Derivatives Flashcards
derivatives
a security which derives its value from the value or return on another asset or security
leverage
borrowing money in order to place a larger trade than the size of your account
initial margin
the amount of funds required in the account to initially open a trade
maintenance margin
the minimum amount of funds that must be maintained in the account to maintain the trade
if the account equity declines below maintenance margin, this triggers a
margin call, at which the investor must deposit funds to bring the account back up to the initial margin
forwards
one party agrees to buy a physical or financial asset on a specified date at a specified price
- can be used either for speculative purposes or to hedge a market risk
traded over the counter OTC
which means there is no using dealers with no central location
-largely unregulated
-each contract has a counterparty which exposes owner to default risk
futures
are the exact same as a forward with the following differences:
-futures are traded on organized exchanges
-futures are standardized
-futures have a clearinghouse which removes counterparty risk
-futures markets are regulated
types of futures/ forwards
commodity contracts
foreign exchange
indices
individual securities
commodity contracts
crude oil, corn, gold, soybean, etc
foreign exchange
EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/EUR etc
indices
S&P 500, nasdaq
individual securities
apple, tesla, walmart etc
uses of the forward and futures market
hedging
speculation
hedging
using the market to reduce the volatility in a Company’s cash flows.
Example: a Company purchases aluminum, so they buy an aluminum future to lock in the price of their raw material
forward is mainly in hedging
forward is more meaningful in Company entities
speculation
an individual or firm purchases or sells a future in order to attempt to profit on price movement
most transactions in the futures market are for speculation
Arbitrage
A transaction in which an investor purchases one asset or a portfolio of assets at one price, and simultaneously sells an asset or portfolio that has the same future payoffs at a higher price. this generates risk-free gain
Risk free gain is capped at
the risk-free rate in the market. if there are arbitrage opportunities they are exploited quickly, driving the return to the market risk free rate
short:
selling an asset that you don’t actually have
future price=
spot price * (1 + RFR) ^ time
assumes no dividends or cost of storage
benefits of holding an asset
income outside of price appreciation. Dividends on stocks, coupon payments on bonds
costs of holding an asset
storage costs to hold a physical asset. Not typically associated with financial assets