Tradefair & Financials
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'The Quants' by Scott Patterson
charts the rise of the 'Quants' (financial mathematicians) behind the complex math that underpinned the trading of more and more complex derivatives over the years, told from the perspective of 'quant trading' hedge funds and prop. trading desks of big banks
covers a wide time period, so covers many crises from Black Monday, LTCM, dotcom crash and Credit Crunch
also covers a good variety of the trading strategies and financial instruments popular in these periods, which are then used to explain a lot of the market craziness when things went wrong
seems to be a decent balance between accessibility for the financial layman, and reasonable technical explanation (without hardcore maths) for those looking for a bit more information
main drawbacks i guess would be lack of depth for anyone looking for a rigorous mathematical explanation of any of these topics, and lack of depth when covering any single crisis (since it covers quite a few)
certainly good for a non-judgemental 'peek behind the curtain' of what people mean when they talk about 'casino banking' or the 'shadow banking system'
charts the rise of the 'Quants' (financial mathematicians) behind the complex math that underpinned the trading of more and more complex derivatives over the years, told from the perspective of 'quant trading' hedge funds and prop. trading desks of big banks
covers a wide time period, so covers many crises from Black Monday, LTCM, dotcom crash and Credit Crunch
also covers a good variety of the trading strategies and financial instruments popular in these periods, which are then used to explain a lot of the market craziness when things went wrong
seems to be a decent balance between accessibility for the financial layman, and reasonable technical explanation (without hardcore maths) for those looking for a bit more information
main drawbacks i guess would be lack of depth for anyone looking for a rigorous mathematical explanation of any of these topics, and lack of depth when covering any single crisis (since it covers quite a few)
certainly good for a non-judgemental 'peek behind the curtain' of what people mean when they talk about 'casino banking' or the 'shadow banking system'
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Yeah I agree.
I enjoyed it immensely.
Did it make you personally miss the good old days sub ?.
I enjoyed it immensely.
Did it make you personally miss the good old days sub ?.
it certainly brought back some memories... 'good old days' is probably pushing it a bit though 
"charts the rise of the 'Quants' (financial mathematicians) behind the complex math that underpinned the trading of more and more complex derivatives over the years, told from the perspective of 'quant trading' hedge funds and prop. trading desks of big banks."
That reads very much like focussing on the minutiae, to me, and not seeing the bigger picture.
That reads very much like focussing on the minutiae, to me, and not seeing the bigger picture.
Agree, I have read it and its sooooo interesting.Will go over the head of many though.
cush - its certainly got more technical detail than most books targeted at the mass market
but criticism from many who know the industry is that it doesn't have enough detail
so its somewhere in the middle, tries to strike a balance, but obviously not everyone will agree with that balance
it also definitely tries to link the details to the 'bigger picture'. it helps to understand the broader context of each crisis if you have some knowledge of the financial products around at the time, and what they were used for.
but criticism from many who know the industry is that it doesn't have enough detail
so its somewhere in the middle, tries to strike a balance, but obviously not everyone will agree with that balance
it also definitely tries to link the details to the 'bigger picture'. it helps to understand the broader context of each crisis if you have some knowledge of the financial products around at the time, and what they were used for.
Sub
Have you read "Fatal Risk" by Roddy Doyle and, did you enjoy it and whta is the opinion of it from those who know in the industry ?
The epilogue of where certain of the players have apparently gone on relatively unscathed to bigger and better things is confounding to say the least.
Have you read "Fatal Risk" by Roddy Doyle and, did you enjoy it and whta is the opinion of it from those who know in the industry ?
The epilogue of where certain of the players have apparently gone on relatively unscathed to bigger and better things is confounding to say the least.
FAFH - never read it tbh, is it any good?
and yeah, the lack of consequences in a system that allegedly rewards success and punishes failure is pretty galling
and yeah, the lack of consequences in a system that allegedly rewards success and punishes failure is pretty galling
The best sub.
I would be extremely surprised if you didn't enjoy it immensely.
Let's face it the AIG debacle should be a study case for any and all interested in derivatives per se.
I would be extremely surprised if you didn't enjoy it immensely.
Let's face it the AIG debacle should be a study case for any and all interested in derivatives per se.
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