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Summary: Derivatives Bible
Review: Comprehensive, understandable, practical, accurate --- quite simply the best book on this most complex area of finance. A fixture on trading desks the world over. Get it, do the exercises, and you'll be way ahead of most practitioners in this area.
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Summary: The Samuelson of Finance
Review: There is a reason that this text has been in print for so many years - in my view it is the Samuelson of the financial world because there is no other work that presents such a cogent as well as comprehensive introduction to the mechanics of derivatives securities. As a person involved in dealing with these monsters on a daily basis, Hull lives on my desk and has been a constant source of reference. It is also widely used by others in the industry. If Wiener Processes and Ito's Lemma are part of your life, this book is the one to get! PS...the solutions manual is a very useful companion if you want to get full value out of the book, but I have always thought it unfair of textbook publishers to print separate solutions texts when the main work is so expensive in the first place. Is it so hard or costly to tack on 50 extra pages, or it the old story of the monopolist extracting his due?
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Summary: More than a textbook
Review: While this is the standard text it surpasses that role in its treatment, content, and depth. It is also a professionals handbook. This is a book that rewards deep study and I turn to it and learn from it over and over again. It treats issues on bonds and interest rate derivatives better than any other text I have seen. Getting this text and the related solutions manual will allow you to work the exercises on your own. The topics will become more transparent as you work through those problems because these topics are better understood by doing than just through head work. Terrific! Thanks, Dr. Hull.
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Summary: Dull
Review: If this is your fist time with derivatives stay away from this book. Although its content is quite comprehensive and most indicated for the topic, it lurches due to the inefficiency of the author to make this material accessible to the reader. I have a master degree in finance and I find it adequate for graduate students although rather droughty and unfriendly. Its success rests on its popularity due to the dearth of material in the subject.
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Summary: a really exhaustive book
Review: I've found this book very useful, particularly for the scope of the author: bringing into derivates and related issues and rapidly improving on their knowledge. It's a clear book and,though a little old fashioned, still remains a great reference to reach a solid background in this lively subject.
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Summary: Tired
Review: I grew up on the earlier editions of this book. But now it's well past its prime, very old fashioned. The financial world has moved on at lot in recent years. Due to the influx of serious scientists PDEs are increasingly used in practice, and there's very little of this subject in the book. It's still used in univs but less by serious quants.
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Summary: The classic on derivatives.
Review: This book has been the standard text for mathematicians, physicists, and engineers retooling for Wall Street. I agree with the praise of other reviewers - especially 'a reader' on September 20, 1996. This book is still a gem. For a full PDE approach I recommend "Option Pricing: Mathematical Models and Computations" by Wilmott, Dewynne, and Howison. For a good probability theory approach, I recommend "Financial Calculus" by Baxter and Rennie. One reservation on Hull's book - it will be difficult for many readers with economic/finance/MBA backgrounds not completely fluent in calculus.
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Summary: A reference manual for quants
Review: I have all the editions since the first one. This book presents all the required materials for quants in financial world. The chapters on stochastic calculus are helpful.
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Summary: A classic
Review: Hull's text is the definitive text on futures and options. The book provides the basis for understanding the underlying principles for valuing derivatives intstruments. Since the text is academic and theoretical in nature, the book is geared towards graduate business school students and Wall Street professionals (and maybe only those working on trading/research desks). For the day-trading crowd, you will not find any specific discussions about trading strategies that make money. Instead, you will be enriched with a fundamental understanding of derivatives pricing --- from there you can try to earn your riches.
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