PREFACE

Everybody's life is touched by financial markets. This was painfully brought home to us when markets built on badly thought-through finance collapsed, triggering the long recession in 2008.

This book is a simple, easy-to-follow guide to bond and money markets, which assumes no prior knowledge of finance. The emphasis is on gaining an under­standing of the underlying concepts in the first half of the book, the impor­tance of these markets and ideas in the practical world of finance. Later I introduce those elements of quantitative finance that are absolutely essential. This way, I hope, the essence of this technical subject is explained without bamboozling the reader with an overload of mathematics.

It explains:

• the jargon used in the debt markets

• the wide variety of bond markets, from sovereign bonds to junk

• the vital role of money market instruments, ranging from commercial paper to interbank lending

• the valuation of these securities and how value changes as interest rates change.

Who might find the book useful?

• Market professionals needing a succinct, down-to-earth guide to throw light into an area of knowledge that they know they need to fulfil their roles effec­tively and advance their careers.

• People working at banks, insurance companies, lawyers' offices and account­ing firms needing to develop a good working knowledge of key financial terms and functioning of the main markets.

• University students needing more depth on bond and money markets than is provided by their main course texts.

• Those curious minds who realise they need to understand the financial mar­kets to comprehend the modern economy.

• Private investors who might consider putting some of their savings in these markets.

I hope you enjoy the book.

Glen Arnold