Questions On A Futures Contract

Hedging is a significant measure of financial risk management. Since the 1970s, the increasing number of powerful companies started to control the risk of the exchange rate, the interest rate and commodity by using financial derivatives. ISDA (2013) based on the Global 500 Annual Report 2012 survey found that 88 percent of companies use foreign exchange derivatives. Modigliani & Miller (1958) believed that if the financial markets were under perfect conditions, for instance, there was no agency costs, asymmetric information, taxes and transaction costs, hedging would not increase the company 's value because investors can hedge by themselves. However, a large number of practical studies have shown that hedging is beneficial

5. Compare and contrast selling Eurodollar futures and being a fixed rate payer in a swap as a risk management technique. Explain in detail.

Futures are a contract or legal agreement, where an investor agrees to purchase a certain amount of a physical good or financial asset on a specific date for a set price.

The derivatives program was reducing risk when the firm was investing in foreign currency futures for the first four months from the implementation date (February 1991 to May 1991). This is seen by the negative correlation of (0.94226594) between the derivative (futures) cash flow and the unhedged cash flow. A purpose of a perfect hedge is to obtain a net of zero or in other words, reduce your risk to nothing not including the cost of the hedge. If a correlation is negative, as it was for the first three

The presentation was scheduled for the first week of December 1990. Mr. Pross outlined the use of various derivatives, noting that they differed widely in their ability to reduce risk. If the company was, say, placing a large bid to buy a building abroad, one might prefer to use foreign currency options to hedge the currency risk in the event the deal fell through. He argued, however, that foreign currency futures were best suited to hedge the fluctuations in revenues arising from currency movements. Mr. Pross proposed a plan to hedge currency risk using futures which

These risk can be minimized by using appropriate hedging techniques such as futures, options, and swaps, and by implementing controls that limit the amount of exposure taken by market makers.

As a consultant for Thomas Foods and it is my job to develop hedging strategy to mitigate the risks associated with any unexpected increase in price they would have to pay farmers for their harvested crops. It is important to note that risk is an unavoidable fact of business life. Also, the strategies developed to mitigate risk can often determine the success or failure of a business. There are several mechanisms that are used for such transactions that can involve futures contracts, short sells and rate swaps, among other more exotic positions. There is specific set of guidelines that needed to be set as a consultant. My first initial thought will be the risk to be hedged; that is interest rate and commodity price

The best futures contract for hedging a cash market risk exposure is one whose price sensitivity to interest rate changes is as close as possible to the sensitivity of the cash market risk exposure to interest rate changes. The higher the correlation between the interest rate on the futures contract and the interest rate in the spot market, the higher the immunization achieved against the losses / gains from the interest rate risk. Thus, the best futures

In order to reduce risk, the company is using two hedging derivatives: forward contracts and put options to sell dollars. The aim of the paper is to determine an appropriate hedging policy which answers two main questions: how much to hedge, and in what proportions of forwards

Hedging can be done in several ways, for instance engage in money market and a call/put option.

* Stock prices change only when there is new info- cannot be predicted ahead of time

Most firms hedge at least some of their risks. Hedging can take two basic forms—namely, natural hedging and hedging by means of derivative instruments. The use of derivatives as hedges has expanded greatly in recent years.

From its definition it can be noticed that hedging is a strategy employed by companies in an effort to safeguard their economic position and to prevent the company from the losses which are associated with the unforeseen risks. Companies can hedge against risks which are associated with losses by taking control of their future purchases. The commodity prices vary in different markets and are caused or influenced by different economic factors. Some commodities are very scarce and with the increased depletion subject to the global demand in different foreign markets, the prices are set to be hiked in response to the established demand which positions the companies that use those particular commodities to have cash flow problems.

In the process of managing price risk, the very first approach is to find substitute productions when price increases. Passing or sharing the risk with customers and suppliers is another way to alleviate those attacks for a company. The collaboration with supply chain partners becomes very important in this strategy. Considering the capability and necessity of buying materials in advance, a forward buying could be an alternative to manage the price risk for a company. But in this method, lacking financial or other resources to hold a large stock will restrict a company’s profitability. Under such a condition, this book recommends to use the hedging strategy. For the commodity with future contracts, hedging uses a financial instrument to reduce the risk.

Another advantage to hedging is that it insulates companies from volatile price movements and ensures stable revenue income as price volatility can have an adverse effect onto revenue and disrupt cash flows. Furthermore, through hedging, a company can ensure certainty in both the production