Accounting Books

Mandelbaum's "The Dawn of Peace in Europe" is a well-researched and articulate piece detailing the future of NATO and of American involvement in Europe. Though short, it is detailed in its analysis and provides the reader with a clear understanding of his position. In it, Mandelbaum attempts to analyse the role of NATO, and critique the directions that other have prescribed for the alliance. Mandelbaum feels that the best course of activity for the alliance is to stay as it is, and redirect its energies into "reassuring" the perpetuation of the common security order that exists in Europe. He feels that NATO is poorly equipped to pursue out-of-area missions, such as the one in Bosnia, and that expansion of NATO is a mistake because it installs victor's justice on Russia, and this justice will be remembered by the Russian people as an insult. It appears as though this analysis regarding the impact NATO expansion will have on Russia is somewhat of a knee-jerk reactions. Opinion has shown consistently that the Russian people do not care if NATo expands and do not feel that it is necessarily a threat to their security. Furthermore, many analysts including Andrei Kortunov have written their opinions on this issue and have shown that only in the most extreme case would there be a nationalist backlash against NATO expansion. Mandelbaum still views Russia as the enemy of NATO, as it was through the Cold War, and thus his view of the alliance may be somewhat dated. Despite this however, he provides the reader with a clear approach to the future of European security. Mandelbaum articulates the idea of a common security order existing in Europe now that ensures the peace without the high costs of balance of power politics and without the unrealistic tenets of world government. Whether or not a security order continues to exist, according to Mandelbaum will depend on whether or not Russia will stay peaceful and if the United States will stay in European defence mechanisms. If things reamain as is, Europe will be the bastion of peace in an all too unpeaceful world. I recommend this book for all analysts interested in European security.

Marty Whitman the legendary investor of the Third Avenue Value Fundhas gifted us with all the shareholder letters since the fund's inception in this one book. Theser letters are a must read for anyone interested in value investing. Marty goes anything to seek out safe but cheap investments. I heartily recommen this book to any one interested about investing. Also included are the ahareholder letters from Third Avenue's other portfolio managers.

This book is a classic "hands on" audit reference; written with the same "how to" style as "Operational Profitability". I highly recommend this book.

Structured products, especially those involving fixed income securities and mortgage loans, have been much discussed in the press in recent months, due possibly to the "subprime crisis" and its instigation of large losses accrued by many of the world's top financial institutions. A flurry of articles have appeared in some of the major financial publications that have as their topic the excoriation of structured finance and the credit risk modeling that goes along with them. Those involved in the financial engineering of these products or those aspiring to the profession, as well as those who are not financial professionals, may be taken aback by the content of these articles. What is needed then is a sound overview of the nature of structured products, if only to set the record straight on their risks and the culpability of those who manage them.

This volume, the second of a four-volume set on financial engineering, is a sizable one but can be approached by anyone needing information on structured products. The approach that the author takes is more descriptive, and so no advanced mathematics is needed to read the book. It can also be obtained separately from the other volumes for those who only need information on structured products and credit derivatives. The purpose of the entire set of course is to give a solid foundation for the instruments typically found in financial engineering, and as such is written as a research monograph or encyclopedia. Financial professionals will no doubt view it as such while students and those curious about the subject matter may find it approachable due to its length.

Each article in this volume should not be viewed as independent from the others, and newcomers to the subject matter should be aware of this before reading a particular article. Some prior exposure to the theory behind structured products will be needed before the contents can be appreciated. This reviewer only read the chapter on credit linked notes and collateralized debt obligations and is judging the volume solely on this basis.

As such this chapter gave a good overview of the reasons why these particular products arose and the financial strategies that lie behind them. Again, the financial press has devoted a lot of space to discussing these products recently, especially collateralized debt obligations since they are felt to play a major role in the "subprime crisis." Whether this is true remains to be seen, and only an in-depth, very involved statistical study can settle this for sure, but the information in this chapter will be helpful for those who need to assess or begin such a study.

The authors provide the reader an excellent overview of equity derivatives and how they can be integrated into portfolio management. A great book for the novice and as a reference book for the more experienced professional. I find the way the authors describe the investment process and the derivatives process particularly useful and insightful.
The book is also easy to read and can be easily digested by the reader.

This book provides a lucid explanation of how to incorporate stochastic volatility into your favorite model. The book also explains most of the topics from the ground up. Highly recommended!

I recently purchased this book due to my positive impression from Haug's other excellent book on option formulas. For those who enjoy the history of ideas and would like to find out what is state of the art in options theory and options trading today, there is no better source than Haug's new book "Derivatives: Models on Models" I recommend this book for everyone - experts and neophytes alike.

This is a superb book, get it if you are interested in the world of derivatives. As the title suggests, however, this is a *managerial* intro to the world of the world's "most powerful financial intruments" and will be excellent introduction for MBA students. COntains some excellent examples from this world as well (great to know this if you are going to interview).

If you want something a lot more numerical and yet friendly, I'd suggest "The Complete Guide to Option Pricing Formulas by Espen Gaarder Haug" to go alongside this book - thats a classic as well. If you want to see the Black-Scholes model in operation, check out http://erudition.com/derivatives/. Good luck.

I have read a couple of books on derivatives starting from novice level. when i compare this book with those written by some of rhe other great names i feel it is much clearer andeasy to understand. It answers the questions that come to our mind. the optval library is awesome. i feel it is a must read. Coming from the man who created the Market Volatility Index (i.e., the "VIX") for the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the NASDAQ Market Volatility Index (i.e., the "VXN")it touches upon aspects of derivatives markets which serve to give the practical insight about the market's functionality.

I always wanted to get the solutions for the chapter excercises. It does really help to understand the material .

Anyone interested in that can contact at : ankdadoo06@yahoo.com