Futures and derivatives

Posted by Oprea Marina & Crasneanciuc Nina
FUTURES, OPTIONS AND SWAPS
Futures
Every weekday, enormous amounts of commodities, currencies and financial securities are traded for immediate delivery at their current price on spot markets. Yet there are also futures markets on which contracts can be made to buy and sell commodities, currencies an various financial assets, at a future date (e.g. 25 tons of copper to be delivered next June 30) are called futures; individual, non-standard, “over-the-counter” deals between two parties (e.g. 1.7 billion yen to be exchanged for dollars on September 15, at a rate set today) are called forward contracts.

Hedging and speculating
Futures, options and other derivatives exist in order that companies and individuals may attempt to diminish the effects of, or profit from, future changes in commodity and asset prices, exchange rates, interest rates, and so on. For example, the prices of foodstuffs such as wheat, maize, cocoa, coffee, tea and orange juice are frequently affected by droughts, floods and other extreme conditions. Consequently many producers and buyers of raw materials want to hedge, in order to guarantee next season’s prices. When commodity prices are expected to rise, future prices are obviously higher than (at a premium on) spot prices; when they are expected to fall they are at a discount on spot prices.
In recent years, especially since financial deregulation, exchange rates and interest rates have also fluctuated wildly. Many businesses, therefore, want to buy or sell currencies at a guaranteed future price. Speculators, anticipating currency appreciations or depreciations, or interest rate movements, are also active in currency futures markets, such as the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE, pronounced ‘life’).

Options
As well as currencies and commodities, there is now a huge futures market in stocks and shares. One can buy options giving the right – but not the obligation – to buy and sell securities at a fixed price in a future. A call option gives the right to buy securities ( or a currencies, or a commodity) at a certain price during a certain period of time. A put option gives the right to sell an asset at a certain price during a certain period of time. These options allow organizations to hedge their equity investments.
For example, if you think a share worth 100 will rise, you can buy a call option giving the right to buy at 100, hopping to sell this option, or to buy and resell the share at a profit. Alternatively, you can write a put option giving someone else the right to sell the shares at 100: if the market price remains above 100, no one will exercise the option, so you earn the premium.
On the contrary, if you expect the value of a share that you own to fall below its current price of 100, you can buy a put option at 100 (or higher): if the price falls, you can still sell your shares at this price. Alternatively, you could write a call option giving someone else the right to buy the share at 100: if the market price of the underlying security remains below the option’s exercise price or strike price, no-one will take up the options, and you earn the premium.

Swaps
Options are merely one type of derivative instrument, based on another underlying price. Many companies nowadays also arrange currency swaps and interest rate swaps with other companies or financial institutions. For example, a French company that can borrow francs at a preferential rate, but which also needs yen, can arrange a swap with a Japanese company in the opposite position. Such currency swaps, designed to achieve interest rate savings, are of course open to the risk of exchange rate fluctuations. A company with a lot of fixed interest debt might choose to exchange some of it for another company’s floating rate loans. Whether they save or lose money will depend on the movement of interest rates.

Фьючерсы, опции и свопы.
Фьючерсы.
Каждый будний день огромное количество товаров, валюты и финансовых бумаг продаётся для моментальной доставки по их текущей цене на рынки наличного товара.
Так же существуют рынки фьючерсов, на которых могут заключаться контракты покупки-продажи товаров, валюты и различных финансовых бумаг в будущем (например на три, шесть, девять месяцев вперёд), но по установленной цене во время сделки. Стандартизированные сделки для установленных объёмов и временных периодов (например 25 тонн меди должны быть доставлены 30 Июня) называются фьючерсами; индивидуальные, не стандартизированные, продаваемые в розницу сделки между двумя сторонами (например 1,7 миллиардов йен должны быть обменяны на доллары 15 сентября, по текущему курсу валют) называются форвардами.

Хеджирование и спекулирование.
Фьючерсы, опции и другие производные существуют для того чтобы товары и физические лица могут пытаться уменьшить эффекты, или доход от будущих изменений в ценах товаров и активов, курса обмена, процентной ставки и т.д. Например, на цены на базовые продукты, такие как пшеница, кукуруза, какао, чай и апельсиновый сок, часто влияют засухи, потопы и другие экстремальные погодные условия. Поэтому многие производители и покупатели сырья хотят хеджировать, для гарантирования цен в следующем сезоне.

Опционы
Также как и валюта, и товары существует огромное количество фьючерных рынков в акциях и ценных бумагах. Одни могут покупать опционы, дающие право, но не обязанность, покупать и продавать ценные бумаги по фиксированной цене в будущем. Опцион на покупку дает право покупать ценные бумаги(валюту или товар) по определенной цене в течении определенного периода времени.
Опцион на продажу дает право продавать актив по определенной цене в течении определенного периода времени. Эти опционы позволяют организациям хеджировать их собственные инвестиции.
Например, если вы думаете, что ценность акции увеличится на 100 единиц, вы можете купить опцион на покупку, дающий право купит по цене 100 единиц, надеясь, продать этот опцион или купить и перепродать акцию для дохода. Альтернативно , вы можете выписать опцион на продажу, дающий кому-либо еще право продавать акции за 100 единиц, если цена на рынке остается выше 100, никто не сможет использовать опцион и вы получаете премию.
Наоборот, если вы ожидаете, что ценность акции, которой вы владеете, упадет ниже ее текущей цены в 100 единиц вы можете купить опцион на продажу по цене в 100 единиц( или выше), если цена падает, вы все еще можете продать ваши акции по этой цене. Альтернативно, вы можете выписать опцион на покупку, дающий кому-либо право покупать акции по цене100 единиц: если рыночная цена базового актива остается ниже использованной опционной цены или цены страйк, никто не выкупит опцион, и вы получите премию.

Свопы
Опционы только один вид производного инструмента, основанные на другой базовой цене. Многие фирмы на сегодняшний день договариваются о валютных свопах и свопах процентной ставки с другими фирмами или финансовыми организациями. Например, французская компания, которая может взять в ссуду франки по льготной ставке, но которой так же нужны Йены, может заключить своп с японской компанией по противоположной позиции. Такие валютные свопы, созданные чтобы достигнуть сбережений процентной ставки, конечно же могут подвергаться изменениям обменного риска. Компания с большим количеством фиксированных процентных долгов может выбрать обмен их на ссуды других компаний с плавающими ставками.

Futures, opţiuni şi swap-uri.
Futures.
În fiecare zi o mare cantitate de mărfuri, valută, titluri financiare este vânduta pentru livrare imediata la preţurile lor actuale de pe piaţa spot.
La fel există pieţe futures,pe care se pot încheia contracte de cumpărare şi vânzare de mărfuri, valute şi diverselor active financiare în viitor (de exemplu, pentru trei, şase, nouă luni înainte), dar la un preţ stabilit în timpul unei tranzacţii. Tranzacţiile standardizate care stabilesc perioadele de măsură şi de timp (de exemplu, 25 de tone de cupru trebuie să fie livrat pe 30 iunie) sunt numite futures, tranzacţiile individuale, nestandardizate, în cadrul carora se vinde cu amănuntul între două părţi (cum ar fi 1.7 miliarde de yeni pentru a fi schimbate in dolari SUA pe 15 septembrie la rata de schimb actuala) sunt numite forward.

Acoperire şi speculaţii.
Futures, opţiuni şi alte derivate există pentru a se asigura că bunurile şi persoanele fizice sa poata încerca să reducă efectele, sau veniturile urmate din modificările viitoare ale preţurilor de bunuri şi active, rata de schimb, ratele dobânzilor, etc. De exemplu, preţul alimentelor de bază, precum grâul, porumbul, cacao, ceai şi sucul de portocale, este adesea influenţat de secetă, inundaţii şi alte condiţii meteorologice extreme. Prin urmare, mulţi producători şi cumpărători doresc să speculeze materii prime, pentru a garanta preţurile pentru sezonul următor. Atunci când este de aşteptat ca preţurile materiilor prime vor creşte, preţurile in viitor vor fi mai mari decât în mod obisnuit (la o primă ) decât preţurile bunurilor disponibile în stoc.
În ultimii ani, mai ales că dereglementarea financiară, ratele de schimb şi ratele dobânzilor fluctuiaza, de asemenea salbatic. Astfel multe companii doresc să cumpere sau să vândă valută la un preţ viitor garantat. Speculatorii care aşteaptă să crească sau să scadă valoarea monedei sau modificările ratei dobânzii, la fel sunt activi pe pieţele de futures internaţionale, cum ar fi Schimbul International de Futures financiare din Londra.

Opţiuni
Ca si monedă, şi bunuri, există o cantitate uriaşă de pieţe de futuresuri în stocuri şi titluri de valoare. Se poate cumpăra opţiuni, care dau dreptul dar nu şi obligaţia, de a cumpăra sau vinde valori mobiliare la un preţ fix în viitor. Opţiunea de cumpărare dă dreptul de a cumpăra titluri de valoare (valută sau marfă), la un preţ specificat într-o anumită perioadă de timp. Optiune de vinzare dă dreptul de a vinde un activ la un preţ specificat într-o anumită perioadă de timp. Aceste optiuni permit organizaţiilor să speculeze propriile investitii.
De exemplu, dacă sunteţi de părere că valoarea acţiunilor va creşte cu 100 de unităţi, puteţi cumpăra o opţiune de cumparare care acorda dreptul de a cumpara la un pret de 100 de unităţi, în speranţa de a vinde opţiunea, sau cumpara si revinde pentru o cotă parte din profit. Alternativ, puteţi scrie o opţiune de vânzare care oferă dreptul de a vinde acţiunile pentru 100 de unităţi, în cazul în care preţul de piaţă rămâne peste 100, nimeni nu poate folosi opţiunea şi veţi obţine premiul.
În schimb, dacă vă aşteptaţi ca valoarea acţiunilor care va apartine, va scădea sub preţul actual de 100 de unităţi puteţi cumpăra o opţiune de vânzare la un preţ de 100 de unităţi (sau mai mare) în cazul în care preţul scade, puteţi vinde în continuare actiunile dvs. la acest preţ. Alternativ, puteţi scrie o opţiune de apel, care dă dreptul oricui de a cumpăra acţiuni la pretul de 100 unităţi: în cazul în care preţul de piaţă al activului suport rămâne mai jos de pretul la opţiunile de utilizare sau preţul de exercitare, nimeni nu va cumpăra o opţiune, şi veţi primi premiul.

Swap-uri
Opţiunile sunt doar un singur tip de instrument derivat, bazat pe alte costuri de bază. Multe firme de azi inchee acorduri asupra operaţiunilor de swap valutar şi swap pe rata dobânzii cu alte companii sau institutii financiare. De exemplu, compania franceză care poate să împrumute franci, la o rată redusă, dar care are nevoie, de asemenea si de Yeni japonezi, pot intra într-un swap cu o companie japoneză de poziţie opusă. Astfel de swap valutar, creat pentru a atinge rata dobânzii de economii, desigur, poate sa fie supusa la riscul cursului de schimb. O companie cu o mulţime de datorii la dobândă fixă poate alege să facă schimb de împrumuturile lor către alte companii cu rate variabile.

1a Vocabulary
Match up the following words and definition

1 futures

2 options

3 commodities

4 derivatives

5 hedging

6 speculation


A contracts giving the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a security, a currency, or a commodity at a fixed price during a certain period of time
B contracts to buy or sell fixed quantities of a commodity, currency, or financial asset at a future date, at a price fixed at the time of making the contract
C a general name for all financial instruments whose price depends on the movement of another price
D buying securities or other assets in the hope of making a capital gain by selling them at a higher price (or selling them in a hope of buying them back at a lower price)
E making contracts to buy or sell a commodity or financial asset at a pre-arranged price in the future as a protection or ‘insurance’ against price changes
F raw materials or primary products (metals, cereals, coffee, etc.) that are traded on special markets

Key 1B, 2A, 3F, 4C, 5E, 6D

1b Reading
Select ten or eleven of following words that you would expect to find in an introductory text about futures and options.
Assets, beer, bush, call, commodities, contracts, cooper, currencies, discount, discount store, foodstuffs, hedge, liabilities, plastic, phone, raw materials, shout, spot market, supermarket, tea

Key: Assets, call, commodities, contracts, currencies, discount, discount store, hedge, liabilities, raw materials, shout, spot market

1с Summarizing
Complete the following sentences
1. The difference between futures and forward contracts is…
2. Producers and buyers often choose the hedge because…
3. Speculators can make money on currency futures if…
4. If you believe that the share price will rise, possible option strategies include…
5. On the contrary if you think a share price will fall, possible option strategies include…
6. The risk with currency and interest rate swaps is that…
Key:
1. …that futures are standardized deals for fixed quantities and time periods, and forward contracts are individual, non-standart.
2. …in order to guarantee next season’s prices
3. …they anticipate currency appreciations or depreciations, or interest rate movements
4. …buying a call option giving the right to buy at fixed price, hopping to sell this option, or to buy and resell the share at a profit
5. … buying a put option at 1fixed price (or higher): if the price falls, you can still sell your shares at this price
6. …exchange rate fluctuation.

1d Vocabulary
Find words in the text that are in an obvious sense the opposite of the terms below

Appreciate, call, discount, drought, floating, hedging, spot market, strike price
Key:
Devaluate, option, growth, flood, fixed, confront, futures market, price above

The Danger of Derivatives
In the mid-1990s, various companies, local governments and financial institutions made spectacular losses with derivatives. The most famous was Barings Bank, which was bankrupted when a single trader in Singapore lost over $1 billion by speculating disastrously on futures and options on the Nikkei 225 stock index, which is traded in Osaka and Singapore. You will hear an extract from a talk by a financial journalist about what companies and banks can do to prevent such losses.
Lillian Chew originally from Malaysia, was formely editor of “Risk” magazine in London, and is the author of “Managing Derivative Risk”


2a Listening
Listen to Part One of the talk by Lillian Chew, and then decide whether the following statement are TRUE or FALSE, according to what she says.
1. The fault lies with the banks who sell derivatives rather than the buyers.
2. Companies have lost money with derivatives because they took on risks they didn’t understand.
3. Companies have used derivatives for purposes other than those they were designed for.
4. Companies ought to use the same derivative for both hedging and speculating.

2b Vocabulary
Read the following extract from the talk while listening to Part Two, and then match up the expressions in italics with the definitions or synonyms below.

If it’s the hedge your manager it passively, you don’t worry too much if rates move against you or in your favour. If it’s not a hedge, if it’s to take on, if a derivate is used to (1) take on risk, to increase returns, then it requires a more (2) bands-on management approach. You need (3) stop-loss limits , you need to conduct (4) scenario analyses to see how that transaction behaves under various conditions, you need to conduct (5) sensitivity analyses to see … what market conditions they’re most sensitive to. And then you have to judge whether the P&L impact of what transaction can be (6) withstood in the firm. Or as in P&G’s case whether cost savings generated are worth the (7) open-ended exposure. I think there is also a need for management to give the front line personnel relevant guidelines for all activities.
I think the industry realizes that it has to police itself. I think that they realize if they don’t police themselves the regulators will come on, on them. I think that’s why we’ve seen the framework for (8) voluntary oversight from the SEC-registered companies as well as ISDA’s code of conduct, as well as the Bankers’ Trust-Federal Reserve sales agreement. I think all these codes of conduct embody the principle that the major risk of a transaction have to be explained to customers, and that sensitivity and scenario analyses are offered (9) unsolicited to customers, and that these analyses should be done as objectively as possible.

A a study of all the potential consequences of a derivative contract
B a study of the particular market changes which could affect the outcome of a derivative contract
C active, interventionary
D even if nobody asks for it
E restrictions on the amount you can lose if the underlying price changes
F self-regulation by the financial industry
G speculate
H supported
I unlimited risk

Key: 1G 2I 3E 4A 5B 6H 7F 8C 9D

2c Comprehension
Listen to Part Three of the talk and answer these questions.
1. Lillian Chew says that the image of the derivatives industry has been tarnished or damaged, but this is a good thing. Why?
2. Which of the following does Lillian Chew say?
A. Front line financial managers and derivatives traders must explain derivative use to senior management.
B. Senior management must explain derivative use to front line financial managers.
C. Senior management alone must determine derivative policy.
D. Senior management and front line managers together must determine derivative policy

2d Discussion

1. What particular skills do you think financial managers, investment advisers, securities traders, and professional speculators need?
2. Do you think you possess them? Would you be successful in any of these careers?
3. Do you like taking risks or working under stress?
4. Would you be prepared to try to sell financial instruments which contained potential risks that customers may misunderstand or underestimate?

2e Reading
Read following extract from Liar’s Poker, Michael Lewis’s book about his time as a bond salesman in large American investment bank, which explains the attraction of options and futures to speculators.
What is Lewis’s view of European investors?
Several dozen phone lights flashed continually on our telephone boards. European investors (I shall refer to the them as ‘investors ‘ or ‘customers’ even though most of them were pure speculators and the rest no-so-pure speculators) wanted to place their bets on the American bond market from eight in the morning until eight at night.
There was good reason for their eagerness. The American bond market was shooting through the roof. Imagine how crowds would overwhelm a casino in which everyone who plays win big, and you’ll have some idea of what our unit was like in those days. The attraction of option and futures, our speciality item, was that they offered both liquidity and fantastic leverage. They were a mechanism for gambling in the bond markets, like superchips in a casino that represent a thousand dollars but cost only three. In fact, there are no superchips in casinos: option and futures have no equivalent in the world of professional gambling because real casinos would consider the leverage they offer imprudent. For a tiny down-payment, a buyer of a futures contract takes the same risk as in owning a large number of bonds; in a heartbeat he can double or lose his money.
When it came to speculation, European investors didn’t require a great deal of encouragement or instruction. They’d been doing crazy things with money for centuries. The French and English, in particular, shared a weakness for get-rich-quick schemes.
(Michael Lewis: liar’s Poker)

2f Comprehension

1. What do you think Lewis means when he says of his customers that most of them were pure speculators and the rest not-so-pure speculators?
2. In transactions such as these, what is leverage?
3. Why is there no equivalent of futures or options in the gambling industry?

Key:
1. I think that under the word “pure speculators” Lewis understood the most risky investors, people who can parlay everything they own, and “not-so-pure” are more sane people.
2. Leverage is an attractive profit which can be obtained after some financial operations.
3. Because futures and options can quarantee the winner future profit from this securities.



I Watch the video and answer following questions:
1. For whom were created derivatives?
a) Banks, investors, corporations
b) Markets
c) Labour unions

2. What was the goal of creating derivatives?
a) To fix interest rate
b) To increase investment’s level
c) To manage risk

3. Derivatives are – financial … between 2 groups:
a) Agreement
b) Solution
c) Arrangement

4. On what are based payments to one of these parties?

5. What items can include?

6. Make-up sentences from the following expressions:
agree, that, We, favor, will, you, meet, next, we, time, the, return, the

7. Finish-up sentence
We sign…….

8. On what price you will give me a cup of coffee if we make a future deal at the moment?

9. What means derivatives relatively to prices of commodities in the future?

10. What are types of derivatives?

II. Explain the following expressions, relatively to video:
1) Option contracts
2) Forward contracts
3) Future/swap
4) Currency risks
5) Unforeseen risks
6) Leverage
7) Derivative
8) Options
9) Financial arrangements
10) A set price

III. True/false questions:
a) Derivatives were created to help banks, investors and corporations, to manage risk.
b) Derivatives are the financial arrangements between 100 groups.
c) Items can include: commodities, corporate bonds, currency, government debt, interest rates, mortgages, stocks.
d) Payments to one of these parties are made based of the performance of an current price of on item.
e) Derivatives are just a bet that something will be worth the same at some point in he future.
f) For the most part derivatives are managed by computers because of their complexity.
g) Complexity is not the option of derivatives.
h) A forward contract (future/swap) forces the buyer and seller to make a trade on a specific date in the future, and at a set price.
i) An option gives the buyer obligation to buy or sell something at a predefined price, until a specific date.
j) There exist 10 types of derivatives.