Hi allI'm currently reading this book, but it seems a bit too simplistic...In particular the chapter "Alpha Models : how quants make money" states that most quant strategies r me too and can fit into five classic caegories...Any insider opinion ?

hmm...No answer...Does it mean the book is not worth reading ?Thanks for ur advice

I think it's an excellent book that fills an important need. It seems that every week or so we get a question on Wilmott that could be easily answered with this book, but that would take pages of typing to answer from scratch.The author does something simple and important, that I have never seen done before. He describes a quant trading shop without embellishment or jargon. He makes it clear that that ideas used to make money are very simple and well-known, that the hard part is in the details of execution. Hitting a baseball is simple, you use the bat to direct the ball where there are no fielders. But doing it successfully at a major-league level requires unusual talent, extensive practice and focused attention on details. The same thing can be said of playing a piano (just push the keys as directed by the score), playing a game of chess (move your pieces according to simple rules to checkmate the other player) or quant investing. Easy to do, rare to do up to a competitive standard.By describing the nuts and bolts of the process, the author demonstrates that there's no grand secret, no mystery; but he also shows indirectly the enormous amount of judgment and work it takes to get it right.I do have a number of specific criticisms (see my Amazon review for details if you're interested).