Strategic Analysis Of Financial Markets, The (In 2 Volumes)


Book Description

Volume 1 of 'The Strategic Analysis of Financial Markets,' — Framework, is premised on the belief that markets can be understood only by dropping the assumptions of rationality and efficient markets in their extreme forms, and showing that markets still have an inherent order and inherent logic. But that order results primarily from the 'predictable irrationality' of investors, as well as from people's uncoordinated attempts to profit. The market patterns that result do not rely on rationality or efficiency.A framework is developed for understanding financial markets using a combination of psychology, statistics, game and gambling analysis, market history and the author's experience. It expresses analytically how professional investors and traders think about markets — as games in which other participants employ inferior, partially predictable strategies. Those strategies' interactions can be toxic and lead to booms, bubbles, busts and crashes, or can be less dramatic, leading to various patterns that are mistakenly called 'market inefficiencies' and 'stylized facts.'A logical case is constructed, starting from two foundations, the psychology of human decision making and the 'Fundamental Laws of Gambling.' Applying the Fundamental Laws to trading leads to the idea of 'gambling rationality' (grationality), replacing the efficient market's concept of 'rationality.' By classifying things that are likely to have semi-predictable price impacts (price 'distorters'), one can identify, explore through data analysis, and create winning trading ideas and systems. A structured way of doing all this is proposed: the six-step 'Strategic Analysis of Market Method.' Examples are given in this and Volume 2.Volume 2 of 'The Strategic Analysis of Financial Markets' — Trading System Analytics, continues the development of Volume 1 by introducing tools and techniques for developing trading systems and by illustrating them using real markets. The difference between these two Volumes and the rest of the literature is its rigor. It describes trading as a form of gambling that when properly executed, is quite logical, and is well known to professional gamblers and analytical traders.But even those elites might be surprised at the extent to which quantitative methods have been justified and applied, including a life cycle theory of trading systems. Apart from a few sections that develop background material, Volume 2 creates from scratch a trading system for Eurodollar futures using principles of the Strategic Analysis of Markets Method (SAMM), a principled, step-by-step approach to developing profitable trading systems. It has an entire Chapter on mechanical methods for testing and improvement of trading systems, which transcends the rather unstructured and unsatisfactory 'backtesting' literature. It presents a breakout trend following system developed using factor models. It also presents a specific pairs trading system, and discusses its life cycle from an early, highly profitable period to its eventual demise. Recent developments in momentum trading and suggestions on improvements are also discussed.




Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets


Book Description

John J. Murphy has updated his landmark bestseller Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets, to include all of the financial markets. This outstanding reference has already taught thousands of traders the concepts of technical analysis and their application in the futures and stock markets. Covering the latest developments in computer technology, technical tools, and indicators, the second edition features new material on candlestick charting, intermarket relationships, stocks and stock rotation, plus state-of-the-art examples and figures. From how to read charts to understanding indicators and the crucial role technical analysis plays in investing, readers gain a thorough and accessible overview of the field of technical analysis, with a special emphasis on futures markets. Revised and expanded for the demands of today's financial world, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in tracking and analyzing market behavior.




The Econometrics of Financial Markets


Book Description

The past twenty years have seen an extraordinary growth in the use of quantitative methods in financial markets. Finance professionals now routinely use sophisticated statistical techniques in portfolio management, proprietary trading, risk management, financial consulting, and securities regulation. This graduate-level textbook is intended for PhD students, advanced MBA students, and industry professionals interested in the econometrics of financial modeling. The book covers the entire spectrum of empirical finance, including: the predictability of asset returns, tests of the Random Walk Hypothesis, the microstructure of securities markets, event analysis, the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory, the term structure of interest rates, dynamic models of economic equilibrium, and nonlinear financial models such as ARCH, neural networks, statistical fractals, and chaos theory. Each chapter develops statistical techniques within the context of a particular financial application. This exciting new text contains a unique and accessible combination of theory and practice, bringing state-of-the-art statistical techniques to the forefront of financial applications. Each chapter also includes a discussion of recent empirical evidence, for example, the rejection of the Random Walk Hypothesis, as well as problems designed to help readers incorporate what they have read into their own applications.







Strategic Financial Management Casebook


Book Description

Strategic Financial Management Casebook strategically uses integrative case studies—cases that do not emphasize specific subjects such as capital budgeting or value based management—to provide a framework for understanding strategic financial management. By featuring holistic presentations, the book puts readers into the shoes of those responsible for the world's largest wealth creators. It covers strategies of growth, mergers and acquisitions, financial performance analysis over the past decade, wealth created in terms of stock returns since its listing in stock market, investment and financial decisions, cost of capital, and corporate valuation. In addition, the casebook also discusses corporate restructuring activities undertaken by each company. Each chapter follows a template to facilitate learning, and each features an Excel-based case analysis worksheet that includes a complete data set for financial analysis and valuation. - Introduces a conceptual framework for integrating strategy and finance for value creation - Emphasizes the roles of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and risk management in value creation - Encourages an analysis of investment, financing, and dividend decisions - Examines non-financial factors that contribute to value




Creating Strategic Value


Book Description

The principles of value investing have resonated with savvy practitioners in the world of finance for a long time. In Creating Strategic Value, Joseph Calandro Jr. explores how the core ideas and methods of value investing can be profitably applied to corporate strategy and management. Calandro builds from an analysis of traditional value investing concepts to their strategic applications. He surveys value investing’s past, present, and future, drawing on influential texts, from Graham and Dodd’s time-tested works to more recent studies, to reveal potent managerial lessons. He explains the theoretical aspects of value investing-consistent approaches to corporate strategy and management and details how they can be successfully employed through practical case studies that demonstrate value realization in action. Calandro analyzes the applicability of key ideas such as the margin-of-safety principle to corporate strategy in a wide range of areas beyond stocks and bonds. He highlights the importance of an “information advantage”—knowing something that a firm’s competitors either do not know or choose to ignore—and explains how corporate managers can apply this key value investing differentiator. Offering expert insight into the use of time-tested value investing principles in new fields, Creating Strategic Value is an important book for corporate strategy and management practitioners at all levels as well as for students and researchers.




Study Guide to Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets


Book Description

This outstanding reference has already taught thousands of traders the concepts of technical analysis and their application in the futures and stock markets. Covering the latest developments in computer technology, technical tools, and indicators, the second edition features new material on candlestick charting, intermarket relationships, stocks and stock rotations, plus state-of-the-art examples and figures. From how to read charts to understanding indicators and the crucial role technical analysis plays in investing, readers gain a thorough and accessible overview of the field of technical analysis, with a special emphasis on futures markets. Revised and expanded for the demands of today's financial world, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in tracking and analyzing market behavior.




Strategic Investment


Book Description

Corporate finance and corporate strategy have long been seen as different sides of the same coin. Though both focus on the same broad problem, investment decision-making, the gap between the two sides--and between theory and practice--remains embarrassingly large. This book synthesizes cutting-edge developments in corporate finance and related fields--in particular, real options and game theory--to help bridge this gap. In clear, straightforward exposition and through numerous examples and applications from various industries, Han Smit and Lenos Trigeorgis set forth an extended valuation framework for competitive strategies. The book follows a problem-solving approach that synthesizes ideas from game theory, real options, and strategy. Thinking in terms of options-games can help managers address questions such as: When is it best to invest early to preempt competitive entry, and when to wait? Should a firm compete in R&D or adopt an accommodating stance? How does one value growth options or infrastructure investments? The authors provide a wide range of valuation examples, such as acquisition strategies, R&D investment in high-tech sectors, joint research ventures, product introductions in consumer electronics, infrastructure, and oil exploration investment. Representing a major step beyond standard real options or strategy analysis, and extending the power of real options and strategic thinking in a rigorous fashion, Strategic Investment will be an indispensable guide and resource for corporate managers, MBA students, and academics alike.




Options as a Strategic Investment


Book Description

A best-selling guide giving serious investors hundreds of market-tested strategies, to maximise the earnings potential of their portfolio while reducing risk.




Strategic Value Investing (PB)


Book Description

Benjamin Graham referred to it as his “margin of safety.” Seth Klarman favors it over all other investment methods. Warren Buffett uses it to make millions for his investors. It’s called value investing, and you can make it work wonders for your portfolio. All you need is money to invest, a little patience—and this book. Strategic Value Investing reveals everything you need to know to build a world-class portfolio using value investing as your north star. Written by experts on valuation and financial analysis, this comprehensive guide breaks it all down into an easy-to-implement process. The authors explain the ins and outs of determining when a stock is undervalued, then purchasing it and selling it for a profit when the rest of the world learns what you knew all along. With Strategic Value Investing, you’ll learn how to: Distinguish between the various measures of value, including going concern, replacement value, fair market value, book value, and intrinsic value Identify undervalued companies before everyone else, and know what to look for, what to avoid, when to buy, and when to sell The authors teach you how to establish a dispassionate value investing philosophy tailored to your needs. Equally important, they provide the tools you need to adhere to this often contrarian approach regardless of your emotions or crowd sentiment. Get in before the crowd—and get out when the price is right with Strategic Value Investing. Praise for Strategic Value Investing “A book that has much the same character as a good value investor: calm, disciplined, with a grasp both of broad theory and of how to apply it.” —JOHN AUTHERS, senior investment columnist, Financial Times “This comprehensive look at valuation techniques is not only insightful, but can be easily put to use by individual and professional investors alike.” —CHARLES ROTBLUT, CFA, Vice President, the American Association of Individual Investors “Offers a sound fundamental perspective for those looking to deepen their analysis around stocks. A great resource for all types of value investors.” —HEATHER BRILLIANT, CFA, global head of equity research at Morningstar and member of the CFA Institute Board of Governors “This book is of Real Value! It updates the pioneering work of Ben Graham and Phillip Fisher, blending the valuation techniques of the masters (such as Warren Buffett) and provides institutional and individual investors the A to Z of value investing from a practitioner perspective.” —JOHN MAGINN, CFA, EVP & CIO, Mutual of Omaha (retired) and coeditor of Managing Investment Portfolios “An actionable road map for implementing a disciplined value investing strategy. Very much in the Ben Graham style. The sophisticated individual investor will find this comprehensive digest a continual and timeless reference.” —WALLACE FORBES, CFA, President of Forbes Investors Advisory Institute, Division of Forbes magazine “Many books propose to help you learn how to become a better value investor. This one, which is bound to become a staple of every value investor’s library, delivers on its promise.” —ROBERT POWELL, editor of Retirement Weekly and columnist of “MarketWatch”