Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets and Derivagem Package

Again, John Hull has done a great job revising and updating this best-selling book. Changes in the fifth edition include: bull; A new chapter on credit derivatives (Chapter 21). New! Business Snapshots highlight real-world situations and relevant issues. The first six chapters have been -reorganized to better meet the needs of students and .instructors. A new release of the Excel-based software, DerivaGem, is included with each text. A useful Solutions Manual/Study Guide, which includes the worked-out answers to the "Questions and Problems" sections of each chapter, can be purchased separately (ISBN: 0-13-144570-7).

I was originally persuaded to write this book by colleagues who liked my other bookOptions, Futures, and Other Derivatives,but found the material a little too advanced for their students.Fundamentals of Futures and Options Marketscovers much of the same ground asOptions, Futures, and Other Derivatives,but in a way that readers who have had limited training in mathematics find easier to understand. One important difference between the two books is that there is no calculus in the present book.Fundamentalsis suitable for undergraduate and graduate elective courses offered by business, economics, and other faculties. In addition, many practitioners who want to improve their understanding of futures and options markets will find the book useful. Instructors can use this book in many different ways. Some may choose to cover only the first eleven chapters, finishing with binomial trees. For those who want to do more, there are many different sequences in which the material in Chapters 12 to 23 can be covered. From Chapter 16 onward, each chapter has been designed so that it is independent of the others and can be included in or omitted from a course without causing problems. I would recommend finishing a course with Chapter 23, which students always find interesting and entertaining. What's New in This Edition There is a new chapter on credit derivatives (Chapter 21). The opening six chapters have been replaced by seven chapters that cover forward, futures, and swap contracts in a more student-friendly way. The chapter on hedging using futures has been moved to Chapter 3. Chapter 4 is now devoted to understanding how interest rates are calculated and used. Chapter 5 covers the determination of futures and forward prices. Chapter 6 deals with interest rate futures and Chapter 7 covers swaps. Forty descriptions of real-world situations and interesting issues, referred to asBusiness Snapshots,illustrate points being made in the text. There is a new release of DerivaGem (version 1.51), which includes Excel functions and examples of how they can be used. The sequencing of Chapters 15 to 18 has been changed to better meet the needs of students and instructors. The "Introduction to Binomial Trees" chapter has been extended to provide a more complete coverage of binomial trees in one place relatively early in the book. For readers unfamiliar with the exponential and logarithm functions, an explanatory appendix has been added to Chapter 4. TheSolutions Manualhas been expanded to become aSolutions Manual and Study Guide. There have been two changes to the mathematical notation. New end-of-chapter problems have been added. The book (including end-of-chapter references) has been fully updated. Many changes have been made to improve the presentation of material. Software DerivaGem version 1.51 is included with this book. This consists of two Excel applications: theOptions Calculatorand theApplications Builder.The Options Calculator consists of the software in the previous release (with minor improvements including the unlocking of worksheets). The Applications Builder consists of a number of Excel functions from which users can build their own applications. It includes a number of sample applications and enables students to explore the properties of options and numerical procedures more easily. It also allows more interesting assignments to be designed. The software is described more fully at the end of the book. Updates to the software can be downloaded from my website: http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~hull Slides Several hundred PowerPoint slides are available from my website. Instructors adopting the book for their courses are welcome to adapt the slides to meet their own needs. Answers to End-of