Farid Aitsahlia

A bewildering number of financial products have been designed to hedge against specific risks. In parallel, a variety of numerical methods have been tailored to price these instruments. This book fills a current gap in the literature by providing a central source that relates the different financial contracts as well as the corresponding numerical approaches. Covering barrier, average and lookback options, both pricing and hedging methodologies are reviewed. In addition, these options are considered for both European- and American-style exercise, and discrete and continuous monitoring. Barrier options of Parisian type are addressed too. A self-contained publication, the book will appeal mainly to academic and professional circles in quantitative finance.

In this edition two new chapters, 9 and 10, on mathematical finance are added. They are written by Dr. Farid AitSahlia, ancien eleve, who has taught such a course and worked on the research staff of several industrial and financial institutions. The new text begins with a meticulous account of the uncommon vocab­ ulary and syntax of the financial world; its manifold options and actions, with consequent expectations and variations, in the marketplace. These are then expounded in clear, precise mathematical terms and treated by the methods of probability developed in the earlier chapters. Numerous graded and motivated examples and exercises are supplied to illustrate the appli­ cability of the fundamental concepts and techniques to concrete financial problems. For the reader whose main interest is in finance, only a portion of the first eight chapters is a "prerequisite" for the study of the last two chapters. Further specific references may be scanned from the topics listed in the Index, then pursued in more detail.

This book provides an elementary introduction to probability theory and its applications. The fourth edition adds material related to mathematical finance.