Derivatives Essentials

This book provides an accessible yet detailed overview of derivative securities, including forwards, futures, options, swaps, and emphasis on related products and trading strategies. It emphasizes coherency, practitioner relevance, conceptual explanations, quantitative detail, and practical examples. Topics include:

• The rights and obligations associated with the product.
• Terms and conventions associated with the product. 
• Opportunities and exposures associated with the product.
• Product trade.
• Motivation to trade the product.
• How the product is priced and valued.
• What underlying factors is the product sensitive.
• How are the product’s sensitivities measured.

This book will include mathematics, but will focus on conceptual explanations represented in a way that is accessible to an individual with limited math skills; focus on reader comprehension, providing straightforward, plain-talking explanations that are directly related to those issues that matter most to practitioners; and emphasize motivations and sensitivities, understanding the nature of sensitivities, how to measure them, and how to offset them is more important than knowing how to price and value products.