Benoit B. Mandelbrot

Richard L. Hudson

The originator of "fractal geometry" applies his theory to the stock market, revealing the chaos underneath commonly accepted patterns of rise and fall in the market, creating the foundations for a new "science of finance" in the process. 100,000 first printing.

Misbehavior of Markets

Benoit Mandelbrot

Mathematical superstar and inventor of fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot, has spent the past forty years studying the underlying mathematics of space and natural patterns. What many of his followers don't realize is that he has also been watching patterns of market change. In The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, Mandelbrot joins with science journalist and former Wall Street Journal editor Richard L. Hudson to reveal what a fractal view of the world of finance looks like. The result is a revolutionary reevaluation of the standard tools and models of modern financial theory. Markets, we learn, are far riskier than we have wanted to believe. From the gyrations of IBM's stock price and the Dow, to cotton trading, and the dollar-Euro exchange rate--Mandelbrot shows that the world of finance can be understood in more accurate, and volatile, terms than the tired theories of yesteryear.The ability to simplify the complex has made Mandelbrot one of the century's most influential mathematicians. With The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, he puts the tools of higher mathematics into the hands of every person involved with markets, from financial analysts to economists to 401(k) holders. Markets will never be seen as "safe bets" again.

A Fractal View of Financial Turbulence

The Misbehavior of Markets

This international bestseller, which foreshadowed a market crash, explains why it could happen again if we don't act now. Fractal geometry is the mathematics of roughness: how to reduce the outline of a jagged leaf or static in a computer connection to a few simple mathematical properties. With his fractal tools, Mandelbrot has got to the bottom of how financial markets really work. He finds they have a shifting sense of time and wild behaviour that makes them volatile, dangerous - and beautiful. In his models, the complex gyrations of the FTSE 100 and exchange rates can be reduced to straightforward formulae that yield a much more accurate description of the risks involved.

A Fractal View of Risk, Ruin and Reward

The (Mis)Behaviour of Markets

Benoît Mandelbrot

El matemático de origen polaco Benoît Mandelbrot es considerado como el «padre de la geometría fractal». Los fractales –estructuras geométricas de diversos niveles de tamaño, cada una de los cuales repite a pequeña escala la estructura total– son idóneos para mensurar la rugosidad de la Naturaleza y nos permiten acercarnos geométricamente a estructuras tan poco euclideanas –en realidad, tan barrocas– como una nube, el contorno de la costa, los meandros de un río, las ráfagas de viento, un pedazo de coliflor... y, al parecer, una jornada en la Bolsa. En efecto, en este libro, accesible a lectores no especializados, pero que fascinará tanto a expertos financieros como a matemáticos, sus autores muestran cómo aplicar los fractales al comportamiento de los mercados bursátiles. Fenómenos como las caídas y los repuntes bruscos de los índices o las llamadas «burbujas financieras» no siempre resultan explicables a partir de los análisis económicos clásicos. En cambio, las «finanzas fractales» permiten reducir a una idea matemática sencilla procesos tan complejos como la variación de los precios o la convertibilidad de una moneda en otra.

Richard L. Hudson

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