ABSTRACT

In this book, the author draws from finance, psychology, economics, and other disciplines in business and the social sciences, recognising that personal finance and investments are subjects of study in their own right rather than merely branches of another discipline.

Considerable attention is given to topics which are either ignored or given very little attention in other texts. These include:

  • the psychology of investment decision-making
  • stock market bubbles and crashes
  • property investment
  • the use of derivatives in investment management
  • regulation of investments business.

More traditional subject areas are also thoroughly covered, including:

  • investment analysis
  • portfolio management
  • capital market theory
  • market efficiency
  • international investing
  • bond markets
  • institutional investments
  • option pricing
  • macroeconomics
  • the interpretation of company accounts.

Packed with over one hundred exercises, examples and exhibits and a helpful glossary of key terms, this book helps readers grasp the relevant principles of money management. It avoids non-essential mathematics and provides a novel new approach to the study of personal finance and investments.

This book will be essential for students and researchers engaged with personal finance, investments, behavioural finance, financial derivatives and financial economics.

This book also comes with a supporting website that includes two updated chapters, a new article featuring a behavioural model of the dot com, further exercises, a full glossary and a regularly updated blog from the author.

chapter 1|12 pages

Introduction

part |2 pages

Part 1 Basics of Money, Bond, and Property Markets

chapter 4|15 pages

Investing in bonds

chapter 5|28 pages

Property investment and mortgages

part |2 pages

Part 2 Basics of Stock Markets

chapter 6|14 pages

Stock exchanges

chapter 7|14 pages

Stock indices

chapter 8|16 pages

The rationale and conduct of regulation

part |2 pages

Part 3 Institutional Investments

chapter 11|28 pages

Pensions

part |2 pages

Part 4 Capital Market Theory

chapter 13|40 pages

Portfolio diversification

part |2 pages

Part 5 Portfolio Management

chapter 16|37 pages

Styles of portfolio construction

chapter 17|23 pages

Evaluating the performance of fund managers

part |2 pages

Part 6 Investment Analysis

chapter 18|17 pages

The economic environment

chapter 19|16 pages

Dividend discount models

chapter 20|12 pages

Company accounts and economic value added

chapter 21|16 pages

Ratio analysis

chapter 22|23 pages

Technical analysis

part |2 pages

Part 7 Market Efficiency

chapter 24|19 pages

Noise trading and behavioural finance

chapter 25|15 pages

Market anomalies

chapter 26|12 pages

Further evidence on market efficiency

chapter 27|29 pages

Stock market bubbles and crashes

part |2 pages

Part 8 Stock Index Futures

chapter 28|10 pages

Stock index futures

chapter 29|13 pages

Stock index futures prices

chapter 30|11 pages

Hedging with stock index futures

part |2 pages

Part 9 Stock Options

chapter 31|15 pages

Stock options

chapter 32|10 pages

Speculation with stock options

chapter 33|15 pages

Hedging with options

chapter 34|22 pages

Structured products

chapter 35|11 pages

Warrants, convertibles, and split-caps

chapter 36|10 pages

Option pricing and the Black-Scholes model

chapter 38|16 pages

The binomial option pricing model

part |2 pages

Part 10 International Investing: Using Currency Derivatives

part |2 pages

Part 11 Bond and Interest Rate Analysis

chapter 40|12 pages

Bond prices and redemption yields

chapter 41|16 pages

Duration and risk

chapter 42|6 pages

Bond price convexity

chapter 43|19 pages

Bond futures

chapter 44|16 pages

Yield curves and interest rate futures

chapter 45|6 pages

Interest rate swaps