Guide to Financial Markets
$7.06
| Author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Format |
|
| Pages |
257 |
| Published Date |
2006 |
Guide to Financial Markets brings the reader up to date with the latest developments in financial instruments and provides a clear and incisive guide to this increasingly complex world. Financial markets have been around ever since people settled down to growing crops and trading them with each other. They take many different forms and operate in many different ways. But all of them, whether highly organised, like the New York Stock Exchange, or highly informal, like money-changers in Africa, serve the same basic functions, which range from providing a way of setting prices and valuing assets, through raising capital or investing it, to managing exposure to risk.
Introduction:
The word “market” usually conjures up an image of the bustling, paper-strewn floor of the New York Stock Exchange or of traders motioning frantically in the futures pits of Chicago. But formal exchanges such as these are only one aspect of the financial markets, and far from the most important one. There were financial markets long before there were exchanges and, in fact, long before there was organised trading of any sort.
Financial markets have been around ever since mankind settled down to growing crops and trading them with others. After a bad harvest, those early farmers would have needed to obtain seed for the next season’s planting, and perhaps to get food to see their families through. Both of these transactions would have required them to obtain credit from others with seed or food to spare. After a good harvest, the farmers would have had to decide whether to trade away their surplus immediately or to store it, a choice that any 20th-century commodities trader would find familiar. The amount of fish those early farmers could obtain for a basket of cassava would have varied day by day, depending upon the catch, the harvest and the weather; in short, their exchange rates were volatile.
The independent decisions of all of those farmers constituted a basic financial market, and that market fulfilled many of the same purposes as financial markets do today.
Contents:
- Why markets matter
- Foreign-exchange markets
- Money markets
- Bond markets
- Securitisation
- International fixed-income markets
- Equity markets
- Commodities and futures markets
- Options and derivatives markets
Guide to Financial Markets By Marc Levinson pdf
7 reviews for Guide to Financial Markets
Clear filtersOnly logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Myles Caldwell (verified owner) –
Really tells you a lot of the workings of the various financial markets, especially conditions and changes after the crisis. As a young professional just getting my feet wet in studying financial markets (and with a more theoretical economics background) this has been pretty useful.
Evelynn Rios (verified owner) –
This was the very first book I read about financial market.
Before reading any actual books, I’ve been reading the Economist articles for years so I started from the Economist Guide to Financial Markets.
It turned out that the timing was about right. This book was for people without much knowledge about financial markets.
When you already know well about financial markets, this book may not be worth the investment (time).
Princeton Armstrong (verified owner) –
As someone who didn’t know what securities, dividends, or interest were whatsoever, this book went a bit over my head at first. Thus I would recommend that people with absolutely zero financial background read this book only after brushing up on the basics of financial markets. However, the book is extremely clear, engaging, and informative.
Also, one minor complaint: There isn’t much of a difference between the bold and regular versions of the font, which are used for headings and subheadings respectively, so sometimes it’s a little hard to figure out if you’re still in the same section, or if you’re now in a different section.
Kathryn O’Connor (verified owner) –
Easy to read book that describes in detail how financial markets work.
Presley Moreno (verified owner) –
Definitely liked the fact that every market has been covered in the book. Doesn’t leave you wondering about things like, “what’s a derivative?” Or “what is a futures market?” when you read them. It is however a bit complex for beginners.
Itzel Austin (verified owner) –
An excellent over view of the financial markets. I wish I had read this book, or one like it a long time ago.
Israel Beil (verified owner) –
This book is the probably the best introductory resource to a complex topic. Each chapter focusses on a particular kind of financial market, and they are written in a manner that enables the reader to choose how deeply they want to explore the market. For example, I wanted a simple working knowledge, and the first 5-6 pages of each chapter were sufficient to gain a high level understanding.