"I believe that this is an excellent text for undergraduate or MBA classes on Mathematical Finance. The bulk of the book describes a model with finitely many, discrete trading dates, and a finite sample space, thus it avoids the technical difficulties associated with continuous time models. The major strength of this book is its careful balance of mathematical rigor and intuition." <i>Peter Lakner, New York University</i>
Preface v
Acknowledgments x
1 Single Period Securities Markets 1
2 Single Period Consumption and Investment 33
3 Multiperiod Securities Markets 72
4 Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives 112
5 Optimal Consumption and Investment Problems 149
6 Bonds and Interest Rate Derivatives 200
7 Models with Infinite Sample Spaces 238
Appendix: Linear Programming 250
Bibliography 254
Index 257
There is still a lot of mathematics in this book. The reader should be comfortable with calculus, linear algebra, and probability theory that is based on calculus, (but not necessarily measure theory). Random variables and expected values will be playing important roles. The book will develop important notions concerning discrete time stochastic processes; prior knowledge here will be useful but is not required. Presumably the reader will be interested in finance and thus will come with some rudimentary knowledge of stocks, bonds, options, and financial decision making. The last topic involves utility theory, of course; hopefully the reader will be familiar with this and related topics of introductory microeconomic theory. Some exposure to linear programming would be advantageous, but not necessary.
The aim of this book is to provide a rigorous treatment of the financial theory while maintaining a casual style. Readers seeking institutional knowledge about securities, derivatives, and portfolio management should look elsewhere, but those seeking a careful introduction to financial engineering will find that this is a useful and comprehensive introduction to the subject.