The Global Money Markets

Reviews / Votes

Fabozzi, Mann and Choudhry have written an excellent introduction to the money market. Stigum's (2002) Money Market has long been the standard text for this market, so let's compare. For many readers, Fabozzi, Mann and Choudhry will be the preferred text. At one quarter the length (328 pages vs. 1250), we might call the new book "Stigum Light." This is not a bad thing. Many people don't have time to read the entire Stigum but can get through the shorter book in a few sittings. If someone has a job interview in a couple days and needs to learn about the money market fast, they are going to read Fabozzi, Mann and Choudhry. The book achieves its relative brevity with only a modest sacrificing in depth of detail. Where it compromises is breadth. While Stigum devotes 400 pages to discussing the major players before proceeding to discuss the instruments that are traded, Fabozzi, Mann and Choudhry focus primarily on the instruments. Coverage is broad, including Treasuries, agencies, corporate debt, financial institutions' debt, floaters, repos, short-term MBS and ABS, futures, FRA's, swaps, caps and floors. They also have nice chapters on asset-liability management and on bank capital requirements. Whereas Stigum has very few formulas, Fabozzi, Mann and Choudhry is modestly more technical, detailing important pricing and yield calculations. These discussions are accompanied by Bloomberg screen shots that show the reader where the information is coming from. As you are reading, you can check the screen to see if an instrument uses an actual/actual or actual/360 basis. You can grab the current swap curve or check when a coupon is next paid. The screen shots put the examples in context and give the reader a sense of being there on a trading floor. So how should you choose between the two books? Do you want a book you can read in a week or a book you can read in a month? Do you want a definitive text complete with historical insights and wonderful anecdotes, or do you want a practical shortcut? Do you want a book that is mostly non-technical, or do you want one that covers essential formulas accompanied with Bloomberg screen shots? Do you want a book that covers all aspects of the money markets, or do you want one that focuses primarily on the instruments? Both are available. What are you looking for? --Riskbook.com