COQ_tal

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   4-17-96. Fint:

   "When rocket scientists crash out of orbit."

   Barry Riley essays on the impact of physicists and
   mathematicians on finance and economics, while reporting on
   a recent article by three physicists critiquing the
   shortcomings of the Black-Scholes formula for pricing
   options.

      The Bouchaud-Iori-Sornette formula for "real world"
      options attempts to minimise these residual risks,
      especially by applying a more sophisticated mathematical
      treatment to the "tails" of the distribution. If the
      risks cannot be hedged out, at least they can be reduced
      via diversification.

   A bracing cocktail for the recent cpunks bar-slappers on
   funny-money and unscriving and eye-grit quackers.


   COQ_tal