Market Models: A Guide to Financial Data Analysis

Rating:
Summary: Worth the money
Review: If you are looking for detailed rigorous mathematical development then look elsewhere, that is not the reason to purchase this book. It is targeted towards application and there it excels. I have not seen any other book on this topic that so effectively presents a level-headed applied approach that keeps the basic assumptions of the models firmly in sight.
What tool fits when is nicely discussed.

Rating:
Summary: A financial Bible for both profesionals and researchers
Review: Market Models is an essential tool for practioners who would like to gain fundamental expertise on financial modeling. Aside from the practical view, Alexander's book has got such a clear and comprehensive reading that even the most inexpert individuals can get enthusiastically involved in learning issues related to risk management, investment analysis and financial forecasting. Recent econometric techniques on time series are brilliantly applied with real examples on the finance field. The book demonstrates that the author has a great knowledge on both a theoretical as well as a practical basis on market modeling and knows how to combine the two aspects in a very intelligent way. I considered this book to be a fundamental reference for either financial profesionals and academics.

Rating:
Summary: A great buy
Review: Pricing/hedging and risk modelers in banks and in universities are going to find this book really useful. Quite a heavy weight text but written carefully and clearly - plenty of examples and a very professional CD loaded with useful data and programs.

Rating:
Summary: An effective guide to model building
Review: Targeted towards practitioners concerned with model development, the book addresses key issues in market risk measurement, quantitative trading and investment analysis in a very systematic and clear exposition. I find it particularly reassuring that someone with the author's academic background and hands-on expertise has decided to undertake the responsibility of putting-up a comprehensive guide to financial modelling, from the basic use of financial data to statistical techniques selection and model implementing. Particular attention is paid to supporting each subject with real-world examples, both within the text and in the associated CD. Moreover, the spreadsheets contained by the CD can always represent a useful reference for building your own models. As I find this book really helpful for applied, but also academic model development, I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for practitioners
Review: This book provides a fine selection of econometric methods on financial market modelling such as GARCH, principal components analysis and time series. I find the book useful for practitioners involved in quantitative modelling as the approach balances between presenting the theoretical basis and discussing practical implementation issues. The author has done a pretty good job in explaining statistical concepts such as maximum likelihood, GARCH in an accessible manner without dwelling too much on the technical mathematics commonly found in statistical or econometric books. The necessary statistical backgound is included, making it self-contained. The accompanying CD-ROM contains sufficient source code to enable the reader to move from conceptual understanding to implementation. In short, it is a worthwhile investment.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for practitioners
Review: This book provides a fine selection of econometric methods on financial market modelling such as GARCH, principal components analysis and time series. I find the book useful for practitioners involved in quantitative modelling as the approach balances between presenting the theoretical basis and discussing practical implementation issues. The author has done a pretty good job in explaining statistical concepts such as maximum likelihood, GARCH in an accessible manner without dwelling too much on the technical mathematics commonly found in statistical or econometric books. The necessary statistical backgound is included, making it self-contained. The accompanying CD-ROM contains sufficient source code to enable the reader to move from conceptual understanding to implementation. In short, it is a worthwhile investment.

Rating:
Summary: A very valuable insight into quantitative analysis
Review: This is an excellent book which covers a very wide range of tools and techniques. It's emphasizes not just the theory, but practical implementations of that theory through worked examples on the accompanying CD -- which vitally includes real-life data. An invaluable book for everyone in this field.

Rating:
Summary: Excelent practical guide to financial data analysis
Review: Without repeating the previous ratings, I can say that Carol Alexander's work already contributed considerably to my work after just one hour. The combination of clearly expressed ideas and excellent spreadsheets/VBA code helps the reader not only to understand but also to implement rather complex concepts in a short amount of time.
It is similar to other practical books like Financial Modeling, but deals with far more complex models. Hopefully, more authors will adopt this kind of practical presentation without being trivial.