Options for Volatile Markets. Managing Volatility and Protecting Against Catastrophic Risk

Top options expert Larry Shover returns to discuss how to interpret, and profit from, market volatility Trading Options in Turbulent Markets, Second Edition skillfully explains the intricacies of options volatility and shows you how to use options to cope, and profit from, market turbulence. Throughout this new edition, options expert Larry Shover reveals how to use historical volatility to predict future volatility for a security and addresses how you can utilize that knowledge to make better trading decisions. Along the way, he also defines the so-called Greeks—delta, vega, theta, and gamma—and explains what drives their values and their relationship to historic and implied volatility. Shover then provides effective strategies for trading options contracts in uncertain times, addressing the decision-making process and how to trade objectively in the face of unpredictable and irrational market moves. Includes a new chapter of the VIX, more advanced material on volatility suitable for institutional or intermediate options trader, and additional volatility-based strategies Answers complex questions such as: How does a trader know when to tolerate risk and How does a successful trader respond to adversity? Provides a different perspective on a variety of options strategies, including covered calls, naked and married puts, collars, straddles, vertical spreads, calendar spreads, butterflies, condors, and more As volatility becomes a greater focus of traders and investors, Trading Options in Turbulent Markets, Second Edition will become an important resource for in-depth insights, practical advice, and profitable strategies.

Gain a deep, intuitive and technical understanding of practical options theory The main challenges in successful options trading are conceptual, not mathematical. Volatility: Practical Options Theory provides financial professionals, academics, students and others with an intuitive as well as technical understanding of both the basic and advanced ideas in options theory to a level that facilitates practical options trading. The approach taken in this book will prove particularly valuable to options traders and other practitioners tasked with making pricing and risk management decisions in an environment where time constraints mean that simplicity and intuition are of greater value than mathematical formalism. The most important areas of options theory, namely implied volatility, delta hedging, time value and the so-called options greeks are explored based on intuitive economic arguments alone before turning to formal models such as the seminal Black-Scholes-Merton model. The reader will understand how the model free approach and mathematical models are related to each other, their underlying theoretical assumptions and their implications to level that facilitates practical implementation. There are several excellent mathematical descriptions of options theory, but few focus on a translational approach to convert the theory into practice. This book emphasizes the translational aspect, while first building an intuitive, technical understanding that allows market makers, portfolio managers, investment managers, risk managers, and other traders to work more effectively within—and beyond—the bounds of everyday practice. Gain a deeper understanding of the assumptions underlying options theory Translate theoretical ideas into practice Develop a more accurate intuition for better time-constrained decision making This book allows its readers to gain more than a superficial understanding of the mechanisms at work in options markets. Volatility gives its readers the edge by providing a true bedrock foundation upon which practical knowledge becomes stronger.

A groundbreaking look at complexity theory and its implications in the world of finance Complexity theory tells us that processes with a large number of seemingly independent agents-such as free markets-can spontaneously organize themselves into a coherent system. In this fascinating book, Edgar Peters brings together scientific theory, the artistic process, and economics to show how the randomness and uncertainty of complexity theory can be applied to financial markets. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this is a thoughtful, conceptual look at the way free markets are, by their nature, continually evolving complex systems. Expanding on previous explorations of chaos theory, Peters draws on real-life examples ranging from the Asian crisis to America's love of conspiracy to show that complexity and randomness are necessary for the free markets to operate in a competitive manner.

Discover analytical tools and practices to help improve the quality of risk management in government organizations Federal agencies increasingly recognize the importance of active risk management to help ensure that they can carry out their missions. High impact events, once thought to occur only rarely, now occur with surprising frequency. Managing Risk in Government Agencies and Programs provides insight into the increasingly critical role of effective risk management, while offering analytical tools and promising practices that can help improve the quality of risk management in government organizations. Includes chapters that contribute to the knowledge of government executives and managers who want to establish or implement risk management, and especially Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), in their agencies Features chapters written by federal risk managers, public administration practitioners, and scholars Showing government officials how to improve their organization's risk management capabilities, Managing Risk in Government Agencies and Programs meets a growing demand from federal departments and agencies that find themselves increasingly embarrassed by risky events that raise questions about their ability to carry out their missions.

A comprehensive guide to managing global financial risk From the balance of payment exposure to foreign exchange and interest rate risk, to credit derivatives and other exotic options, futures, and swaps for mitigating and transferring risk, this book provides a simple yet comprehensive analysis of complex derivatives pricing and their application in risk management. The risk posed by foreign exchange transactions stems from the volatility of the exchange rate, the volatility of the interest rates, and factors unique to individual companies which are interrelated. To protect and hedge against adverse currency and interest rate changes, multinational corporations need to take concrete steps for mitigating these risks. Managing Global Financial and Foreign Exchange Rate Risk offers a thorough treatment of price, foreign currency, and interest rate risk management practices of multinational corporations in a dynamic global economy. It lays out the pros and cons of various hedging instruments, as well as the economic cost benefit analysis of alternative hedging vehicles. Written in a detailed yet user–friendly manner, this resource provides treasurers and other financial managers with the tools they need to manage their various exposures to credit, price, and foreign exchange risk. Managing Global Financial and Foreign Exchange Rate Risk covers various swaps in this geometrically growing field with notional principal in excess of $120 trillion. From caplet and corridors to call and put swaptions this book covers the micro structure of the swaps, options, futures, and foreign exchange markets. From credit default swap and transfer and convertibility options to asset swap switch and weather derivatives this book illustrates their simple pricing and application. To show real-world examples, each chapter includes a case study highlighting a specific problem, as well as a set of steps to solve it. Numerous charts accompanied with actual Wall Street figures provide the reader with the opportunity to comprehend and appreciate the role and function of derivatives, which are often misunderstood in the financial market. This detailed resource will guide the individual, government and multinational corporations safely through the maze of various exposures. A must-read for treasures, controllers, money mangers, portfolio managers, security analyst and academics, Managing Global Financial and Foreign Exchange Rate Risk represents an important collection of up-to-date risk management solutions. Ghassem A. Homaifar is a professor of financial economics at Middle Tennessee State University. He has Master of Science in Industrial Management from State University of New York at Stony Brook and PhD in Finance from University of Alabama in 1982. He is the author of numerous articles that have appeared in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Weltwirtschsftliches Archiv Review of World Economics, Advances in Futures and Options Research,Applied Financial Economics, Applied Economics, International Economics, and Global Finance Journal.

A strategic, practical, cost-effective approach to fraud prevention In troubled economic times, the risk of fraud and financial crime increases. In our post credit crunch environment, new laws and tougher penalties for financial crime mean that if you are in business, you have a responsibility to help fight fraud. However, to design effective, proportionate fraud controls for your business, you need a complete picture of all the risks. Managing Fraud Risk shows you where to look for fraud, setting out a route-map for finding and fighting fraud risks in your business, with the practical, strategic advice you need. Combining the latest theory with forensic risk analysis, this book reveals how you can provide assurance to your Board and stakeholders. Practical examples are used to clearly show cost-effective techniques for preventing and detecting business fraud. An innovative fraud awareness quiz enables you to easily apply the theories and principles. Answers questions such as: Who commits more fraud: men or women? How many of your employees are prepared to falsify documents? Essential information to ensure your procedures are sufficient to meet compliance with new international legislation increasing the liability of directors and managers in cases of fraud and corruption Takes a new perspective from the point of view of business risk, making it unique to other texts that take only an auditing, investigative, or specialist approach This route-map is essential reading to help you navigate the complex landscape of business fraud.

A guide to the validation and risk management of quantitative models used for pricing and hedging Whereas the majority of quantitative finance books focus on mathematics and risk management books focus on regulatory aspects, this book addresses the elements missed by this literature–the risks of the models themselves. This book starts from regulatory issues, but translates them into practical suggestions to reduce the likelihood of model losses, basing model risk and validation on market experience and on a wide range of real-world examples, with a high level of detail and precise operative indications.

Managing Risk in Organizations offers a proven framework for handling risks across all types of organizations. In this comprehensive resource, David Frame—a leading expert in risk management—examines the risks routinely encountered in business, offers prescriptions to assess the effects of various risks, and shows how to develop effective strategies to cope with risks. In addition, the book is filled with practical tools and techniques used by professional risk practitioners that can be readily applied by project managers, financial managers, and any manager or consultant who deals with risk within an organization. Managing Risk in Organizations is filled with illustrative case studies and Outlines the various types of risk—pure, operational, project, technical, business, and political Reveals what risk management can and cannot accomplish Shows how to organize risk management efforts to conduct risk assessments, manage crises, and recover from disasters Includes a systematic risk management processrisk management planning, risk identification, qualitative impact analysis, quantitative impact analysis, risk response planning, and monitoring control Provides quantitative and qualitative tools to identify and handle risks This much-needed book will enable organizations to take risk seriously and act proactively.

The non-technical handbook for cyber security risk management Solving Cyber Risk distills a decade of research into a practical framework for cyber security. Blending statistical data and cost information with research into the culture, psychology, and business models of the hacker community, this book provides business executives, policy-makers, and individuals with a deeper understanding of existing future threats, and an action plan for safeguarding their organizations. Key Risk Indicators reveal vulnerabilities based on organization type, IT infrastructure and existing security measures, while expert discussion from leading cyber risk specialists details practical, real-world methods of risk reduction and mitigation. By the nature of the business, your organization’s customer database is packed with highly sensitive information that is essentially hacker-bait, and even a minor flaw in security protocol could spell disaster. This book takes you deep into the cyber threat landscape to show you how to keep your data secure. Understand who is carrying out cyber-attacks, and why Identify your organization’s risk of attack and vulnerability to damage Learn the most cost-effective risk reduction measures Adopt a new cyber risk assessment and quantification framework based on techniques used by the insurance industry By applying risk management principles to cyber security, non-technical leadership gains a greater understanding of the types of threat, level of threat, and level of investment needed to fortify the organization against attack. Just because you have not been hit does not mean your data is safe, and hackers rely on their targets’ complacence to help maximize their haul. Solving Cyber Risk gives you a concrete action plan for implementing top-notch preventative measures before you’re forced to implement damage control.

Offers quantity surveyors, engineers, building surveyors and contractors clear guidance on how to recognise and avoid measurement risk. The book recognises the interrelationship of measurement with complex contractual issues; emphasises the role of measurement in the entirety of the contracting process; and helps to widen the accessibility of measurement beyond the province of the professional quantity surveyor. For the busy practitioner, the book includes: Detailed coverage of NRM1 and NRM2, CESMM4, Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works and POM(I) Comparison of NRM2 with SMM7 Detailed analysis of changes from CESMM3 to CESMM4 Coverage of the measurement implications of major main and sub-contract conditions (JCT, NEC3, Infrastructure Conditions and FIDIC) Definitions of 5D BIM and exploration of BIM measurement protocols Considerations of the measurement risk implications of both formal and informal tender documentation and common methods of procurement An identification of pre- and post-contract measurement risk issues Coverage of measurement risk in claims and final accounts Detailed worked examples and explanations of computer-based measurement using a variety of industry-standard software packages.