This book is a good general overview of options pricing for those who do not have a strong mathematical background. It emphasizes the practical aspects of the subject and the author endeavors to be as concrete as possible. There is accompanying software with the book, but since I have written my own software for options pricing I did not use it and cannot attest to its utility or reliability.

The first chapter defines the call and put option, and gives a short history of the options markets. The author discusses taxation of option transactions briefly, which is not usually found in books on options.

In chapter 2, the author discusses options payoffs from using various options strategies. The important principle of arbitrage is discussed, and the assumption of no transaction costs is made throughout the chapter. The author gives a good example of how small differences in price can persist in actual markets, thus showing how transaction costs can effect option pricing. Option combinations, such as straddles, strangles, bull, bear, box, butterfly, spreads, and condors. All of these are summarized nicely in table form. The important area of portfolio insurance is treated with brief discussions on mimicking portfolios and synthetic instruments. Helpful references are given that study the cost of portfolio insurance.

In chapter 3, the author considers the factors that contribute to the pricing of an option using the principle of arbitrage. Complete financial markets are assumed, and the goal is to find how these assumptions can be used to put bounds on option prices. The chapter could be viewed as an elementary exercise in the mathematical formalism of optimization with constraints, but the arguments are mostly qualitative. The effect of interest rates on option prices is also considered in this chapter. Here, the principle of arbitrage is employed to show the price of a put must fall as interest rates rise, while call option prices increase with higher interest rates. Also, the author begins an attempt to show how stock prices influence option prices, and he shows that the riskier the underlying stock, the greater the value of an option.

Then in chapter 4, the author takes up issues of a more mathematical nature, wherein he uses the single-period and multi-period binomial models to price European options. These are used to derive the famous Black-Scholes option pricing model. The author's approach is very practical as he discusses various methods of using historical data to estimate the stock's standard deviation. He cites the Crash of 1987 as an example of why one should use current data to estimate the volatility. This motivates the development of other techniques, such as implied volatility, for estimating the standard deviation.

The 'Greeks', called option sensitivity measures by the author, are discussed in chapter 5. He does use partial differential calculus, but motivates it well, so readers without the mathematical preparation can follow the presentation. It is shown how to combine options with the underlying stock or into portfolios, one can construct positions with the desired risk exposure.

The more difficult job of pricing American options is dealt with in chapter 6, the Black pseudo-American call option pricing model being treated first. The binomial model is applied to American options with various kinds of dividends.

In chapter 7, the author considers options on stock indices, foreign currency, and futures. The Merton model leads off the discussion, and both European and American options are treated in the chapter.

Then in chapter 8, the techniques developed in the book are applied to corporate securities. It is an interesting discussion, and the author gives straightforward examples to illustrate various corporate financing strategies. It should prepare the reader for more advanced reading on the subject.

The last chapter is the most interesting of all as it deals with exotic options. The author considers nine types of exotic options, namely forward-start, compound, chooser, barrier, binary, loopback, average price, exchange, and rainbow options, all of these studied as European options. Closed-form solutions for these types of options are given and numerical examples are given. Several helpful references are given at the end of the chapter. The author gives an interesting real-world example of the use of chooser options, namely the case of hedging with a chooser option on the Mexican peso before the NAFTA agreement in 1993.

The ratings of each comic is very good, however the biggest problem is that the index gives wrong pages as to the location of many of the comics. Then too the binding is coming apart after only 45 days use. It would be a good thing to offer a replacement that is correct and better bound.

Well, well, well, it must be a new year because the new slate of comicbook price guides are (finally) out. As always, the best of the bunch is the one put out by CVA. Not only is it the easiest to read, and contains a wealth of information, it is simply the best-organized book of the bunch. I highly recommend it.

Where is Malloy getting his values from? I remember when he had Comics Values Monthly, the values were right on. But now it seems like he just pulls prices out of thin air. If you want to determine a fair value for your comics, look elsewhere.

The only guide that has the guts to list Underground comix in detail. This guide also has an easier format to flip through than Overstreet, which has become swamped with ads.

Not a complete listing, but for most collectors, this one will do quite well.

This book had many comic titles that are not found in most of the other guides and the prices were fairly accurate. It was Much more accurate than Overstreet's guide.

this colection contains one great story by arthur machen concerning an experiment run afoul. HPL has a great one too, about a mysterious family, where something goes very wrong. the other stories are really really bad. we're talking about stories where nothing happens. incredibly dull. it shocked me how uninteresting and boring they were.

A most interesting experiment. "The Dunwich Cycle" is a collection of tales that influenced and where inspired by the late H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror". Editor Robert Price certainly includes a wide variety of tales, some more compelling than others.

Among the real gems in this collection are "The Dunwich Horror" itself and the story that most influenced/inspired Lovecraft's tale, 'The Great God Pan". Compared to some of the more recent tales in the collection, the writing style and vocabulary might seem too overblown, slow moving or ancient, but it is from these beloved tales that so many others have been inspired.

Given the unevenness of most Mythos tales, this collection makes a nice addition to a Lovecraft library, having at least one story that will charm the reader.

This book has a collection of stories that were inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's Dunwich Horror, including that famous story. It's an interesting book and if you are an avid reader of Lovecraft or of the Cthulhu mythos, this book is a must have.

compared to the first book, which is a wonderful book, this one was a waste of time -- i wish i had a chance to look at it before i bought it -- i would not have bought it -- j.d.h.

Brand new, year 2001 encyclopedia for clock enthusiasts. It features 352 pages and more than 700 black and white photos and a special full color section. There's plenty of informative text with data on clock types, clock making, leading clock makers, clock histories, wall and classic clocks, shelf clocks and novelty clocks. The pictures provided are large and sharp, making identification easy. Clock lovers will find this a useful work.

The Encyclopedia Of Antique American Clocks offers collectors and dealers with a superbly illustrated and comprehensive guide to American clocks. Organized by clock type and category, this authoritative guide offers detailed entry descriptions and current market values, as well as being enhanced with more than 700 photographs including a 16-page color section). The Encyclopedia Of Antique American Clocks is an essential pictorial reference to this specialized category of nostalgic collectibles and includes informative chapters on clock types, the history of clock making, and collectible clocks from the smaller clock makers as well. A glossary, bibliography, photo index, and resources list also contribute to making The Encyclopedia Of Antique American Clocks thoroughly "user friendly" and highly recommended.

Issues are complex. More suitable for advance taders. But I am getting to that stage, so the book came at the right time. Software is great too.

As a fairly new clock collector I was looking for information to help me when purchasing clocks off of ebay. This was the first book I bought and I haven't looked at it since the day it came in the mail. I came across the Tran Duy Ly books shortly after this and purchased one, the one for Ingraham clocks and watches. I used this book constantly and have since purchased three more, (for Ansonia, Seth Thomas and New Haven). I pull them out every time I am interested in a clock. They are extremely thorough and accurate. Plus, you can get updates just for the prices, you don't have to buy a whole new book.

This book is going to be one that stays on the bookshelf and will rarely, if ever, be referenced. Purchase the ones by Tran Duy Ly instead.

Price Guide to Antique Clocks by Robert and Harriett Swedberg contains information on the identification of American clocks from the mid-19th century until about 1940. There are more than 600 photographs with identifying information in this book. These are different photographs than were included in their 1989 book, "American Clocks and Clockmakers". While prices for the clocks were given, there was no information about whether these prices were retail or auction prices or how the prices were obtained.