Pairs Trading: Quantitative Methods and Analysis (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Comprised of three information-packed parts, Pairs Trading presents an in-depth look at the various aspects of these strategies and provides quantitative tools to assist in their analysis. The first part of this comprehensive resource sets the context for the rest of the book by introducing preliminary material on some key topics, including time series, factor models, and Kalman filtering.

After presenting the broad ideas and concepts of this trading method, Pairs Trading delves into two different versions of pairs trading in the equity markets--statistical arbitrage pairs trading and risk arbitrage. Part II of this book details statistical arbitrage pairs trading, which is a relative value arbitrage on two securities based on the premise that there is a long-run equilibrium between the prices of the stocks comprising the pair. Part III moves on to illustrate the trading techniques and strategies associated with risk arbitrage--the widely practiced arbitrage technique that involves pairs trading arising in the context of corporate events, especially mergers and acquisitions.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Pairs Trading provides a framework that will allow you to boost the bottom line of any portfolio.

From the Inside Flap

Pairs trading is the simplest possible example of employing a market neutral strategy. It involves the trading of securities in pairs comprised of a long position in one security and a short position in the other. If performed properly, an investor will be in the ideal position of gaining in any situation--whether the market rises or falls.

Author Ganapathy Vidyamurthy examines two versions of pairs trading that arise in the context of statistical arbitrage and risk arbitrage. He offers a compelling point of view that integrates theory and practice--providing in-depth analysis and insight in both of these cases. Issues encountered when translating theory to practice are addressed in a direct manner, arming the investment professional with the quantitative tools needed to answer key questions relating to this type of trading.

Written in an easy, accessible style, the book is a seamless blend of ideas ranging from econometrics, control theory, and operations research to core financial theories like arbitrage pricing theory and the theory of contingent claims. It is organized in three information-packed parts. Part I sets the context for the rest of the book by introducing material on key topics including time series, factor models, and Kalman filtering.

Part II of the book details statistical arbitrage pairs, a relative value arbitrage based on the premise that there is a long-run equilibrium between the prices of the stocks comprising the pair. Part III moves on to illustrate the trading techniques and strategies associated with risk arbitrage. This widely practiced arbitrage technique involves pairs trading that arises in the context of corporate events, especially mergers and acquisitions. You’ll also discover why--although they are called arbitrage strategies in the industry--they are by no means risk-free.

Pairs Trading contains specific and tested formulas for identifying and investing in pairs. To further facilitate an understanding of this method, a bulleted summary highlighting key points is provided at the end of every chapter. Peppered with humor and snippets of history, Pairs Trading provides a framework for and insights on applying rigorous analysis to trading pairs in the equity markets.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471460672
• ISBN-13: 978-0471460671
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #360,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, September 15, 2004

By	Dr. Peter Bruhn - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I totally have to disagree with the first reviewer. I would rather say the opposite: the book is mathematically too simple in many places. But on the other hand it is not a statistics book. The book tries to explain complicated matters in a simple way. If you have no idea about stochastic processes, ARIMA-models, cointegration, stationarity,... then this book might not be the right one for you. But honestly: then pairs trading might not be the right thing for you either. Pairs trading is based on statistical concepts. This book only gives a brief idea of what statistical concepts are of use for pairs trading and how to apply them. If you really want to go into pairs trading, you will have to get much deeper into statistics then then this book does or can do. In my opinion the book does a brilliant job in giving you a link between statistical models, pairs trading and financial models (like the APT). I also bought the book "Trading Pairs" by Mark Whistler, and I must say i was rather disappointed, as, to my opinion, the book does not tell you what pairs trading is really about, but the book by Ganapathy Vidyamurthy does.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the only good introduction to pairs trades , April 14, 2007

By	Scott C. Locklin "Selectos nisi das mihi libe... (Berkeley CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When people talk about "quant" stuff, they are generally talking about two fairly distinct kinds of quant. There are the derivatives guys (options sell side & risk hedgers), and the 'statistical arbitrage' guys. This is one of the best books for a larval 'statistical arbitrage' guy. 'Statistical arbitrage' is a term referring to the techniques used by sophisticated hedge funds and trading desks to provide 'risk free' returns. I stick in the scare quotes around these phrases, because they're not really arbitrage, though they can be pretty decoupled from market returns. The techniques go well beyond just trading pairs, so the phrase, 'stat arb' is probably with us for good, even though it is often neither stat nor arb. The mean reverting versions of these techniques were largely invented by Nunzio Tartaglia and company (primarily Gerry Bamberger according to Thorp) at Morgan Stanley in the 1980s. Many of his underlings went on to found their own hedge funds, and the secret eventually became relatively common knowledge. Boesky was one of the more famous practitioners of merger arbitrage, which is an older, related technique.

This book is a fun introduction to 'statistical arbitrage,' concentrating on the standard "mean reverting pairs" variety, and a decent explanation of merger arbitrage which he unifies with mean reverting stat arb in an interesting way. These two strategies still form the basis of a large number of high frequency techniques in one form or another. In fact, the book provides enough background material to be useful for all kinds of techniques for finding alpha; it has a very clear treatment of factor models, time series analysis (best low level one I have ever read, anywhere) and what market neutrality is and isn't. He provides a decent amount of discussion of the complexities surrounding tradeability and other practical issues that get swept under the rug in most books.

Sure, there are a lot of specific 'stat arb' techniques he doesn't mention explicitly. He doesn't talk about basket trading plays, index arbitrage, volatility arbitrage or any of the other myriad clever (and often over my head) techniques used by sophisticated fund managers to vacuum up loose change that dumb people leave on the street. So what? Vidyamurthy gives you enough material you can go out and learn the practical details of real strategies on your own. If you're gifted enough, you can go figure them out (and more) for yourself once you understand the material in the book: they're mostly variations on these themes. Why should Vidyamurthy give away the keys to the kingdom for $100? Be happy he wrote the book at all. Presumably, he makes a living actually doing 'stat arb' type things, and his motivation was to have a book to give to his underlings so he didn't have to explain GARCH and cointegration to someone who breathes out of his mouth for the 9,000th time.

Anyone who can't read this book simply doesn't have the intellectual horsepower or attention span to do this kind of trading. The book is almost excruciatingly clear, it is very short, and even does the MBA's the favor of tucking the scary mathematics involving matrices and standard deviations safely away in chapter appendices. I mean, it even has cartoons and funny anecdotes (which are actually very funny: I detect a Wodehouse fan in Vidyamurthy). You have to actually pay attention while you read, and some sections, you may have to read twice. The concepts will not leap off the page and embed themselves into your frontal lobes, but it really isn't that difficult for any intelligent person to understand. I can think of no better introduction to pairs trading, or general alpha quant type stuff than this book. It should probably be on every wannabe quant or trader's desk if it isn't already etched into the fiber of their being.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Little Intro into Analyzing Time Series Data, April 13, 2005

By	JC "quant" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This book is small and has around 200 pages with very large font. The math is very simple to follow compared with most of the other quantitative finance books out there. In the beggining of my masters program I thought that statistics was nothing more than mumbo jumbo (as I assumed that the way to succeed in finance was via probability theory, numerical analysis, stochastic calculus, and PDE's). Overall, this book changed my outlook on statistics and how analyzing time series accurately via statistics can help you put together a good trading strategy. Please note that this book is a short refresher and only provides the reader with new ideas. I don't think that if anyone had a succesful trading strategy they would be disclosing their recipes and algorithms in a book.