PREDATORY TRADING AND CROWDED EXITS: New thinking on market volatility - Softcover

Clunie, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1906659052 ISBN 13: 9781906659059

Publisher: Harriman House Ltd, 2010

Synopsis

In this book, James Clunie looks at a series of market phenomena that involve security prices moving temporarily away from their 'fair value', creating opportunities for traders to profit (and the risk of losses for the unaware). These phenomena have only recently begun to be well understood and key among them are those known as 'predatory trading' and 'crowded exits'. The author examines these on three levels. Firstly, he describes the basic principles and theory behind each phenomenon, to build a solid framework for the way a trader should think about these situations. Secondly, he examines the accumulated empirical evidence of these situations. This gives an idea of what generally happens in these situations, and what the profit opportunity and the risks might be like. Finally, the author considers a number of individual cases to illustrate what can happen to traders in practice. Often, these will be special situations or extreme events from history, but always cases from which the trader can learn.

About this title

About the Author

James Clunie works at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), where he is responsible for managing a UK equity long-short fund and a long-only fund. Previously, he was at the University of Edinburgh for four years, conducting research into stock lending and short-selling. He also set up and ran their Masters programme in Finance and Investment. Prior to this, Clunie worked at Murray Johnstone International, where he was head of asset allocation, and at Aberdeen Asset Management, where he was head of global equities. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Statistics and recently completed his PhD on indirect short-selling constraints, both at the University of Edinburgh. He is a chartered financial analyst.

From the Back Cover

In this book, the author looks at a series of market phenomena that involve security prices moving temporarily away from their 'fair value', creating opportunities for traders to profit (and the risk of losses for the unaware!). The phenomena he examines have only recently begun to be well understood. They include 'predatory trading' and 'crowded exits'. He examines these on three levels: Firstly, he describes the basic principles and theory behind each phenomenon, to build a solid framework for the way a trader should think of these situations. Secondly, he examines the accumulated 'empirical' evidence on these situations. This gives an idea of what generally happens in these situations, and what the profit opportunity and the risks might be like. Finally, the author considers a number of individual cases to illustrate what can happen to traders in practice. Often, these will be special situations or extreme events from history, but always cases from which the trader can learn.

By understanding these phenomena thoroughly in this way, a trader could gain an 'edge' over others in the market. In the first instance, this is achieved by avoiding becoming the victim of the phenomena the author describes. Secondly, it might be possible to use detailed knowledge of some of these situations to (legally and ethically) profit from the events.

This book will be of interest to traders seeking to gain an 'edge' through a superior understanding of how markets work, both in theory and in practice. It will also be of interest to longer-horizon investors who are seeking to avoid timing errors, and to risk managers seeking to understand better the subtleties of risk beyond traditional riskstatistics. Finally, academics and students of markets will find this work stimulating and thought provoking.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harriman House Ltd
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1906659052
• ISBN 13: 9781906659059
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220