Customer Reviews

Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (6th Edition)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hull is the one stop shop for learning (and using as a reference once you have learnt "it") almost any topic in Quant Finance. This book really has it all - options, interest rate models, volatility modeling, credit derivatives, you name it. However, use it as an introductory book - learn the main concepts from here and then move on to advanced books. As a current student of quant finance, I find Hull's book to be indispensable.

I recently entered the field of quantitative finance from physics, and this book has been by far the best resource as both a learning tool and reference. Its bredth of coverage is outstanding, covering topics as simple as bond yields and zero rates, to sophsticated libor market models, weather derivatives, bermudan swaptions, etc. While a bit wordy at times, Hull does present all the mathematics in a tractible manner. Books with more mathematical sophistication, such as Brigo & Mercurio, while interesting, are far less useful on the trading floor.

With each chapter Hull presents several "Business Snapshots" providing practical real life illustrations. Overall, this is a great purchase someone with a quantitive background new to finance.

I started not knowing a "put" from a "call," but I needed to know a fair bit about how financial engineers (coming from a family of PEs, I'm still not used to that term) use math. This has been the introduction I wanted - not the advanced stuff, but enough to help me understand that material.

Methodical pacing leads the reader gradually through the basics, from just what a derivative is on through the brief story of how futures markets work - in short, they abstract buying and selling into buying and selling the right to buy and sell. I tend towards the concrete, so many of these transactions seemed a bit airy to me. Oh, I can follow the reasoning well enough, but I just never saw where the satisfaction of the thing solid and completed comes in. As it turns out, it doesn't. Once you've really got that in the pit of your stomach, then Hull's presentation follows smoothly.

He gradually derives models of increasing complexity. Diligent reader with a little calculus or a lot of trust will follow along easily. Later chapters draw on more advanced concepts in probabilistic modeling, but present the reader with only the aspects needed for the discussion at hand - a mercy, considering the size of the specialized vocabulary involved in the rest of the explanation.

This book ends when the foundation has been built. More advanced needs must be met with other sources - not a problem with this text, just a matter of its chosen scope. I needed that foundation, however, so I recommend this book to anyone with reasonaable math skills and a need to know the material.

-- wiredweird, reviewing the 6th edition

I started a course in Financial Engineering last year and this book has given me all the grounding I need.

Pros:

* Very in-depth treatment of derivative basics, e.g. call, puts, swaps, forwards, futures.
* Many, many examples to complement the material.
* Many good practice problems to help further your understanding.
* Covers binomial, Monte Carlo and Black Scholes pricing of options very well
* Industry standard textbook - all the professionals use it.


I can't think of many negatives for the book. So if you're a student of finance, go get this book!

Thi book is a "compendium" of the most important issues in finance. It's clear, both theoric and practical, very useful for students and workers

The great strength of this book is its clarity of exposition. Basic principles of derivatives theory, such as no-arbitrage pricing and risk-neutral valuation, are presented in a completely intuitive way. The mathematical apparatus used is systematically stripped down to its essentials, which allows the reader to quickly grasp the key assumptions underlying various models without becoming bogged down in excessive rigor. Those interested in a deeper understanding of the technical details will in any event soon realize that they need to obtain specialized training in mathematics and statistics. Neftci's Introduction to the Mathematics of Financial Derivatives provides a good overview of the relevant topics; and there are any number of excellent mathematics texts that can be consulted for a fully rigorous exposition. Hull's book also provides a good introduction to the structure of derivatives markets in the US. However, readers will not find much information on how derivatives trading operations are organized, and on how traders apply quantitative techniques in their day-to-day operations. Derman, in his memoirs, gives a good flavor of the state of play through about 2003.

Hull is known as THE expert on the options and derivatives. I found the book easy to read and the examples are insightful. However, the book is not meant for skimming. One needs to focus on the material or important insight will be missed. I have had to re-read some portions of the chapter to completely understand what Hull is saying.

If you are a total beginner, like I was 6 months ago, then you might want to tear your hair out when reading this book. I found the description of interest rates quite confusing. I would suggest you start with The Wall Street Journal Complete Money and Investing Guidebook (The Wall Street Journal Guidebooks) and then move to All About Derivatives (All About) and Investment Science. From then on it's quite a good book, but the mathematics is very cavalier (and would you trust someone who tells you that Pi is 3.14162?). Now that I have read a lot of these primers, I actually like Hull's book and find that his treatment of the Ito calculus, while lightweight is a good place to start before going on to a solid foundation.
I can't say anything about the numerical methods because it's not my field yet.

The best introductory/intermediate textbook for students of finance. Not overwhelming to read, but, of course, you still need to know some math.

This is one of those books definetely worths its price. Also Netfci's book "Introduction to the Mathematics of Financial Derivatives" could be very good background reading for this book that outlines modern asset pricing theoory.