Paul Wilmott on Quantitative Finance, 2 Volume Set by Paul Wilmott

Product Description

The only comprehensive reference encompassing both traditional and new derivatives and financial engineering techniques
Based on the author's hugely successful Derivatives: The Theory and Practice of Financial Engineering, Paul Wilmott on Quantitative Finance is the definitive guide to derivatives and related financial products. In addition to fully updated and expanded coverage of all the topics covered in the first book, this two-volume set also includes sixteen entirely new chapters covering such crucial areas as stochastic control and derivatives, utility theory, stochastic volatility and utility, mortgages, real options, power derivatives, weather derivatives, insurance derivatives, and more. Wilmott has also added clear, detailed explanations of all the mathematical procedures readers need to know in order to use the techniques he describes.
Paul Wilmott, Dphil (Oxford, UK), is one of Europe's leading writers and consultants in the area of financial mathematics. He is also head of Wilmott Associates, a leading international financial consulting firm whose clients include Citibank, IBM, Bank of Montreal, Momura, Daiwa, Maxima, Dresdner Klienwort Benson, Origenes, and Siembra.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #825404 in Books
Published on: 2000-01-15
Number of items: 2
Binding: Hardcover
1064 pages
Editorial Reviews

Review
"Wilmott is even amusing. If you have training in the field, it is for you. Buy." (Shares, 21st December 2000)

"…Paul Wilmott’s splendid two-volume treatise is neither. The maths are beautifully and simply written, accessible to non-specialists…and the financial content is clearly and concisely treated…" (Financial World, November 2002)

Book Info
Two-volume set on quantitative finance. Volume one consists of technical methods for predicting market movement, utility theory, dividend modeling, and more. Volume two discusses pricing and optimal hedging of derivatives, an analysis of financial crashes, valuing a firm and the risk of default, and more. DLC: Derivative securities--Mathematical models.

Back Cover Copy
In this two-volume work Paul Wilmott, described by the Financial Times as a "cult derivatives lecturer", updates and extends - with 18 new chapters - his earlier classic Derivatives: The Theory and Practice of Financial Engineering (also published by John Wiley). The new material includes chapters on technical trading, volatility modeling, utility theory, trader options, modeling dividends, real options, energy derivatives and analysis of recent derivatives-led fiascos.

Throughout the book's incredibly wide breadth, the author presents to the reader all current financial theories in a manner designed to make them easy to understand and implement. The reader will discover what the author thinks of certain theories, and where an existing concept is dismissed as impractical or unworkable it is always replaced with one of the author's own, alternative theories. Reviews of Derivatives: The Theory and Practice of Financial Engineering.

"It is a serious work that takes the reader all the way from the simplest of notions to the most complicated of recent models. In short, it is the most comprehensive and up-to-date textbook on options that I have seen ... The style is jocular, but the content heavyweight. The aim is to use a mathematical approach at all times but to motivate the development of models with intuition and to use diagrams and spreadsheet solutions whenever possible. It sounds like an impossible mission. Whoever heard of a mathematician who could convey the intuition of a result to those with a less complete training in the subject? Wilmott is an exception: he knows when a result is hard to understand and treats the reader in a sympathetic manner. ... I cannot imagine any derivatives specialist in an investment bank who would not want to have the book available." The Times Higher Educational Supplement.

"...this book has all the qualities necessary to attract impulse buyers expecting the novel which does for/to high finance what Malcolm Bradbury's 'The History Man' does for/to literary academia. ...What the reader gets is a text which will probably come to rank alongside Fabozzi's collected works of Leibowitz as a comprehensive practical reference source for finance theory." Futures and OTC World "Paul Wilmott has succeeded in simplifying the mathematics of financial engineering and he deserves praise for that. Unlike any other mathematical texts, the book uses a crisp and accessible language, relying on plain calculus and avoiding unnecessary formalism of topology and measure theory. It is rich in illustrations and graphs, making it easy for someone with limited maths to understand." --Risk Magazine.

"Paul Wilmott has produced one of the most exciting and classic reference volumes on derivatives which is a must for both students, practitioners, risk managers and the misunderstood."-- Global Trading. Volume 1: This first volume of Paul Wilmott on Quantitative Finance incorporates Parts I-III of this two-volume, seven-part publication. This new book by Paul Wilmott is an extensively updated and expanded edition of the bestselling Derivatives: The Theory and Practice of Financial Engineering. The first third of this volume (introducing the classic financial and mathematical concepts) remains largely the same as in Derivatives, with the remaining two-thirds incorporating the majority of the updating and expansion, plus the addition of a number of completely new chapters, including: Technical methods for predicting market movement Utility theory Derivatives and stochastic control The exercise of American options at non-optimal times Stochastic volatility and mean-variance analysis Dividend modeling.

The author has included numerous Bloomberg screen dumps to illustrate in real terms the points he raises, together with essential Visual Basic code, spreadsheet explanations of the models, the reproduction of termsheets and option classification tables. In addition to the practical orientation of his new publication the author himself also appears throughout the text - in cartoon form only, many readers will be relieved to hear - to personally highlight and explain the key sections and issues discussed. And if that wasn't enough, there is also a movie quiz hidden within the pages...

Volume 2 This second volume of Paul Wilmott on Quantitative Finance incorporates Parts IV-VII of this two-volume publication. Throughout this volume, many of the chapters which also appeared in the first edition - Derivatives: The Theory and Practice of Financial Engineering - have been extensively expanded and updated and in addition there are 11 completely new chapters, including: Mortgage-backed securities Pricing and optimal hedging of derivatives Increased uses of non-probabilistic interest-rate models Valuing a firm and the risk of default An analysis of financial crashes The modeling of bonus compensation for traders Real options Energy derivatives.
Customer Reviews

Truly a must-have!
This is the most comprehensive overview on derivatives available. Following a very light and humourous but at the same time rigorous approach, Wilmott manages to make even very complex aspects of modeling, pricing and hedging accessible. This is a must-have for every practitioner.

THE place to start
I bough 20 books before this set. I was wondering if the older Derivatives book was really worth $450 used without the CD. This is the place to start. It is written with style and humor coupled with a pace that is simple to adjust to. I judge a book by how many equations it has - more is BETTER! This set strikes a balance. The exposition is solid. It covers many specialized topics like Energy Derivatives (just a taste, mind you, but it is there to get us thinking). I guess the bottom line is this book allowed me to start thinking like a Financial Quant and less like a mathematical physicist. I have gotten much more out of the other more mathematical works because I understand how the Quants think. I still like The Physics of Finance by Ilinsky. This is more than the past Derivatives book (that makes up the first 65% of volume 1) and sets a real tone to understanding - this is just what I was looking for as I re-tool. Buy this FIRST. Read the TOC. Get moving!

Insufficient
This is not as good as Wilmott's earlier work, and even that could have benefited from better definition of terms. Wilmott needs to brush up on the latest techniques and talk to some practitioners to learn how to apply math to real world examples. It seems there is a lack of depth of understanding evidenced by the writing. The sections of self-expose are an embarrassment.