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More Investment Banking knowledge for IT Professionals February 18, 2008

Posted by James Webster in : finance , trackback

A while ago I put together a presentation describing at a very high-level the primary reasons for the existence of financial/capital markets, who participates in them, and what the major financial markets are. I have delivered this presentation at a couple of ThoughtWorks Away Days now and people have told me that it was a great high-level introduction to the domain. I have wanted to put it online for the benefit of anyone else looking for a quick dose of background information and I have finally gotten around to it. Be aware that the recording is from 2006 and some other ways that I simplify and explain certain concepts is probably not 100% accurate and I’d probably describe things a little differently these days.

With that caveat out of the way, please enjoy “The Why, Who, What and Where of Financial Markets”. The full presentation runs for about 45 minutes but you can also download an iPod-compatible version from blip.tv ;

If you are interested in further background and understanding here is my recommended reading list (disclosure: the Amazon links are to my personal affiliate account);

  1. Business Knowledge for IT in Investment Banking by Essvale Corporation Amazon US Amazon UK: if you need a very quick introduction then this might be worth a shot. I have not read it from cover to cover but it looks to provide a bit of background into the major networks and information services, which might be particularly useful for an IT practitioner.
  2. An Introduction to Global Financial Markets by Stephen Valdez Amazon US Amazon UK: I started with this one myself many years ago. It is clear and provides some interesting context on the history of banking. Definitely global in focus and recent editions have included specific coverage of the financial market impact of 9/11, the .com crash, etc. I wonder if the next edition will cover the sub-prime crisis and credit crunch?
  3. Trading and Exchanges; Market Microstructure for Practitioners by Professor Larry Harris: Amazon US Amazon UK: A very deep but remarkably clear analysis of the inner workings of markets. Looks at the economics and structure of markets from both a theoretical and practical perspective and has plenty of humour throughout.
  4. Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and unknowns in the dazzling world of derivatives by Satyajit Das Amazon US Amazon UK: a controversial insider’s look at some of the shadier goings on in the field of exotic derivatives for all asset classes. Despite the book dripping with cynicism (whether it is misplaced or not is left to you to decide!) it does put various boom and bust stories surrounding derivatives into context. It also describes the exotic credit derivatives; CDOs, CDSs etc, very well… although whether these derivatives will continue to exist for much longer in their current form is currently under question!

Wikipedia’s page on financial markets is also a great entry point to a range of other articles.

Comments»

1. The News before The News » Investment banking knowledge for IT professionals - February 18, 2008

[…] Update: you might be interested in watching my presentation, “The Why, Who, What, and Where of Financial Markets”. […]

2. Darren Smith - February 19, 2008

James,

Thanks for posting this. I purchased a copy of An Introduction to Global Financial Markets over Christmas and have found it to be extremely accessible and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the finance industry.

3. James Webster - February 19, 2008

Thanks mate. Glad you find the book a good read. Hope all is well!

4. Vlad Sneblic - March 1, 2008

Hey James,

Great presentation! Thanks for putting it up, it’s definitely been enlightening.