Reviews

The author provides an overview of the personalities and practices of the practitioners of Quantitative Finance (The Quants), providing realistic-sounding descriptions of individuals and an overview of some of the probable mathematical techniques employed. The author specific allusion to use of algebraic and calculus based techniques.  This reviewer also sense, but does not recall directly from the work, the likely use of time-series-based mechanisms for market modeling.  Also of this was, of course, based upon high-speed digital equipment reserved for the application.
Many of the practitioners of Quantitative Finance were wildly successful for a number of years, and amassed large numbers of investors and very significant personal fortunes - at least until the "credit crises" beginning (it is generally credited) in 2007-08.
The comment at the beginning of this review, is from the book jacket of the work, and appears to betray the predisposed opinion of the author. The author would appear to be concerned that mathematical models are inherently inferior to the snap judgments of individuals, when dealing with financial markets (consider the fall of Bear Stearns as a counter-argument).  The author also seems to have a view of the speed and automatic operation of digital computers that would have been acceptable to the Luddites.
The failure of practitioners of Quantitative Finance were based on the use of (or perhaps the governmental tolerance for) excessive leverage and failures of Risk Management .  The first were well understood prior to the Great Depression of the 1930's, and the second was understood by the author of Hebrew text we have received as the book of Ecclesiastes "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all." (v9:11b KJV) written well prior to the Christian Era.
I recommend  this work as a reasonably interesting and fun read, presuming that the reader not take the predispositions and conclusions of the author as with great seriousness.






Great read as always. However, the series is beginning to get a little bit stale.  The plot is a bit meh, and the relationships between Stephanie, Ranger, and Morelli, are getting a little bit old.  Other than that, this is another laugh-out-loud read!





I'd give this book a 3 star rating.  The plot was unique, but very slow-moving.  I had a hard time keeping my interest going.




Not a horrible read.  Pretty interesting book.  I'll have to read the rest in the series to find out how I really feel.  The beginning was a bit boring and slow-moving, but towards the end it picked up and hooked me.




Good story.  Nice character development.  Jace and Clary still have problems and Clary is finally learning her skills.




Has great activities to get children interested in missions.  The activities are good for the whole family to do together.




Good story.  Need to find out how historically accurate it is.  About Joan of Arc.





Set at a middle school reading level, this is a story based loosely on a real person from the Renaissance era of Venice, Italy.  A girl from a rich merchant family who wants to be educated in a time when girls simply were not.  She leaves home daily, in disguise, to pursue her love of learning and finds there's more to the world than her sheltered upbringing has prepared her for.





Although I have found most of Alexander's books to follow a distinctly repeated storyline, his vividly amusing characters always jump off the pages.  This is the story of a demon who is running from the law and is embroiled in problems along the way.






In this dystopian book is described life of a woman in a future Britain. She cares for a teenage girl and her big dog Kugo.




Awesome.  This book was excellent for helping understanding how to be a better Christian.






Great book for understanding how to begin and elimination diet to find allergies.





The book was very good.  I was completely drawn in.  However, I thought it was very depressing, she couldn't remember her children.





It was great.  It had a lot of information about food/ingredients but written so anyone could understand.  A simple guide for diet and exercise.





Very interesting book.  For a happy ending book it didn't.  So it was kind of depressing but very good.  I enjoyed it.  My first John Grisham book.





These books just keep getting better.





Just finished this one and I'm dying for the next!





It has the imaginative creatures of Lord of the Rings and a story twist all of its own.





Since this book was placed in Venice, it's pretty cool, but it was still a little young for me.