Opportunity Cost of Capital – Alternate Uses of Money
Opportunity cost of a capital is a term unique to economics and finance. It is unique in the sense that you will not find mention of opportunity cost of capital in the accounting books. It is not an explicit cost which is paid out of the pocket. Hence, there is no mention of this cost […]
Step Up Bonds: Pros and Cons
Step-up bonds are special types of fixed income instruments. They help investors partially offset the risks of rising interest rates. This is because when investors invest in a bond, they typically lock in an interest rate. If the interest rate rises beyond that number, then the investors are at a loss because their money has […]
What is Payback Period ?
We have earlier discussed the fact that Net present Value (NPV) is considered to be the gold standard when it comes to financial decision making. If a project has an NPV greater than zero then it is supposed to be a financially viable project and the firm must invest its resources towards that project, if […]
How Are Exchange Rates Determined ?
The Foreign exchange market is far more complicated as compared to stock or bond markets. Predicting the foreign exchange rate includes predicting the performance of entire economies. There are a multitude of factors which come into play when exchange rates are being determined. This article lists down and explains some of the important factors which […]
Hindsight Bias
There are several cognitive biases that affect our ability to think clearly about financial investments. One such bias is called the hindsight bias. Over the years, the effect of hindsight bias on the value of investor portfolios has been significant. This is the reason that we will have a closer look at what this bias […]
In the previous article, we studied about exchange traded derivatives. We studied their defining features and found out the reason behind their popularity. However, exchange traded derivatives are of many types. They are traded all over the world in different stock exchanges. Hence, there are many different types of exchange traded derivatives. In this article, we will have a closer look at some of the more prominent types of derivatives.
The foremost asset class used in exchange traded derivatives is common stock. These types of derivatives are called stock related derivatives. Stock derivatives are available in a few types meaning that there can be stock forwards and stock options. Usually stock swaps are not traded over any exchange even though they may become part of over the counter transactions. Stock forwards and options enable people to make highly leveraged bets on the price movement in a particular stock if they are confident that the given stock will surely rise or fall in value. Worldwide stock derivatives are considered to be leading indicators predicting the direction of the future movement of stock.
Just like there are stock derivatives, there are also index related derivatives. This means that instead of buying or selling futures and options in a given stock, the investors can buy or sell the entire exchange. Since the exchange is nothing but a portfolio of stocks, these can also be considered to be a class of stock related derivatives.
However, there is one important difference. Stock options can be settled in cash or in kind meaning that somebody can demand actual delivery of the stocks. Index derivatives however cannot be settled in kind. Since there is no such thing as one unit of S&P 500, physical delivery is impossible.
Some of the commonly traded index related derivatives include the S&P 500, Nikkei, Nasdaq, Nifty 50 etc.
Derivatives contracts pertaining to currencies are also commonly listed on many exchanges for trading. Thus investors can go long or short on these currency pairs. The over the counter market provides a wide range of contracts that can negotiated as and when needed. Contrary to this, the exchange traded derivatives market only provides a few popular currency pairs that are listed. Since the contracts are standardized and liquidity is a concern, the index offers standardized contracts on for a few pairs of currencies which are highly traded.
For instance, the National Stock Exchange in India offers exchange traded derivatives on only four pairs of currencies which are:
Futures contracts are available for these four pairs. However, options are available for only one pair viz. Indian Rupee to US Dollar.
In most countries, commodities are the widely used for derivative trading. Even the first derivative exchange i.e. the Chicago Board of Trade was created to facilitate derivative trading in commodities. In most countries there are multiple exchanges that offer trading opportunities in thousands of commodities. Hence, there are thousands of contracts available in these markets. This is what makes it difficult to trade these markets. Commodities markets were earlier used by people to hedge their risks. However, in the recent past it has become highly speculative.
Real estate derivatives were at the heart of the recent economic meltdown in 2008. Derivatives have not left the world of real estate untouched. Instead, it was common practice to break down the cash flow from real estate rentals into bond payments. This is what securitization of assets was all about. These assets were listed on some of the premier exchanges in the US and were amongst the widely traded.
Recently, Eurex has also listed a new kind of derivative called Property Index Futures. Real estate exchange traded derivatives are highly structured and complex instruments and require special skills and knowledge from investors.
Therefore, exchange traded derivatives are available in a wide variety of underlying assets. This has made it possible for the average retail investor to trade them. The scope of exchange traded derivatives is expanding even further every year. Although, their association with economic meltdown has reduced the popularity, many investors still consider them to be good avenues for investments
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