Personal Finance and Investments

<p>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. </p><p>Considerable attention is given to topics which are either ignored or given very little attention in other texts. These include:</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>the psychology of investment decision-making</li> <li>stock market bubbles and crashes</li> <li>property investment</li> <li>the use of derivatives in investment management</li> <li>regulation of investments business.</li> </ul><p>More traditional subject areas are also thoroughly covered, including:</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>investment analysis </li> <li>portfolio management </li> <li>capital market theory </li> <li>market efficiency </li> <li>international investing</li> <li>bond markets </li> <li>institutional investments</li> <li>option pricing</li> <li>macroeconomics</li> <li>the interpretation of company accounts.</li> </ul><p>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. </p><p>This book will be essential for students and researchers engaged with personal finance, investments, behavioural finance, financial derivatives and financial economics. </p><p>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. </p> <p><strong>CONTENTS</strong></p><p>Preface</p><p>Chapter 1 – Introduction </p><p>Chapter 2 - The Psychology of Personal Investment Decisions, <strong>Basics of Money, Bond and Property Markets</strong></p><p>Chapter 3 – Interest Rates and Money Market Investments</p><p>Chapter 4 - Investing in Bonds</p><p>Chapter 5 – Property Investment and Mortgages, <strong>Basics of Stock Markets</strong></p><p>Chapter 6 - Stock Exchanges</p><p>Chapter 7 - Stock Indices</p><p>Chapter 8 - The Rationale and Conduct of Regulation, <strong>Institutional Investments</strong></p><p>Chapter 9 - Mutual Funds (Unit Trusts, OEICs, Investment Trusts)</p><p>Chapter 10 - Life Assurance and Assurance-Related Investments</p><p>Chapter 11 - Pensions</p><p>Chapter 12 - The Importance and Significance of Institutional Investors, <strong>Capital Market Theory</strong></p><p>Chapter 13 - Portfolio Diversification</p><p>Chapter 14 - Capital Market Theory: The Capital Asset Pricing Model</p><p>Chapter 15 - Capital Market Theory: Alternatives and Criticisms, <strong>Portfolio Management</strong></p><p>Chapter 16 - Styles of Portfolio Construction</p><p>Chapter 17 - Evaluating the Performance of Fund Managers, <strong>Investment Analysis</strong></p><p>Chapter 18 - The Economic Environment</p><p>Chapter 19 - Dividend Discount Models </p><p>Chapter 20 - Company Accounts and Economic Value Added</p><p>Chapter 21 – Ratio Analysis</p><p>Chapter 22 - Technical Analysis, <strong>Market Efficiency</strong></p><p>Chapter 23 - Market Efficiency: Concepts and Weak Form Evidence</p><p>Chapter 24 - Noise Trading and Behavioural Finance</p><p>Chapter 25 - Market Anomalies</p><p>Chapter 26 - Further Evidence on Market Efficiency</p><p>Chapter 27 - Stock Market Bubbles and Crashes, <strong>Stock Index Futures</strong></p><p>Chapter 28 - Stock Index Futures</p><p>Chapter 29 - Stock Index Futures Prices</p><p>Chapter 30 - Hedging with Stock Index Futures, <strong>Stock Options</strong></p><p>Chapter 31 - Stock Options</p><p>Chapter 32 – Speculation with Stock Options</p><p>Chapter 33 - Hedging with Options</p><p>Chapter 34 – Structured Products</p><p>Chapter 35 – Warrants, Convertibles, and Split-Caps</p><p>Chapter 36 – Option Pricing and the Black-Scholes Model</p><p>Chapter 37 – Variations on the Basic Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model</p><p>Chapter 38 – The Binomial Option Pricing Model, <strong>International Investing: Using Currency Derivatives</strong></p><p>Chapter 39 - Currency Forwards, Futures, Swaps and Options, <strong>Bond and Interest Rate Analysis</strong></p><p>Chapter 40 - Bond Prices and Redemption Yields</p><p>Chapter 41 - Duration and Risk</p><p>Chapter 42 - Bond Price Convexity</p><p>Chapter 43 - Bond Futures</p><p>Chapter 44 -Yield Curves and Interest Rate Futures</p><p>Chapter 45 – Interest Rate Swaps</p>