Review The Misbehavior of Markets: A Fractal View of Financial Turbulence
by BENOIT MANDELBROT, RICHARD L. HUDSON
Description
Benoit Mandelbrot uses years of expertise in mathematics to imagine what the market would look like in a fractal pattern. Mandelbrot, the creator himself of fractal geometry, uses knowledge on natural patterns in closely watching patterns in the movement of the market. Together with Richard Hudson, former editor of the Wall Street Journal and a science journalist, the two develop a revolutionary take on the modern financial theory.
Mandelbrot and Hudson show how the current financial theories downplay potential risks to financial markets by presenting a fractal view of the market movements. This book is an introductory text to the application of fractal patterns to financial theories and market movements. It does not delve much into the exact implementation of the authors’ ideas into trading systems; however, the book provides essential insight into fractal finance.
The good thing about this book is that even traders or readers who are not mathematically-inclined can still understand the theories and ideas presented. The authors avoid using too many technical jargon and mathematical formulas so as not to intimidate readers away from the book. The book has clear, simple language, that at some points, would become conversational.
About the Authors
BENOIT MANDELBROT is a mathematician and polymath with various interests in other fields such as practical sciences. He received his master’s degree in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology and taught courses on economics and applied sciences at Harvard University. He is known to be the inventor of fractal geometry.
RICHARD L. HUDSON served as the managing editor of the European edition of the Wall Street Journal for six years. Previous to that, he worked as a Journal reporter and editor for almost twenty-five years. He graduated from Harvard University in 1978 and became the Knight Fellow of MIT in 1991.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Acknowledgments
Prelude: Introducing a Maverick in Science
Part I. The Old Way
Chapter I. Risk, Ruin, and Reward
Chapter II. By the Toss of a Coin or the Flight of an Arrow?
Chapter III. Bachelier and His Legacy
Chapter IV. The House of Modern Finance
Chapter V. The Case Against the Modern Theory of Finance
Pictorial Essay: Images of the Abnormal
Part II. The New Way
Chapter VI. Turbulent Markets: A Preview
Chapter VII. Studies in Roughness: A Fractal Primer
Pictorial Essay: A Fractal Gallery
Chapter VIII. The Mystery of Cotton
Chapter IX. Long Memory, from the Nile to the Marketplace
Chapter X. Noah, Joseph, and Market Bubbles
Chapter XI. The Multifractal Nature of Trading Time
Part III. The Way Ahead
Chapter XII. Ten Heresies of Finance
Chapter XIII. In the Lab
Notes
Bibliography
Index