This book is a compilation of my pre-dissertation work towards my Ph.D. in finance at Walden University.  The book is broken into breadth, depth and application components to convey a overall theme.  These three components makeup a Knowledge Assessment Module (KAM) during my Ph.D. studies.  For scholarly researchers, I highly recommend continuing your studies using a breadth, depth and application approach.

This book is intended for individuals with a deep interest in economics and finance coming from a graduate level background.  The research presented in this book can be applied in either an academic setting or an applied environment.  The main goal is to convey that financial models are predicated on statistical and model assumptions, and that those assumptions can provide pricing failures.  Understanding some of the underlying model components should allow better forecasting and pricing models to be constructed.  The title “Black Box - The Alchemy  of Finance” is fitting these days.  It is the alchemy of statistics and model building that the foundation of modern finance is resting upon.