Pricing Derivative Securities: An Interactive, Dynamic Environment with Maple V and Matlab

Rating:
Summary: Pricing Derivative Securities if You Can't Program at All
Review: Based on the title and description of this book, I bought it hoping to learn more about developing financial tools, specifically interest rate models, in Matlab. After working through most of the book, I have concluded that the use of the name "Matlab" in the title is misleading: it only means that Maple, the main tool of the book, may be accessed via the kernel of Matlab.

The book appears to be targeted primarily at undergraduates and MBA students, not practitioners in the field. Such an audience may have little interest (or need) in learning to develop code or the intricacies of the underlying mechanics of financial models, and for them, the book would no doubt be very helpful. The software that comes with the book includes a stripped down version of Maple, (which is nice, since you can't really use the book without it), and author-developed analytical tools. These tools support the goals of learning through the ability to quickly vary inputs and see the impact on the output, but as they are more or less a black-box, do not add much to one's independent ability to model new financial objects or extend existing ones.

The book includes the de rigueur definitions of typical financial instruments and explanations that facilitate understanding of these instruments (such as how to read and understand option data in newspapers, the mechanics of currency swaps and so on), but one really has to follow along with the Maple commands page by page to derive benefit. The fixed income section is very skimpy. It seems like the book is best suited as an extended set of lecture notes.

I like the book but would not recommend it to practioners looking for insight on tool development or to extend knowledge of cutting edge interest rate models (as these are not covered here). I would recommend it for newcomers to the field having mathematical or quantitative backgrounds who want a reasonably good introduction to financial instruments. It would also be useful as a companion text in master's programs in financial engineering or financial mathematics. Derivatives and Maple with training wheels.

Rating:
Summary: Pricing Derivative Securities if You Can't Program at All
Review: Based on the title and description of this book, I bought it hoping to learn more about developing financial tools, specifically interest rate models, in Matlab. After working through most of the book, I have concluded that the use of the name "Matlab" in the title is misleading: it only means that Maple, the main tool of the book, may be accessed via the kernel of Matlab.

The book appears to be targeted primarily at undergraduates and MBA students, not practitioners in the field. Such an audience may have little interest (or need) in learning to develop code or the intricacies of the underlying mechanics of financial models, and for them, the book would no doubt be very helpful. The software that comes with the book includes a stripped down version of Maple, (which is nice, since you can't really use the book without it), and author-developed analytical tools. These tools support the goals of learning through the ability to quickly vary inputs and see the impact on the output, but as they are more or less a black-box, do not add much to one's independent ability to model new financial objects or extend existing ones.

The book includes the de rigueur definitions of typical financial instruments and explanations that facilitate understanding of these instruments (such as how to read and understand option data in newspapers, the mechanics of currency swaps and so on), but one really has to follow along with the Maple commands page by page to derive benefit. The fixed income section is very skimpy. It seems like the book is best suited as an extended set of lecture notes.

I like the book but would not recommend it to practioners looking for insight on tool development or to extend knowledge of cutting edge interest rate models (as these are not covered here). I would recommend it for newcomers to the field having mathematical or quantitative backgrounds who want a reasonably good introduction to financial instruments. It would also be useful as a companion text in master's programs in financial engineering or financial mathematics. Derivatives and Maple with training wheels.

Rating:
Summary: Pricing Derivative Securities
Review: For when life throws you that derivative that you just can't look up in some book...
This book provides the building blocks on both the practical and theoretical levels that one needs to price derivatives. The book provides an essential combination of three things: 1) clear explanations and examples of fundamental concepts, 2) a hands on approach to software and pricing algorithms, and 3) emphasis on graphic visualization in understanding the behavior of derivatives in general. While clearly a textbook for a Master's level course, from the point of view of a practitioner, this book has also become my first reference source at the office for those times when I can't just look up the answer, and have to resort to first principles.

Rating:
Summary: Pricing Derivative Securities
Review: For when life throws you that derivative that you just can't look up in some book...
This book provides the building blocks on both the practical and theoretical levels that one needs to price derivatives. The book provides an essential combination of three things: 1) clear explanations and examples of fundamental concepts, 2) a hands on approach to software and pricing algorithms, and 3) emphasis on graphic visualization in understanding the behavior of derivatives in general. While clearly a textbook for a Master's level course, from the point of view of a practitioner, this book has also become my first reference source at the office for those times when I can't just look up the answer, and have to resort to first principles.

Rating:
Summary: Pricing Derivative Securities: An Interactive Dynamic Envir
Review: The theory of financial derivates is now much easily understood by combining mathemtical models with the symbolic, numeric and visualization capabilities of a CAS such as Maple. The author made an excellent choice to select Maple (primarily) and Matlab. Maple is used extensively in many academic and industry settings, and its integration into the presentation of the materials makes the content come alive. Great addition, that (even) every mathematician should read! I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Not sure who this book is for
Review: This book is far too advanced for undergrads or even MBA students. It's not really an introductory book on derivative pricing, but is an excellent supplementary book to, say, Hull's text ("Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives").

This text provides a solid foundation for considering any derivative security in a no-arbitrage market. It then goes on to cover the Black-Scholes model and derivative pricing based on the price distribution of the underlying.

Here's an anicdote from my experience: I wanted to learn the fundamentals of a (Cox-Ross-Rubenstein) binomial pricing model. I opened up the Prisman book and was thoroughly confused with what I understood to be a pretty simple model. The text referenced previous chapters, which referenced previous chapters - you get the picture. It was very unreadable. I then opened up a Hull text and in 3 pages I had a full and sound understanding of a simple binomial model. (-1 star)

I agree with a previous review that "Matlab" has no place in the book's description, let alone in the title. I am a long time Matlab user. There is no Matlab code in this book, no Matlab CD, and the Maple CD that's included cannot be used with an existing Matlab license! (-1 star)

I have also come across a few serious typos in equations that make this text a subpar publication. (-1 star)