Only a decade ago, spreadsheets were first invented for financial applications. At the time they were considered sophisticated modeling tools. Today machine intelligence is a core concept in describing advanced technologies that can develop more sophisticated models. Neural networks, genetic algorithms, and fuzzy systems provide new opportunities for automated trading, risk, and portfolio management. Machine learning techniques are quietly being used by investment managers for stock selection, bond pricing, foreign exchange trading, and market and bankruptcy predictions, as well as many other applications. They are the next step in the evolution of investment technology. Now, Trading on the Edge lets you in on this evolution. Assembled and edited by Guido J. Deboeck, a pioneer in the introduction of new technologies and financial applications of neural nets at the World Bank, this book is the product of more than a dozen authors around the globe who, over the past several years, have used these advanced technologies for investment management. The contributions from these experts demystify the application of these techniques and explore their impact on modern finance theory and practice. Most importantly, they show you how to apply those powerful techniques to automate trading, reduce risk, and improve portfolio management. Clearly, concisely, and in terms that traders and investment managers can relate to, this book shows how neural networks can learn complex patterns from vast quantities of data and generalize with amazing speed from learned experiences; how genetic algorithms can evolve solutions to problems in the way nature does; how fuzzy systems provide concrete solutions toproblems based on vague parameters; and how nonlinear dynamics, fractal analysis, and chaos theory define order in what once were considered random changes in financial markets. The real-life case studies provided by these experts delineate proven strategies for applying advanced technologies to trading, risk, and portfolio management. The empirical insights in this book demonstrate that it is possible to trade financial markets more intelligently and to account for a wider range of information, more patterns, and differences in time horizons and mental models of market participation, all of which affect the behavior of investors. More intelligent trading in financial markets could benefit the economy as a whole. Trading on the Edge offers you an incomparable opportunity to learn about these powerful advanced technologies, which will lead the financial world into the 21st century.