A Course in Financial Calculus

This text is designed for first courses in financial calculus aimed at students with a good background in mathematics. Key concepts such as martingales and change of measure are introduced in the discrete time framework, allowing an accessible account of Brownian motion and stochastic calculus. The Black-Scholes pricing formula is first derived in the simplest financial context. Subsequent chapters are devoted to increasing the financial sophistication of the models and instruments. The final chapter introduces more advanced topics including stock price models with jumps, and stochastic volatility. A large number of exercises and examples illustrate how the methods and concepts can be applied to realistic financial questions.

Finance provides a dramatic example of the successful application of mathematics to the practical problem of pricing financial derivatives. This self-contained text is designed for first courses in financial calculus. Key concepts are introduced in the discrete time framework: proofs in the continuous-time world follow naturally. The second half of the book is devoted to financially sophisticated models and instruments. A valuable feature is the large number of exercises and examples, designed to test technique and illustrate how the methods and concepts are applied to realistic financial questions.