This book has been written for undergraduate and graduate elective courses offered by business, economics, and other faculties. Many practitioners who want to acquire a working knowledge of futures and options markets will also find the book useful.


I was persuaded to write this book by colleagues who liked my other book Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives, but found the material a little too advanced for their students. Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets (formerly Introduction to Futures and Options Markets) covers some of the same ground as Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives—but in a way that readers who have had limited training in mathematics will find easier to understand. One important difference between this book and my other one is that there is no calculus in this book.

The text can be used in a number of different ways. Instructors who like to focus on one- and two-step binomial trees when valuing options may wish to cover only the first 10 chapters. Instructors who feel that swaps are adequately covered by other courses can choose to omit Chapter 6. There are many different ways in which Chapters 11 to 21 can be used. Instructors who feel that the material in Chapters 14, 16, 17, or 18 is too specialized can skip one or more of these chapters.