The (Mis)Behavior of Markets : A Fractal View of Risk, Ruin, and Reward

Hudson, Richard L., Mandelbrot, Benoit B.

ISBN 10: 0465043550 / ISBN 13: 9780465043552

Published by Basic Books, 2004

About this Item

Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 4814281-6

Bibliographic Details

Title: The (Mis)Behavior of Markets : A Fractal ...

Publisher: Basic Books

Publication Date: 2004

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis:

From the inventor of fractal geometry, a revolutionary new theory that overturns our understanding of how markets work. Benoit B. Mandelbrot, one of the century's most influential mathematicians, is world-famous for making mathematical sense of a fact everybody knows but that geometers from Euclid on down had never assimilated: Clouds are not round, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not smooth. To these classic lines we can now add another example: Markets are not the safe bet your broker may claim. In his first book for a general audience, Mandelbrot, with co-author Richard L. Hudson, shows how the dominant way of thinking about the behavior of markets-a set of mathematical assumptions a century old and still learned by every MBA and financier in the world-simply does not work.As he did for the physical world in his classic , Mandelbrot here uses fractal geometry to propose a new, more accurate way of describing market behavior. The complex gyrations of IBM's stock price and the dollar-euro exchange rate can now be reduced to straightforward formulae that yield a far better model of how risky they are. With his fractal tools, Mandelbrot has gotten to the bottom of how financ

Review:

"Everyone knows that every so often the markets experience swings of mood, when prices jump in a flurry of trading. But classical market theory says they shouldn't.... Mandelbrot, the mathematician who discovered fractals, argues that we don't have to abandon the notion of randomness to create a model of the markets that more accurately reflects their reality."