This is a comprehensive guide to the financial markets' most important and often least understoof instruments. This key practical guide examines derivatives traded in the equity, debt, and currency markets, focusing on those product characteristics that emphasize the instruments' specific uses and applications. Particular attention is paid to product evolution, associate risks, valuation, and trading and hedging strategies. The guide seeks to provide practical solutions to numerous risk management problems through its analysis of both asymmetrical and symmetrical risk products.

The treatment of each instrument, be it exchange listed or over the counter, is designed to highlight its particular features and uses. The following products are explored: stock options; stock index options; currency options; exchange-traded interest rate options; caps, floors, and collars; warrants; interest rate financial futures; stock index futures; forward rate agreements; and swaps. Additional features of the book include: summaries at the end of each chapter highlighting the main characteristics of each instrument; a tabular comparison of the features of all the derivatives discussed in the book; and an extensive glossary explaining much of the terminology used in the world's financial derivatives markets. This volume will provide an excellent reference tool for a wide range of financial professionals, including bankers, dealers, investment analysts, corporate treasurers, fund managers, sophisticated private investors, and market researchers.