Research and Markets: Quantitative Finance: Its Development, Mathematical Foundations, and Current Scope

DUBLIN--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f0a36d/quantitative_finan) has
announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new report "Quantitative
Finance: Its Development, Mathematical Foundations, and Current Scope" to their
offering.

A rigorous, yet accessible, introduction to essential topics in mathematical
finance

Presented as a course on the topic, Quantitative Finance traces the evolution of
financial theory and provides an overview of core topics associated with
financial investments. With its thorough explanations and use of real-world
examples, this book carefully outlines instructions and techniques for working
with essential topics found within quantitative finance including portfolio
theory, pricing of derivatives, decision theory, and the empirical behavior of
prices.

The author begins with introductory chapters on mathematical analysis and
probability theory, which provide the needed tools for modeling portfolio choice
and pricing in discrete time. Next, a review of the basic arithmetic of
compounding as well as the relationships that exist among bond prices and spot
and forward interest rates is presented.

Additional topics covered include:

* Dividend discount models
* Markowitz mean-variance theory
* The Capital Asset Pricing Model
* Static?portfolio theory based on the expected-utility paradigm
* Familiar probability models for marginal distributions of returns and the
dynamic behavior of security prices

The final chapters of the book delve into the paradigms of pricing and present
the application of martingale pricing in advanced models of price dynamics. Also
included is a step-by-step discussion on the use of Fourier methods to solve for
arbitrage-free prices when underlying price dynamics are modeled in realistic,
but complex ways.

Throughout the book, the author presents insight on current approaches along
with comments on the unique difficulties that exist in the study of financial
markets. These reflections illustrate the evolving nature of the financial field
and help readers develop analytical techniques and tools to apply in their
everyday work. Exercises at the end of most chapters progress in difficulty, and
selected worked-out solutions are available in the appendix. In addition,
numerous empirical projects utilize MATLAB and Minitab to demonstrate the
mathematical tools of finance for modeling the behavior of prices and markets.
Data sets that accompany these projects can be found via the book's FTP site.

Quantitative Finance is an excellent book for courses in quantitative finance or
financial engineering at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also
a valuable resource for practitioners in related fields including engineering,
finance, and economics.

Key Topics Covered:

PART I: PERSPECTIVE AND PREPARATION.
1. Introduction and Overview.
2. Tools from Calculus and Analysis.
3. Probability.
PART II: PORTFOLIOS AND PRICES.
4. Interest and Bond Prices.
5. Models of Portfolio Choice.
6. Prices in a Mean-VarianceWorld.
7. Rational Decisions under Risk.
8. Observed Decisions under Risk.
9. Distributions of Returns.
10. Dynamics of Prices and Returns.
11. Stochastic Calculus.
12. Portfolio Decisions over Time.
13. Optimal Growth.
15. Efficient Markets.
PART III: PARADIGMS FOR PRICING.
16. Static Arbitrage Pricing.
17. Dynamic Arbitrage Pricing.
18. Properties of Option Prices.
19. Martingale Pricing.
20. Modeling Volatility.
21. Discontinuous Price Processes.
22. Options on Jump Processes.
23. Options on S.V. Processes.

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f0a36d/quantitative_finan

Research and Markets
Laura Wood
Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax from USA: 646-607-1907
Fax from rest of the world: +353-1-481-1716

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