - especially for first time homeowners - are not your standard 30 year fixed. The financing section of the book needs an update detailing the pros and cons of the newer and more complicated types of financing that are more common today. It does this to an extent, but it's insufficient. Also, the figures used in the book are completely unrealistic. Mortgage rates are very different and so are housing prices. Not a problem if you can handle the math on your own, but certain tables are completely obsolete at this point in time.

Just one point on a personal note: This book really tells you about all the BAD things going on in real estate today. This isn't a fault - it's good to know about the million different potential pitfalls when buying a home - but it never tells you to put things into perspective. In other words, you can come away from reading this feeling very pessimistic and cynical about the entire process, which doesn't have to be the case. If you arm yourself with knowledge, a good attitude, and surround yourself with good people - namely the best real estate attorney and home inspector you can find - you'll find the experience isn't as bad as the book can make it seem.

Best of luck!

Not every page is enlightening, but overall builds confidence in the daunting process.

Found in useful but not vital when buying our NC home. May be more details than you need to worry about.

Didn't think it was possible, but this one is better than the first one I read of his.

Stafford is a whistleblower. Exiled from his office for being morally upright, he's sent to a remote facility which auctions/demolishes used federal equipment from bombs to typewriters. His mission? To determine whether there is a scam in place involving auctions. Little does he realize there is a more dire/drastic conspiracy in place, this time involving a biological weapon the army has 'lost.'

This novel started off great, but lost steam about 3/4 way through. I didn't like the fact that one of the primary witnesses to the crimes involving Carson was a psychic girl. It just seemed a bit silly.

The ending seemed a little long-winded and fantastic.

Product was accurately described. Packaging was well done. Shipping was prompt. I will buy from this seller again. I recommend this seller.

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.

David Stafford is a disgraced government bureaucrat, recently consigned to Siberia (Atlanta). Wendell Carson is a government bureacrat in good standing, but definitely on the take. His latest scheme involves a cylinder of the deadly "Wet Eye"--weapon of mass destruction beyond your wildest dreams--which he has acquired and is somehow planning to sell. The girl in the airport is mute but communicates in sign language and--get this--she is psychic, especially around bad guys. Throw these characters together and you have the makings of Zero Option, an improbable but gripping thriller.

So, will Carson really sell the cylinder for 1 million dollars? Will Stafford rehabilitate himself? Will the government do what is right or just try to cover up the loss of the cylinder? What do you think? Is this America? But, you will just have to read the book to find out for sure.

Is it perfect? Not quite. There are a few too many characters, especially in the beginning, and a few too many acronyms for government agencies and programs. Does it matter? No. Start reading and you quickly figure things out. This is a book that, as they say, you can't put down. Author Deutermann knows how to hold your attention, and he has worked with these guys, so he knows what he's talking about. Recommendation: get the book and start reading. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

Yes it is expensive but it has been a worthwhile investment. Certainly nuch better than listening to the pundits on TV who have their own opinions. This title is no longer available from the publisher. Over 30 awesome new trading strategies never released to the public before - for options, futures and equities traders. Clearly written, simple to understand, find advanced volatility approaches, the 15 Minute ADX Breakout Method - perfect for Day Traders, "Crash, Burn & Profit" techniques for scoring big when stocks implode - and more. See why the author of Hit & Run Trading calls it "simply one of the best trading books ever published."

This book is for anxious traders who think the found the get rich quick book. 250 page book in 16 font size, half of it are charts for stocks that worked using his system. Again no testing is done. Mostly about Wilder ADX, DDI for day trading. If your day trading system is not working you may try this one. The best method is the simplist method. And the high priced books are not the best books.

I have to repeat here what I said in reviewing another (ridiculously overpriced) Connors book ["Street Smarts"]. The only "advanced" strategy Larry Connors knows well is how to make money out of the miriads of hopeful wannabes that overpay for his expensive books and for his TradingMarkets.com web site, which costs more than a thousand dollars per year and is just a hook to get the members to buy more overpriced "trading services", $5,000.00 tutorials, "ultimate" courses, fantastic techniques, books, etc., etc. Just think of this before you dish out your money to this guy: if he knew any "advanced" Trading strategies to make real money he wouldn't be peddling his overpriced merchandise for a living. Wouldn't it be nicer to live as a rich trader, trading from your yatch your great advanced strategies for millions, instead of busting your rear running a Web site in downtown LA to trap yet another fool who thinks that perhaps this new advisory service will "make him" money? Let Connors first show that he can make millions trading before he calls his strategies "advanced". Obviously, they are just not advanced enough to make him rich --though he will be soon, if you pay him ...for this mostly charts collection of silly trading advice. If you still feel you have to learn the basics from the popular self-appointed "gurus", do it at least with a minimal expense.

I like Connors' brevity. He doesn't try to wow you with big mathematical theorems, he just gives you common sense explanations of why he markets work the way they do and gives you the zing-bang-boom version on how to take advantage of these market conditions. Not much thought is needed once you are set-up but, does it need to be complex to work? My only problem is getting out with my profits intact. I read the 2-for-1 strategy but mentally I can't execute. Need more discipline. I'm checking out Mark Douglas' book for that part. I am still reading it but it looks good so far.

This is definitely Connors best book. I have most, but this one puts a lot of Connors best strategies into one book.

Connors has made his money from these trading strategies. Like a previous reviewer pointed out, these strategies don't usually produce home runs -- mostly singles and doubles. But I think that makes these strategies more realistic in the world of trading. Anyone who is selling strategies with triple-digit retuns should be avoided like the plague.

There are four basic mistakes all beginning option traders make, these are:
1) Relying solely on market timing;
2) Buying only out-of-the-money options;
3) Using strategies that are too complex; and
4) Casting too wide a net on option choices

Relying solely on market timing.
It causes failure because it ignores implied volatility. It can lead to paying far too much to purchase an option. It would be like buying a stock without knowing its P/E, or buying a car without knowing its blue book value. The way to avoid this mistake is by carefully analyzing which options are best suited to achieve your objective. Also, measure what is the current implied volatility of these options and compare it vs. the historical volatility of this option. This will give you an idea of the current valuation of this option, and whether it appears overpriced or underpriced.

Buying only out-of-the-money options.
By doing so, you ignore the probability that the option will eventually be in-the-money. It leads to buying options with little likelihood of profiting. You can get lucky once. But, such a blind strategy is a sure way to get wiped out in option trading. Instead, you should know exactly what is the probability of you making money on each option trades. This entails knowing the "Delta" of a specific option. If an option has a Delta of 20. It has a 20% chance of being in-the-money.

Using strategies that are too complex.
This leads to unfavorable risk\reward situations. First, you should determine your objective and make certain the trade you are going to make can achieve those objectives without more risk than you can handle.

Casting too wide a net.
You will spend too much time wasted looking for opportunities among illiquid options. By doing so, you will waste a lot of your potential returns on the wider bid and ask spreads of these less than liquid options. Instead, focus on securities that have actively traded options.

This book is a real eye opener on option trading.

This is the first review I ever share on Amazon. I tend to keep my thoughts to myself, but this book is more a pamphlet that leads to their service advertisements. I think someone must bring this "scam" to light. (Please check the number of pages in this "book", then divide by 4 to get the equivalent pages of a book)

The 4 items that this book covers are common sense that any experienced investor and intermediate trader would have developed in the first 3 years at the respective area.

Use the cost of this book and buy a deep out of money contract. It will be more profitable.

by far a worthless book on options,
the cover looks great, but this has no
value; I learned more on the optionsxpress
website than this book, anyone who has
read an options book would not
appreciate this book it assumes you
know nothing about options and really
tricks you into thinking that the author
knows what he is talking about.

This book is useful in directing novice options traders to the four biggest mistakes usually made in this area. The book does what is says with describing the theory behind the authors arguments but unfortunaly does not provide market examples on how that should be implemented in real life. Having read other books by this author, I am sure he is capable of supplementing his theory with examples . One of the mistakes he mentions is buying only out of the money options and he recommends buying in the money options. Unfortunately he does not address the fact that this approach could still result in a total loss if the option ends out of the money by expiration day. In addition to be successful in trading in the money options your timing needs to be accurate enough to be certain you do not face a total loss. Timing is never addressed in this book and you would need to supplement this by other books that focus more on this area.
Why 5 stars? Even with these shotcomings it is important that beginners know where they can go wrong and then focus on what to do right.

Well written and concise. Very very importan for ALL Option traders to own and keep in their library. If anyone understands a little bit about "Implied Volatility", this book is a must!

These authors spin tales of war like spiders spin webs, and toss them about in the air like so much military confetti.

Spinning scenarios "out of the air" is not quite the same thing as examining critically the key decision points of alternative military situations. After all, in the introduction, they accuse Hitler of being a mindless military fool, which he may well have been, but no one would be able to discern that from this book.

That is because these authors proceed here in the same mindless way: with untested and apparently un-testable assumptions about critical battles and decision points of WW-II that are spun, out of thin air, free-standing from even a hypothetical context, giving them an undeserved air of authenticity simply by successfully hiding them behind carefully scripted military language, sophisticated looking battle formation charts, and order of battle equipment lists?

By my way of thinking, this is not decision making, even in the theoretical and hypothetical sense, far from it in fact. It is more like playing with toy soldiers on the living room floor. Better to have discussed first the psychological and decision-making context and their hypothetical implications first, and then later introduce military forces into the equation as they apply. At least there the all-important and most vital connective tissue of such scenario spinning would have been included rather than just the ultimately irrelevant clash of "imaginary forces."

But even better would have been to carry out what I was expecting: a full scale "comparative analysis" in which the actual decisions taken during the war are "played out" and compared to the authors' own hypothetical ones. Otherwise, the reader is left to accept all of this military gobble-de-goop, and confetti, on faith. This is a huge pill to swallow, and obviously did not go down well with this reader.

Given such fine books on "What If History such as Robert Cowley's "The Collected What IF?, which takes exactly the opposite approach as that taken here, one wonders what these authors really had in mind? I was bowled over by their sophisticated charts and graphs, but instead was very disappointed in this "cover story presented as serious military analysis" approach.

A genuine one star effort

I have read a few other books that are along this same line of "What if" and I must say that this book has been the most enjoyable. The author / editor (in this case) has asked 10 military historians to work with him to take 10 parts of the war and work out what would have happened if some decisions by either the Axis or the Allies would have been different. The author gives us a good overview of the overall situation in he war at the time of the decision, and a very good case as to what would have happened if just one or two key decisions were different. This is a different handling of the subject then others have done, the normal for this type of book is to just take decisions that were made and completely change them for no regard for if that was even possible. Almost fitting the decision in so that the author can put together a nice fiction story.

What is so interesting is that this could have happened and in some cases almost did happen. The authors use the same players that were involved, the same weapons and resources. It is all put together in a very organized and believable way. The historical detail is well chosen and comprehensive, if you are a general reader this may be a bit much, but then again you probably would not pick this book up. The most interesting parts for me were the invasion of the UK, the changes to the Russian campaign and the change in the D-Day landing location. The author did a good job of completing out the scenarios to what very well may have happened. This is a well written and thought out book that is enjoyable and exciting to read.

Anyone who has studied World War Two no doubt knows just how close Hitler came to achieving his dream of world dominance. 'The Hitler Options' presents in detail how radically different the war could have turned out had Hitler or the Allies made alternate choices in the prosecution of the war. The questions that are posed are: What if the Moscow offensive succeeded? What if operation Sealion had taken place as planned? What if Churchill's fears about the U-boat menace were realized? This is truly a captivating look at what might have been.

Pardon the cryptic title but I simply loved this phrase, proposed in one of the "alternate history" scenarios - supposedly the words an OKW General would use to persuade Adolf that German's alliance with Italy was more of a liability than an asset. This collection of speculative history essays verges from the mischevious to the eery. Could the "Southern Front" have rolled up the war one year earlier? What would the LAND Battle of Britain have looked like? There are maps. What if General Franco had joined the Axis? (Gibraltar would be lost, the pundits say, but then Britain would have wiped out the Spanish fleet and occupied the Balaeric Islands.) A fine, engaging work for anyone who enjoys pondering what might have been.

If only Hitler had been less orthodox in his military thinking, he might have made some of these decisions, instead of sticking to the bully boy political game of intimidation and blunt use of brutal force that were the hallmark of his bloody career.

In this book we some have well thought out scenerios for what might have been, and their immediate consequences both good and bad.

This book is a good pick for those who wish to look at how the decision making process works when it comes to war. Because history is not just what happened and how it happened, but all the options of what might have happened if different decisions had been made or other factors had come into play.

I have known Scott for many years and his material keeps getting better and better. I am proud to be a trader right now in NYC and things have gotten rough since 9/11. But this book helped me earn over $500,000 in net worth to this day. I recommend this book to anyone that has ever been interested in the trading enviroment and who wants to make money fast!!!

I like the way Scott put this book together. It's easy reading and very educational. The people in this book are truly the people who put futures into play. I really enjoyed Leo Melamed's foreword, and the comments by Hal Hansen.

To my very surprise, this book is nothing about trading, but the opinion of senior Exchange executives about the future of Exchanges. If you are a floor trader, you might be interested to know what technology, globalization and govt regulations will affect your job. Otherwise, you will find this book of zero value. The title is definitely misleading. It should be management of the futures exchange, categorized under business management.

I would give this book zero stars if I could. There is very little information of any real value. I can't believe I paid good money for this pile of scrap paper.

This book is lacking in so many areas incuding but not limited to substance, accuracy,interest and relevance.The writing and editing are laughable(check out the author's comments above)!

This book offers compelling proof in one area:The random typing of chimpanzees is rapidly evolving towards Shakespeare!