Glossary Flashcards
Arbitrage
Trading strategies designed to profit from price differences for the same or similar goods in different markets.
Clearing
The settlement of a transaction, often involving exchange of payments and/or documentation.
Clearing house
An institution that acts as the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer of exchange traded contracts and thus guarantees the performance of the contract. It is able to incur the enormous credit risks that this involves as a result of a system of deposits known as margins.
Derivative
Forwards, futures, swaps and options (and other such as weather derivatives) whose value depends, at least in part, upon the value of an underlying asset or liability.
Equity derivative
A generic term for derivatives involving stocks/shares - whether in terms of those in individual companies, or baskets or indices of these.
Equity option
An option involving a stock/share, or a basket or index of these.
Exchange traded
The generic term used to describe shares, bonds, futures, options and other derivative instruments traded on an organized exchange.
Exercise
The act by which the buyer/holder of an option takes up his rights to buy or sell the underlying at the strike price.
Expiry, expiration date, maturity date
The date and time when a transaction matures. Most commonly used to describe when the buyer / holder of an option ceases to have any rights under the contract, or when a futures contract month ceases trading.
Forward
Any transaction in which the price is fixed today, but settlement is not due to take place until a future date.
Future
An agreement to buy/sell, a standard quantity of a specific commodity or financial instrument, at a standard future date at a price agreed between parties to the contract. Futures contracts are traded on organized exchanges.
Delta
change in option price per USD (ZAR etc.) increase in underlying
asset
Gamma
change in delta per USD (ZAR etc.) increase in underlying asset
Vega
change in option price per 1% increase in volatility (e.g. from 19%
to 20%)
Rho
change in option price per 1% increase in interest rate (e.g. from
4% to 5%)