Eubank Conference
on Real World Markets

Past Conferences

10th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, Frontiers of Quantitative Finance (2022)

The 10th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets celebrated 20 years of research and education since the founding of the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES). The theme of the conference, Frontiers of Quantitative Finance, featured an amazing line-up of guest speakers and Rice alumni who are architects of the field, leaders in navigating the forces that shape financial markets, and innovators in using methods from the digital era to move the frontier forward.

9th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, Sports Analytics and Gaming Risk Management (2021)

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 9th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets went virtual! On April 26, the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES) and the Departments of Statistics and Sport Management hosted an all-day webinar about how quantitative scientists can assist with understanding and navigating Sports Analytics and Gaming Risk Management. Lectures underscored the rising popularity of international sports, the use of analytics to recognize talent and maximize performance, the growth of the global sports betting market and the importance of data-driven betting strategies, as well as industry concerns, and the economic impact of a legalized sports betting markets.

8th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, Intelligent Investment Advising in the Fintech Era (2018)

The 8th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets presented on Intelligent Investment Advising in the Fintech Era. The conference featured thought leaders, practitioners and innovators as they discussed the changing structure of financial markets and how quantitative scientists can assist with understanding and navigating this change.

7th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, High-Frequency Trading: Mitigating its Impact (2017)

The 7th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets presented on High-Frequency Trading: Mitigating its Impact on Trading and Investing. The conference was co-hosted by Rice's Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES), the George R. Brown School of Engineering and its Department of Statistics, the Jones Graduate School of Business, and the School of Social Sciences.

6th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, Risk and Opportunity – The Way Forward (2016)

Risk and Opportunity – The Way Forward
Celebration of James R. Thompson

April 25-26, 2016
Duncan Hall, Rice University

Hosted by:

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES)
Department of Statistics, George R. Brown School of Engineering
Jones Graduate School of Business
School of Social Sciences

Monday, April 25 Conference Agenda

9:00 am

Welcome and Opening Remarks
Katherine B. Ensor, Professor and Director of CoFES, Rice University

9:15 - 10:45 am

Session I: Market Analysis and Outlook
Session Chairs: John A. Dobelman, Professor in the Practice of Statistics, Rice University; and Cullen Rogers, Sr., Portfolio Analyst, Ascendant Advisors, LLC

Risk-Based Asset Allocation
Roberto Croce, Head of Quantitative Research, Salient Partners, L.P.

Survey of Labor and Employment Regulations and their Implications for the Future of Hiring
Stephen W. Eubank, Senior Counsel, ‎Anadarko Petroleum

10:45 - 11:00 am

Break

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Tukey’s Ladder for Portfolio Management
Phillip Ernst, Associate Professor of Statistics, Rice University

alt.investments
John A. Dobelman, Professor in the Practice of Statistics, Rice University

12:00 - 1:00 pm

Lunch & Poster Session

1:00 - 2:30 pm

Session II: Alternative Investment Opportunities
Session Chair: Katherine B. Ensor, Professor of Statistics; Director of CoFES, Rice University

Blockchain & Global Investment
Chris Georgen, Topl LLC

Moving Beyond Markowitz: Modern Statistical Approaches to Portfolio Optimization
Michael Weylandt, Rice University

News Drives Oil Futures Price Dynamics
Yu Han, Rice University

Methods for Analyzing the Realized Volatility of Commodities and Commodity ETFs
Matthew Ginley, Rice University

2:30 - 3:00 pm

Student Speed Talks (7 min. each)

An Overview of Various Algorithmic Trading Strategies: Cross-Listed Shares, Algorithmic Sales and Trading, and Options Market Making
Eric Gong, Joshua Phipps, Rangan Mostofa, Sathya Ramesh

3:00 pm

Break

3:15 - 5:15 pm

Real Estate
Ram Galindo, Chairman & CEO, The Galindo Group

Real Estate Investing with a Local Perspective
Scott Rando, Cushman & Wakefield of Texas, Inc.

Following Facts or Fashion
James R. Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

5:15 - 6:00 pm

Reception

6:00 - 7:30 pm

Banquet

Introduction of Thompson Celebration
Kathy Ensor and David Scott, Department of Statistics, Rice University

Comments
Marc Elliott, Rand Corporation

Tuesday, April 26 Conference Agenda
A Celebration of James R. Thompson

8:30 am

Welcome and Introduction
David Scott, Marina Vannucci, Neal Lane, Bart Sinclair

9:00 am

Recollections
Karen Kafadar, University of Virginia Richard Tapia, Rice University Barry Brown, MDA collaborators Marek Kimmel, Rice University, JRT’s Cancer Modeling David Scott, Rice University Don Richard, Penn State

10:00 am

Comments from Former Doctoral Students
Neely Atkinson, John Dobelman, Webster West, Martin Lawera

10:30 am

Comments from Colleagues
Ed Williams, Statistics colleagues, Linda Driskill

11:00 am

Comments from the Floor
Tom Eubank, Diane Brown, others

11:45 am

James R. Thompson

12:00 pm

Luncheon, Huff House

5th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, A Focus on Energy (2015)

A Focus on Energy

March 26-27, 2015
Baker Institute, Duncan Hall, Rice University

Hosted by:

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES)
Department of Statistics, George R. Brown School of Engineering
Baker Institute for Public Policy Energy Forum of the Center for Energy Studies
School of Social Sciences

Thursday, March 26 Conference Agenda

9:00 am

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Katherine B. Ensor, Professor and Director of CoFES, Rice University

Ramon Gonzalez, Director, Energy and Environment Initiative (EEI)

9:20 am

Session I: Political Landscape and Changing Market Dynamics
Session Chair: Katherine B. Ensor

ISIL, Ukraine and Energy Markets
Joe Barnes, Bonner Means Baker Fellow, Baker Institute

10:20 am

Break

10:35 am

Grounding Energy Market Uncertainty in Fundamental Analysis
Kenneth Medlock, III, Rice University

The Future of Long-Term LNG Contracts
Peter R. Hartley, Rice University

12:00 pm

Lunch

1:00 pm

Session II: Market Dynamics and Investing in Large Capital Projects
Session Chair: John A. Dobelman

Moody’s Analytics Off and Running
Chris Lafakis, Rice University

Unconventional Reservoirs: How Transformative Knowledge and Enabling Technologies are Changing the Market Dynamics in North America
Jeff Tooth, Chief Advisor, Korea National Oil Corporation, Global Technology & Research Centre (GTRC)

2:30 pm

Break

2:45 pm

Session III: Federal, State and Local Economic Outlook
Session Chair: Gary C. Marfin, Associate Dean of Engineering, Rice University

2015 Texas Economic Outlook: Tapping on the Brakes
Keith Phillips, Senior Economist and Research Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio Branch

Here we go again! Houston and the Drilling Downturn of 2014 – 2017
Robert W. Gilmer, Director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting, Bauer College of Business, University of Houston

4:15 pm

Panel Discussion

Joe Barnes, Bonner Means Baker Fellow, Baker Institute

William Sirakos, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Economist and Capital Markets Division Head Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc., San Antonio

James R. Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics

Edward E. Williams, Professor Emeritus at Rice University

5:15 pm

Reception, Banquet & Awards

Keynote Lecture

The Golden Constant Revisited: The ‘Tightness’ of the Gold-Oil Price Ratio from the 1970s to 2015
Brian Domitrovic, Professor & Chair, Department of History, Sam Houston State University

Friday, March 27 Conference Agenda

8:30 am

Short Course, Room 3076

Investing for Profit: A Data-Based Approach
Edward E. Williams and John A. Dobelman

9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Short Course, McMurtry Auditorium

Introduction to Quantitative Financial Analytics
Yesheya Adler and Matthew Dehley, Department of Statistics

4th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, Creating Growth, Entrepreneurship, and Analytics (2013)

Creating Growth, Entrepreneurship, and Analytics

March 23, 2013
Duncan Hall, Rice University

Hosted by:

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES)
Department of Statistics, George R. Brown School of Engineering
Jones Graduate School of Business
School of Social Sciences

Today's large corporations were themselves start-ups at one time. Further, the information-driven economy is being transformed by intelligent start-ups that make expert use of data and computing. In the 4th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, we will hear from leading entrepreneurial faculty at Rice University on the process and secondary investing in these businesses. We will also hear from leading corporate quantitative scientists on the critical role that analytics plays in corporate success. A continuing conference theme is that the expert use of statistics and analytics is a key to success throughout the investment pipeline.

Conference Agenda

9:00 am

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Katherine B. Ensor, Professor and Director of CoFES, Rice University

9:15 am

The Entrepreneurial Process
H. Albert Napier, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Psychology, Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

Selling Closely Held Businesses
Edward E. Williams Professor of Entrepreneurship and Statistics, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University

11:45 am

Lunch and Student Poster Session

1:00-3:00 pm

Using Analytics to Drive Enterprise Transformation

Bonnie K. Ray Director, Optimization Research, IBM T. J. Watson Research Lab

Statistical Modeling of Publicly Available Health Care Data

Simon Sheather, Professor and Department Head, Texas A&M University

Open-Source Opportunities for Finance with R

Garrett Grolemund, Master Instructor, RStudio, Inc.

3:00 pm

Break

3:15-5:00 pm

Momentum and Stop-Losses: Strategies for Individual Investors

John A. Dobelman Professor in Practice, Department of Statistics, Rice University

The Kennedy Tax Cuts

Brian Domitrovic Professor & Chair, Department of History, Sam Houston State University

The Current State of the Economy and Its Relevance to the Fixed Income Portfolio Manager

William H. Sirakos Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Economist and Capital Markets Division Head, Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc.

5:00 pm

Reception

6:00 pm

Banquet

Exits on the Road to Serfdom

James R. Thompson Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

3rd Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, Investing During Troubled Times (2011)

Critical Issues in Today’s Dynamic and Uncertain Political Climate and Markets

October 17-18, 2011
Duncan Hall, Rice University

Hosted by:

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES)
Department of Statistics, George R. Brown School of Engineering
Jones Graduate School of Business
School of Social Sciences

Monday, October 17 Conference Agenda

9:00 am

Welcome and Introduction

Ned Thomas, William and Stephanie Sick Dean, George R. Brown School of Engineering, Rice University

Katherine B. Ensor, Professor and Director of CoFES, Rice University

9:15 am

Financial Reform: Now Comes the Hard Part
Dexter Senft, Morgan Stanley, Managing Director

10:00 am

Break

10:15-11:45 am

Extreme Risk Management: Fusion of Best Practice from the Intelligence and Financial Communities
Christina Ray, Senior Managing Director, Omnis, Marketing Intelligence

Risk Assessment in Energy Trading
Ginger Koev, Hewlett-Packard Company, Manager in Demand Forecasting

11:45 am

Open Mic Session

12:00 pm

Lunch

1:30-3:00 pm

Using Ensembles of Simple Models to Understand the Housing Market
Hadley Wickham, Assistant Professor of Statistics, Rice University

Identifying and Dealing with the Approach of Bears and their Departure
Ricardo Affinito, Statistics Ph.D. Candidate, Rice University

3:00 pm

Break

3:15-4:45 pm

Quant Gaffes
John Dobelman, Professor in Practice of Statistics, Rice University

Houses Built on Quicksand: The Panic of 2007-2008
Edward Williams, Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management, Jones Graduate Business School, Rice University

5:00 pm

Reception and Banquet, Martel Hall

Modern Statistics, Wealth and Security
Katherine Bennett Ensor, Professor and Chair, Department of Statistics; Director, CoFES

Tuesday, October 18 Conference Agenda

James A. Baker III, Institute for Public Policy, Kelly International Conference Center

9:00 am

Does Debt Matter?
Kyle Bass, Founder of Hayman Capital Management, L.P.

The Destructive Power of Debt
James Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

Today's Economic and Political Climate from the Standpoint of a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager
William Sirakos Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Economist and Capital Markets Division Head, Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc.

Convergence vs. Convexity: How Should Mature Economies Grow, and How Have They Grown?
Brian Domitrovic, Professor and Chair, Department of History, Sam Houston State University

12:15 pm

Open Mic Session

12:30 pm

Reception, Baker Institute – Doré Commons

2nd Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, Modeling Financial Markets in a World of Fiat Money (2010)

Modeling Financial Markets in a World of Fiat Money

October 18 - 19, 2010
Duncan Hall, Rice University

Hosted by:

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES)
Department of Statistics, George R. Brown School of Engineering
Jones Graduate School of Business
School of Social Sciences

Welcome to the second Eubank Conference on modeling real-world markets. In spite of the beauty and wonder of closed-form mathematical solutions to financial market models, it has become increasingly apparent that such formulae are not helping reduce financial risk encountered in the real world. Today, things are even more complicated given the increasing frequency of command economy decisions and interventions. The Eubank Conferences play a role in detangling the academic, political, and practical interactions of complex financial systems.

Monday, October 18 Conference Agenda

G. Edward Griffin
Author of The Creature from Jekyll Island, and President, American Media for Southern California

Brian Domitrovic
Assistant Professor of History, Sam Houston State University

David L. Ikenberry
Professor of Finance and Associate Dean for Executive Programs, College of Business, University of Illinois

J. Thomas Eubank
Senior Counselor to Baker Botts LLP; Trustee Advisor at Rice University

William H. Sirakos
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Economist, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.

Don Richards
Professor of Statistics, Pennsylvania State University

Jim Thompson
Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

Kathy Ensor
Professor and Chair of the Department of Statistics; Director CoFES, Rice University

Ed Williams
Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management, Jones School of Management; Professor of Statistics, Rice University

Peter Hartley
George and Cynthia Mitchell Chair in Sustainable Development, Economics, Rice University

Tuesday, October 19 Conference Agenda

Beth Bower
Quantitative Analyst, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

C. Sidney Burrus
William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering (Interim) and Maxfield and Oshman Professor Emeritus, Rice University

John A. Dobelman
Professor in the Practice of Statistics and Director Professional Master’s Statistics Program, Rice University

D. Fort Flowers, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sentinel Trust Company

Alejandro Cruz-Marcelo
Senior Statistician, Capital One Auto Finance

Donald Richards
Professor of Statistics, Pennsylvania State University

1st Eubank Conference, Modeling Real World Markets (2009)

Modeling Real World Markets

March 23-24, 2009
Duncan Hall, Rice University

Hosted by:

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES)
Department of Statistics, George R. Brown School of Engineering
Jones Graduate School of Business
School of Social Sciences

This will be a conference concerning empiricism in modeling the market. How does one handle situations in which current orthodoxies in finance produce strategies that fail to model the real world? To what extent have the current orthodoxies been responsible for failed strategies on the part of investors and government regulators? What are the implications of market practice in nonwestern markets? How shall we begin to build new theories that are more effective at modeling and modifying real-world markets?

This conference is supported financially by a grant from Nancy and Thomas Eubank.

Monday, March 23 Conference Agenda

9:00 am

Introduction and Opening Remarks
Katherine B. Ensor, Professor and Director of CoFES, Rice University

Welcome from the Department of Statistics
James Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

9:15 - 9:30 am

Introduction to Conference: Some Problems to be Addressed
J. Thomas Eubank, Senior Counselor, Baker Botts LLP; Trustee Advisor, Rice University

Bad Economics, Bad Public Policy: The Disadvantages of Disregarding Data
James Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

Islamic Finance
Mahmoud El-Gamal, Chairman and Professor of Economics and of Statistics, Rice University; Director, Program in Islamic Economics, Rice University

11:45 am

Lunch, Cohen House

1:00 pm

Student Panel

A Data Based Deconstruction of the Efficient Frontier, the Capital Market Line and the Security Market Line
Ricardo Affinito, Garrett Grolemund, Colleen Kenney, and Steve Liao

1:30 pm

General Discussion

2:00 - 3:00 pm

Cascading Losses: The Role of Complex Dependence

Katherine B. Ensor, Professor and Chair of the Department of Statistics; Director, CoFES

Ginger M. Davis, Assistant Professor, Department of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Virginia

3:00 pm

Break

3:15 - 4:15 pm

The New World of Accounting
Stephen Zeff, Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Accounting, Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University

Constant Proportion Debt Obligations, Zeno's Paradox, and the Spectacular Financial Crisis of 2008
Donald St. P. Richards, Professor of Statistics, Pennsylvania State University

5:00 pm

Reception

6:00 pm

Banquet

Welcome
Sallie Keller-McNulty, William & Stephanie Sick Professor of Statistics; Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering

Empirical Portfolio Creation
James Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

Tuesday, March 24 Conference Agenda

9:00 am

Introduction
James Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice

John Maynard Keynes: The Greatest Economist of the 20th Century and His View of the Role of Financial Markets in the Aggregate Economy
Paul Davidson, Holly Professor of Excellence Emeritus, University of Tennessee; Editor, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics

10:15 am

Break

10:30 am

Market Truths: Theory Versus Empirical Modeling

William C. Wojciechowski, Risk Officer, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management

James Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

11:15 am

Panel

Where We Hope these Conferences Will Lead

J. Thomas Eubank, Senior Counselor, Baker Botts LLP; Trustee Advisor, Rice University

Katherine Ensor, Chair of the Department of Statistics, Director, CoFES

Donald St. P. Richards, Professor of Statistics, Pennsylvania State University

11:45 am

Lunch, Cohen House

12:45 – 1:45 pm

Rags or Riches: Short Options Trading Program
John A. Dobelman, Lecturer of Statistics; Director Professional Master’s Statistics Program, Rice University

How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Going?
William H. Sirakos, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Economist, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.

2:45 pm

Panel

Legal Implications of the EMH: How the Theories we Adopt Affect Real World Decisions

J. Thomas Eubank, Senior Counselor, Baker Botts LLP; Trustee Advisor, Rice University

Katherine Ensor, Chair of the Department of Statistics Director, CoFES

James Thompson, Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

4:00 pm

Reception, Martel Hall