Customer Reviews

Option Theory (The Wiley Finance Series)

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4 star:		(1)
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This book is not for everyone. It is not for those who just want a once-over-lightly introduction to options. But it is the perfect book for those who want to combine rigor and practicality. Unlike the many books by mathematicians who claim to be writing for a general audience but in fact are trying to impress their colleagues (mostly by being unintelligible), James writes extraordinarily clearly. But even more important, he has practical experience with all the solution techniques he describes (binomial models, differential equations, Monte Carlo), and expertly describes their uses, their limitations, and the relationships among them. Unlike many authors, he has no apparent bias towards any one of the three solution methods. He also presents numerical examples to illustrate his points. The final section of the book is mathematically more advanced, and allows the reader to ascend to a higher level of sophistication. It's clear that James wants the reader to understand. Bravo!!!

This may be the perfect book to read after mastering a superb introductory text like Robert L. McDonald, Derivatives Markets.

This is an excellent book if you have at least a master's
degree in math or a related discipline.
If your eyes glaze over a page full of equations, then this is
not for you.
Having said that, for the fearless that want to get a good
understanding of the underlying theory - it's an excellent work.

At the right mix - the author is not telling what you already known but aiming at bring you to the next level, I think.