Advances in Portfolio Construction and Implementation (QUANTITATIVE FINANCE) (Quantitative Finance)

Book Description

Modern Portfolio Theory explores how risk averse investors construct portfolios in order to optimize market risk against expected returns. The theory quantifies the benefits of diversification.

Modern Portfolio Theory provides a broad context for understanding the interactions of systematic risk and reward. It has profoundly shaped how institutional portfolios are managed, and has motivated the use of passive investment management techniques, and the mathematics of MPT is used extensively in financial risk management.

Advances in Portfolio Construction and Implementation offers practical guidance in addition to the theory, and is therefore ideal for Risk Mangers, Actuaries, Investment Managers, and Consultants worldwide. Issues are covered from a global perspective and all the recent developments of financial risk management are presented. Although not designed as an academic text, it should be useful to graduate students in finance.

*Provides practical guidance on financial risk management
*Covers the latest developments in investment portfolio construction
*Full coverage of the latest cutting edge research on measuring portfolio risk, alternatives to mean variance analysis, expected returns forecasting, the construction of global portfolios and hedge portfolios (funds)

Book Description

The incomplete European market for financial services, the obstacles to its integration and the potential benefits from more integration are subject of this book which is largely focussing on retail markets. The analysis can be regarded as a modernised follow-up to the financial market part of the famous 1988 Cecchini Report "The cost of non Europe". Even in the Euro age, retail financial markets in the EU are heavily fragmented and the consumers pay a large price for this fragmentation. This also weakens the growth perspective of EU and its international role. Explanations originate both from natural and policy-induced factors. Priorities for future policies are the dismantling of tax discriminations and further harmonisation in consumer protection and financial supervision.

Book Description

Die Erforschung des römischen Rechts wendet sich zunehmend den Realitäten des antiken Rechtslebens zu. Dahinter steht die Erkenntnis, dass sich auch das rechtswissenschaftliche Schrifttum der römischen Juristen zu einem erheblichen Teil auf die Vorgänge des Rechtsverkehrs bezog. Zugleich erlaubt die epigraphische Überlieferung einen unmittelbaren Einblick in die Rechtsgeschäfte des antiken Alltags. Die urkundlich überlieferte Rechtspraxis und das rechtswissenschaftliche Schrifttum der iurisconsulti sind aufeinander zu beziehen und erschließen sich in ihrer Wechselbeziehung der heutigen Forschung. Mit diesem Blickwinkel greifen die Autoren des Bandes verschiedene Sachfragen des römischen Vertragsrechts auf. Beiträge zur Ausbreitung des römischen Rechts und zu Nachbarrechten der Antike, aber auch zur kulturellen Bedeutung des romanistischen Erbes in der europäischen Geistesgeschichte, runden den Band ab.

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Recreational farming: Finding and working your own place in the country
Eric Winter
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Ryerson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0070827087

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Recreational Farming: Finding and Working Your Own Place in The Country
Eric Winter
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Ryerson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFK0LU

Customer Reviews:

A BIZARRE BUT THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE ANTHOLOGY.......2006-07-08

I wasn't sure what to make of Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre when I received it. I mean are these guys serious? Yup, there's a rather angry looking Teddy Bear right on the cover. Yet this horror athnology from Tim Lieder's Dybbuk press turned out to be quite a surprise with 11 stories that hit on a variety of subjects including demented fairy tales, killer clowns, and talking crabs.

C.C. Parker's "Formaldehyde" is a somewhat meandering tale of Bad mushrooms, zombies, and the overpowering smell of formaldehyde. I really loved Paul Haines' "Doof, Doof, Doof" telling a rather demented version of Little Red Riding Hood where the big bad wolf is down on his luck, Red is rather promiscuous, and the three little pigs are foul-mouthed little perverts. What more could you ask for!

"Rats! Wrong Alley" deals with a couple of small-time degenerate drug dealers who have to come up with some money very quickly or find themselves very dead. When they rob a convenience store and hide out in a dilapidated alley, they find that there are worse things than winos living there. Story by Tim Johnson.

Cameron Hill's "Hermetic Crab" is wonderfully imaginative but somewhat out of place as it is more of a straight urban fantasy as opposed to horror. A man finds a crab that talks with a Scottish accent who teaches him the ways of arcane mystical arts for an eventual showdown with the story's villain.

"Something Funny is Going On" by Brian Rosenberger is a great story. It's told in first person through entries in the lead character's war journal and I couldn't get the image of Marvel Comics' The Punisher out of my head while I read it. This lone soldier battles a world that has been infected by alien clowns and he's terminating them with extreme prejudice...and a bit of biting humor to boot.

"Head Drippers" by Robert Steussi might be the single most horrifying tale in the book. A man conducting a journalistic experiment checks himself into a psychiatric hospital to find out just what goes on behind the closed doors and to see if he can actually get back out. He'll soon find he's picked the wrong hospital to check into and "head drippers" becomes quite a literal term.

Other stories are provided by Trina Shealy Orton, William Brock, Roberta Rogaw, Jennifer Jourdanne, and Michael Stone. 144 pages in all and definitely an anthology worth picking up. So when is volume two coming out?

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Stories of the strange and unusual.......2006-01-08

Tim Lieder's anthology is an entertaining trip into the Outer Limits of the Twilight Zone. It is a place where a War Against Clowns is violently waged, a magician is taught magic by a scottish crab, a pretty lycanthrope unleashes her wild side in a London club, and a not so imaginary friend helps a shy young man get the girl. Sadly there are no cannibal teddy bears to be found in any of the stories. Maybe in the next anthology. Recommended.

No cannibalism, but lots of great stories.......2005-11-07

Tim Lieder instantly gained my respect for producing the first anthology I've come across in some time that does not include its editor's own fiction between its pages. It's a practice that has become all-too-common these days, and any editors who do it are instantly suspect in my eyes. Essentially, they're just making sure they get a little extra added to their royalty checks. Thank you, Mr. Lieder and Dybbuk Press, for taking the high road, and for producing one of the more consistent modern anthologies.

The first impression that Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre made on me was through its cover art (by Amanda Rehagen): an obviously pissed-off poseable stuffed bear brandishing what is either a spatula or some sort of medieval fly swatter. This image is surprisingly good at setting the tone for the anthology: the circumventing of my expectations. Nothing was what I thought it would be, most of all the fact that not a one of these "11 stories of fear, obsession, and killer clowns" has a damn thing to do with a teddy bear cannibal massacre, in any sense of the phrase.

Once I got past that, however, I was ready to take on each in Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre story on its own merits. The first one, "Formaldehyde" by C.C. Parker, however, did not make much of an impression. It took Paul Haines to really get me ready for some entertainment with his "Doof Doof Doof". Its beginning doesn't show much promise, but it folds wonderfully into the rest of this revisionist fairy tale starring Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Three Little Pigs.

Roberta Rogaw's "Peppercorn Rent" is a more pedestrian kind of tale, but its inclusion of lupine lady, a singer named Lime Green Jello, and an old land rule from the 15th century raises it above the rabble. Sadly, Tim Johnson's "Rats, Wrong Alley" is just one cliche piled on top of the last, all threaded together by stilted dialogue. "Brilliant Suspension" by Trina Shealy Orton has a great beginning -- or, rather, is a great beginning to a story that almost happens, and then doesn't. Conversely, Cameron Hill's "Hermetic Crab" is simply overflowing with imagination -- so much that it doesn't seem to know what to do with it all. When a man finds a magic hermit crab that speaks in a Scottish brogue (don't ask me!), he gets caught up in a fantastic battle of wits and spells. Somehow, this all works together, but it would be even better with a little more focus.

"Blue Elephants" by Jenifer Jourdanne is another type of story entirely. It doesn't belong in a horror anthology like Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre, and I'm not quite sure it's even a story -- though it has a narrative thread, however thin -- as it seems more like a journal entry. The line between truth and fiction is blurred, in any case, as the author's name is the same as the narrator's. Be that as it may, it is immensely entertaining and Jourdanne's voice is loud and clear. She may have a future as a memoirist alongside Augusten Burroughs, Chuck Klosterman, and Rachel Manija Brown.

"Something Funny is Going On," Brian Rosenberger's offering, effectively showcases the thought processes of a soldier, but in a war against what? Something closer to home than we'd like to think. And I think someone is going to have to explain to me what's going on in Michael Stone's "Clob" before I can make a judgment on it. It has something to do with a talking fish (what's with the anthropomorphic sea creatures?) and the intricacies of romance -- more than that, I can't say.

Beauty and the Beast becomes The Beast and the Beast in William Brock's poetically tragic "Berries Under Snow." But my absolute favorite has to be Robert Steussi's "Head Drippers," where a man doing psychological research comes across abominable experiments. It is like something out of The Twilight Zone and I was surprised when it ended so soon -- this idea could easily be expanded to novel length. Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre is an auspicious debut for Dybbuk Press. Editor and publisher Tim Lieder obviously has an eye for a good story and, more importantly, he knows when to make a genre exception for the sake of the book.

An Admirable Effort from the New Master of the Grotesque.......2005-10-03

An interesting collection of delightfully disturbing tales, whose twists and turns reflect the multifaceted personality of the editor: a pro-war liberal, a Lutheran-turned-Jew, and an obviously sensitive soul with a strong commitment to the macabre. "Doof, Doof, Doof," for example, is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, with the lecherous wolf as a grumpy, suicidal main character, complete with a spectacular sex scene starring Little Red Riding Hood and - you guessed it - the three little pigs. "Brilliant Suspension" evokes Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" - with a mysterious transformation twist at the end. "Blue Elephants," on the other hand, rather than being just scary, offers an interesting commentary on the life of the single person in California. An eclectic anthology of eleven provocative stories, self-produced by what promises to be a rising force in independent sexploitation horror.

I edited it........2005-09-09

Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre is a book of impossible evil, really bad bad evil. If you read it, you'll go insane, vote for Lyndon Larouche, listen to easy listening, and watch the crinkly evil squid eat out your eyeballs. These 11 stories by some of the freshest writers in horror include tales of killer clowns, dancing werewolves, mutant rats, zombies, high schoolers, Disneyland, and other terrible things.

Fiction:

Formaldehyde - C.C. Parker
Doof Doof Doof - Paul Haines
Peppercorn Rent - Roberta Rogow
Rats, Wrong Alley - Tim Johnson
Brilliant Suspension - Trina Shealy Orton
Blue Elephants - Jenifer Jourdanne
Hermetic Crab - Cameron Hill
Head Drippers - Rob Steussi
Something Funny is Going On - Brian Rosenberger
Clob - Michael Stone
Berries Under Snow - William Brock

Artwork: Amanda Rehagen

Formaldehyde - my doesn't approve of the swearing
Doof Doof Doof - my mother really doesn't approve of this one.
Peppercorn Rent - It's got dancing.
Rats, Wrong Alley - name says it all.
Brilliant Suspension - Torture story
Blue Elephants - Check out Jenifer Jourdanne's livejournal. She's funnier than Sedaris.
Hermetic Crab - not sure why the crab has a brogue
Head Drippers - Very inspired by Philip K. Dick
Something Funny is Going On - you know I always liked clowns. Apparently I'm in the minority.
Clob - a sweet love story
Berries Under Snow - a creepy love story

Besides that, this is the first book of Dybbuk Press. Hope you enjoy.

Book Description

The walls of Constantinople are the greatest surviving example of European medieval military architecture in the world. They withstood numerous sieges until being finally overcome by the artillery of Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453, and exist today as a time capsule of Byzantine and Medieval history. This book examines the main defensive system protecting the landward side of the city, which consisted of three parallel walls about 5 miles long. The walls defended the city against intruders, including Attila the Hun, before finally being breached by European knights during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and, ultimately, destroyed by Turkish artillery in 1453.

Customer Reviews:

An Interesting look at "the finest walls in the world".......2005-10-29

Few fixed defenses in military history can claim to have remained viable for more than a few decades, let alone a century or two. However, the walls that surrounded the Byzantine capital of Constantinople were probably unique in that they were virtually impregnable for over a millennia, with only one failure in 1204. In Fortress #25, Samurai-specialist and medieval historian Stephen Turnbull provides a detailed narrative of one of the greatest and most successful system of fixed fortifications in history. Overall, the Walls of Constantinople AD 324-1453 is an excellent and informative addition to the Fortress series.

Turnbull begins with a brief description of the founding of Constantinople and the early construction of defenses. The next section, on design and development, discusses the material structure of the walls, the inner/outer wall configuration and the moat. Turnbull then provides a 14-page walking tour of the wall, which is supplemented by numerous color and B/W photographs of the wall in its current state. The third chapter discusses garrison life on the wall, supply issues, weapons and morale. Final sections provide brief descriptions of each siege and the condition of the walls in the post-Byzantine period. The volume includes seven color plates: a cross section of the Theodosian walls in 447 AD; the Golden Gate in 850 AD; the sea walls of Constantinople in 1000 AD; the peribolos between the outer and inner walls; the walls of the Blachernae quarter in 1204 AD; the bombardment of the Theodosian walls in 1453. Turnbull also provides a bibliography, a chronology and a map of the city. The only issue that Turnbull did not discuss is the cost of building and maintaining the walls - which much have been a substantial drain on the empire's defense budget.

An Excellent Book.......2005-07-20

This book beautifully combines maps and photos with illustrations of Byzantine Constantinople. Also, in this relatively short book, Turnbull gives a fairly comprehensive sketch of the history of Byzantine Constantinople, in relation to the city's fortifications.

The book begins by giving the reasons for the construction for the Walls of Theodosius II, then goes on to describe their design. Turnbull then makes a thorough survey of the different sections of the walls before talking about how the walls were part of the life of Constantinopolitans. The book then briefly tells the stories of the various sieges of the city and finishes by describing the walls in contemporary times.

Turnbull and the illustrator Peter Dennis have created an excellent book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Byzantine history, ancient fortifications, or anyone wanting to travel to Istanbul.

The Walls of the Biggest Castle of the Middle Ages.......2005-06-25

Having had the priviledge of seeing 1st hand the Walls of Constantinople. I can safely say that this book is very accurate in describing them. To call them (The Walls) massive is an understatement. I just can not imagine the hard work and fear that inspired building them. But for them though there would be no Western Civilisation as we know them.

A look at a City and its Walls.......2005-02-05

The city of Constantinople has been an important location in history since the times when it was called Byzantium. Now called Istanbul, its history is rich and impressive.

This book concentrates mostly on the walls around the city during the period when it was called Constantinople. These fortifications played an important part in giving this city its long standing importance, and Stephen Turnbull gives us some very good insight into just how important the walls are.

The actual history here involves only the city of Constantinople itself, and does not venture much beyond it. In the chapter entitled "The walls of Constantinople under siege" we meet many of the forces that tried at one time or another to conquer the city and bring it under their control. Some succeeded, as in the 4th Crusade, others failed, like the Avars and the Persians. The discussions are short, and leave room for further research by the reader, depending on the time period interest.

But the focus is the City itself, and the walls which gave this city prominence. Besides the location, which is considered the separation point between Europe and Asia, it also is a key port on the route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It has been sought after and valued by many who sought to control it over the centuries, and has been a center for trade, empires and intrigues.

This book, as all the books in this series, gives very detailed information about the City itself, the wall in particular. Mr. Trumbull covers the construction of the walls and gates, the history, the fortifications, and the various forces that attempted to siege the city and why they succeeded or failed. This information is accompanied by photos by the author and Eileen Brayshaw, which give us some very good visuals of the material discussed.

Also accompanying this material is the expert art work of Peter Dennis, who fills in some of the historical information in graphic form, allowing us to "see" the original fortifications, the glorious gates, and the historical sieges from the vantage point of one looking back in time at the city and it's walls. Again, accurate details and expert renderings make these graphics a valuable addition to this book.

Finally, it is important to note the addition of maps, timelines, and a very good bibliography make this an excellent resource for students and those interested in this piece of important history.

It would be good to note here that while the material in this book would not be something that would be focused on specifically in a classroom situation, the research provided would make an excellent addition to a report on the Middle Ages, or the Crusades. Constantinople is an interesting side note to the Crusades and it also plays an important part in the history.

This is an excellent book to add to a school library or to your own library on Medieval History and should not be overlooked because of it's size or content. This is a very in depth look at the importance of a single city and it's fortifications that held a very important place in medieval history and continues today to be a city of great importance in history. Medievalcrusadesbabe

Book Description

This study explores the realÂ—as against the idealÂ—social, political, and religious status of women in Palestinian Judaism of Hellenistic and Roman Periods. This investigation concludes that extreme religious groups in Judaism of the period influenced other groups, classes, and factions to tighten their control of women. They also encouraged an understanding of ideal relationships between men and women, represented in the literature and the legal codes of the time, that required increasing chastity. Despite this, the lives of real women and their relationships to men continued to be varied and nuanced.

This book integrates both Jewish and Early Christian sources together with a feminist critique. It is the most comprehensive work of this sort published thus far and offers a vast repository of relevant material, as well as a fresh interpretation.

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Jewish Women in Greco-Roman Palestine: An Inquiry into Image and Status.(Review): An article from: The Journal of the American Oriental Society
Ross S. Kraemer
Manufacturer: American Oriental Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00098MZAG
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Journal of the American Oriental Society, published by American Oriental Society on October 1, 1998. The length of the article is 3474 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jewish Women in Greco-Roman Palestine: An Inquiry into Image and Status.(Review)
Author: Ross S. Kraemer
Publication: The Journal of the American Oriental Society (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 1998
Publisher: American Oriental Society
Volume: 118 Issue: 4 Page: 570(4)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

A lighted-hearted scientific look at the rituals and icons of Christmas. How does snow form? Why are we always depressed after Christmas? How does Santa manage to deliver all those presents in one night? (He has, in fact, little over two ten-thousandths of a second to get between each of the 842 million households he must visit.) This new edition has been extensively updated and contains a new chapter on the latest seasonal science - how religion can help your mental life!

Customer Reviews:

Christmas questions answered.......2005-09-21

Was Jesus born in a stable? Was the Bethlehem star really a star or could it have been a comet or another planet? When was Jesus born? Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th each year? What about the Virgin Mary? Who was the original Santa? Where is Santa's grotto? Why is Santa fat? Why does Santa come down a chimney? Why does Santa say Ho-ho-ho? How did reindeer, holly, ivy, mistletoe, trees, candles, gifts, logs and stockings come into the Christmas festivities? Can reindeer fly? How is snow formed? Why does ice float on water instead of sinking beneath it? Why is ice so slippery? Why do so many people eat turkeys at Christmas? Why do most children dislike the taste of sprouts? Why do most people cheer up at Christmas? Why do a minority of people always feel miserable at Christmas? This book seeks to answer these and other questions in a way that is sometimes hilarious, sometimes serious, sometimes controversial but always entertaining. Some questions cannot be answered and in these cases possible explanations are offered.

The book begins with the controversial issues of the Bethlehem star, the birth of Jesus and the imposition of Christmas on the traditional post-winter solstice festivals. The Catholic Church wanted to do away with all the pagan festivities and replace them with religious worship but that's not how things worked out. The rest of the book (most of it) focuses on the festivities. I found the evolution of Santa particularly interesting. I'd heard vaguely about St Nicholas but here you can find out who he was, what he did and how he inspired others. When it comes to reindeer, the author is unable to explain why they became so important to Christmas but some of the funniest parts of the book are about reindeer, perhaps because it is so difficult to take their role seriously.

One aspect of Christmas ignored by the book is music, which (in my edition) gets just two brief mentions relating to musical Christmas cards and supermarket background music. This seems fair enough, since Christmas music merely reflects other aspects of Christmas, be they religious or festive. Apart from music, every other aspect of Christmas seems to be well covered.

So this book provides a highly entertaining insight into Christmas and how it became what it is today. If you are in any way curious about the history, the mystery and the science of Christmas, you'll surely find this book amusing while answering many of those questions that you wondered about.

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CAN REINDEER FLY?
HIGHFIELD
Manufacturer: PHOENIX
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SI49D8

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Reindeer Can So Too Fly!
Gayle, Knight
Manufacturer: Cold Tree Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1583851127

Book Description

"Emma Grace, you better not say that again!" Abigail demanded in her loudest just-turned-five-year-old voice. Her red curls were bouncing as she talked, and her big brown eyes were sparkling with anger. "Reindeer can so too fly, and you know it." In this wonderful family tale, "seven-and-three-quarter" year-old Emma Grace and "just-turned-five-year-old" Abigail Griffin prepare for Christmas in their usual topsy-turvy manner with one burning question, can reindeer really fly? Filled with youthful excitement about the approaching holiday, they soon discover that it may be a question without an answer because, in the end, Christmas is. ".a magical time when dreams come true to those who believe."

Can Reindeer Fly?: The Science of Christmas

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Can Reindeer Fly?: The Science of Christmas
Roger Highfield
Manufacturer: Metro Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIJJ9Q

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