An interactive technology is used to create a friendly environment allowing readers to learn through immediate application of theory and concepts. Readers can use prepared MAPLE files, follow the text on-screen, and explore different numerical examples with no prior programming knowledge.
"Essays in Portfolio Management: An Interactive e-book powered by Maple", MyMathApps 2014.
This book assumes that the reader has no prior knowledge of the Economics or Finance; therefore the material is presented in an unorthodox manner. While precision and a mathematical orientation are required skills for "Quantitative Finance", a solid understanding of the underlying economics is essential for success in the engineering process. Chapter 1 begins with a review of the time value of money and continues with topics normally covered in an introductory microeconomics course. A combination of a deep understanding of the material and strong intuition contribute to the development of innovative methods and how new situations in the market are managed. The use of interaction and experimentation along with MAPLE brings to life the theoretical material covered in Portfolio Management while providing a unique, powerful and entertaining learning environment. This book is composed of six essays in the area of Portfolio Management. Its goal is to introduce a novice reader, but with a reasonable quantitative background (calculus, linear algebra, probability and statistics, at the undergraduate level) to some of the main topics in the area of Portfolio Management. As such the book is silent on institutional details and empirical issues. Readers who are interested in these issues will be (after reading this book) very comfortable in consulting one of the many textbooks in this area. This is also the reason the book does not refer to papers in the academic literature as these can also be obtained in one of the above books. The book is aimed at capitalizing on the quantitative background of the reader and the reader's familiarity (and comfort) with computers in order to achieve its goal.
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"Introduction to Derivative Securities: An Interactive e-book, powered by Maple", MyMathApps 2015.
This e-book serves as an introduction to derivative securities and their pricing while emphasizing the role of the no-arbitrage condition (NA) as the modern financial tool for valuation. The material is presented as a progression of models starting with the simplest model of an equity market and the definition of the no-arbitrage condition in order to value simplified financial assets. Gradually, the simple models are extended to more realistic situations and the valuation of more complicated securities. This structure results in a multi-faceted investigation that provides a more thorough comprehension of the topics and also serves as a review. The book assumes a reader with no prior knowledge of Derivative Securities; it defines the financial instruments and shows that pricing these instruments uses the same underlying concept of NA even though the instruments may appear to be very different form one another.
The prepared Maple files allow the readers to generate their own examples; and verify and investigate different situations that are not addressed in the book. By assembling different combinations of blocks, the financial architect can construct the desired payoff. Using MAPLE as an exceptional, powerful "calculator," option pricing becomes child's play.
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"Fixed Income Fundamentals: An Interactive e-book, powered by Maple", MyMathApps 2015.
This book equips novices to the area with the pillars of fixed income markets. It uses the modern finance approach as stipulated and implied by the 'no free lunch condition' (NFLC). The book focuses on a conceptual understanding. Institutional information is covered only to the extent that is needed to get a full appreciation of the concepts. Utilizing the NFLC, the book explains the existence and estimation of the term structure of interest rates, valuation of financial contracts (forwards swaps etc.), and risk management strategies of bond portfolios. This e-book is a series of MAPLE worksheets connected by hyperlinks and a Table of Contents, which has links to each worksheet. It presents an Interactive Dynamic Environment supported by a collection of procedures - a MAPLE package. A reader, who follows the eBook on-screen, will find the commands are already typed in the appropriate files. The reader should merely re-execute the printed commands while reading. The technology allows readers to learn through immediate application of theory and concepts, while avoiding the frustration of tedious calculations. The book can be read utilizing the free maple player http://www.maplesoft.com/products/maple/mapleplayer/ but one must have the Maple software for execution capabilities. Everything has been checked for compatibility with Maple 2015.
To view the Table Of Contents click here