All about Derivatives: The Easy Way to Get Started

by Michael Durbin

Book Overview

The answer to trading profit growth lies in derivatives. All About Derivatives explains the major derivatives and their key features of each; vital mechanical issues such as storage, settle- ment,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071451471
• ISBN13: 9780071451475
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Very good beginner book to derivatives

I would definitely recommend this book for a reader who is looking for some ground work to be laid within the world of derivatives. Durbin gives a simple introduction into the many different types of derivatives; however he will delve into the math behind some derivatives; if the reader is not interested he will let you know which mathematics heavy sections you can skip. I would read another book written by Michael Durbin.

Wow!

I am a newbie in the world of financial mathematics and needed to learn the concepts related to derivatives. I was told to read Hull's book, but I ended stuck in some of the early chapters because of the definitions apparently aimed at someone who already has had a background course in Finance. Using online resources didnt help that much, and I was getting rather desparate. Then I landed on this one and all my worries are disolving away as I read this extremely helpful book. OK there are passages where the author feels we might be terrified of mathematical formalism, but I wont hold it against him. I am no longer stuck in a Hull. This book is a joy.

An Excellent Introduction to Derivatives

This is an extremely well-written introduction to derivatives. I used it as a supplement to a graduate course in Risk Management which had assigned Don Chase's classic book. I found this book to be much more readable, with less formal notation and fewer equations to wade through (not to mention being much cheaper and easier to carry around). Despite its small size, it still manages to convey the essential characteristics of the major types of derivatives (forwards, futures, swaps, options, and credit derivatives) and how they are priced, without getting bogged down in excessive theory. It's written in a pleasant, conversational style, with (horrors!) even a dash of humor thrown in. It contains the right amount of detail and math in the main text, with a series of appendices and nicely separated subsections for the more mathematically inclined. It's a great introductory text, and I strongly recommend it for anyone starting out in the subject.

A work of excellence

This book provides the reader with confidence throughout the book, tackling a difficult topic. It was well written, and things were easy to understand because he made the concepts simple. Its actually the best book I've read on options because it explains what is going on under the hood. Im hoping he'll write another book on another interesting topic soon!

A Book for Those Who Need Somewhat More Careful Explanations

I have been trading my own account for a while and got interested in trying to make a few options trades. I went looking for a book so that I could review the basics. I found one book which basically said, "Here is how these terms are defined, and here are some formulas which employ these terms and here are some examples." Well, that left me cold, because the author of that book made no attempt to make sure that I really understood the basic concepts. I "kind of" understood, but not really. "All About Derivatives" by Michael Durbin is totally different. You can tell from the way he goes about explaining things that he really wants you to understand the basic concepts, and he doesn't want you to feel "dumb" just because he brings it down to a pretty basic level from time to time. What he's trying to do is make sure you don't get tripped up on important concepts at the early stages and he really does bend over backwards to clarify things to a very great degree. Whereas it was pointless to try to work my way through the first book, I read "All About Derivatives" pretty much from cover to cover and I think there were only a few places where I still got stuck. Still, that's a vast improvement over the other book and in fact it was only after reading Durbin's book that I was able to make sense of the first one. Some people try too hard to impress you with how academic their approach is. Michael Durbin doesn't play that game. He really wants you to understand the concepts and I think that if he needed to do cartwheels to get the point across he would do it. I wish this guy had written my calculus textbook when I took it in college; I wouldn't have had to take it over to improve my grade. I hope Durbin makes enough money in the derivatives game to retire and write full time. He's quite a talent.