Robert I. Webb teaches Financial Trading at both the McIntire School of Commerce and the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on derivative securities and markets, trading, and incentive economics. He is the author of Macroeconomic Information and Financial Trading(Oxford, 1994) and has written numerous academic papers. Webb has traded treasury bonds and other fixed income securities for the Investment Department of the World Bank; traded futures as a “local” on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; designed new financial futures and option contracts for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; served in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget during President Reagan’s first term; and served at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He previously taught at the University of Southern California. Webb is editor of The Journal of Futures Markets, a leading academic journal on derivative securities and markets. He earned his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, and has published widely in both academic journals and the financial press.

Preface Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Market Conditions and Sentiment Chapter 3: Talk Isn’t Cheap Chapter 4: Geopolitical Events Chapter 5: Weather and Natural Disasters Chapter 6: Market Interventions Chapter 7: Periodic Economic Reports Chapter 8: Size Matters Chapter 9: Bubbles, Crashes, Corners, and Market Crises Chapter 10: The Accidental Catalyst Index