Commodities like oil, gas, and gold are frequently traded using derivatives. Currencies, typically the US dollar, are yet another asset category. On stocks or bonds, there are derivatives. Some people rely on interest rates like the yield on a 10-year Treasury note.
The underlying asset is not required to be owned by the contract seller. They can perform the agreement by providing the purchaser with funds sufficient to purchase the asset at the market price. They may also provide the purchaser with a second derivative contract, the value of which may be used to balance that of the first. As a result, trading derivatives is more simpler than trading the underlying asset.
Exchange of Derivatives
The total value of derivatives contracts exchanged in 2019 was 32 billion.1 Derivatives are widely used by the world’s 500 largest firms to mitigate risk. For instance, a raw material futures contract guarantees delivery at a predetermined price. This safeguards the firm against price increases. Businesses often use contracts to hedge against interest and currency rate fluctuations.
Future cash flows can be predicted better thanks to derivatives. They improve the reliability of profit projections for businesses. As a result of this predictability, stock values rise, and companies have less cash on hand to cover unexpected expenses. That frees up capital that can be put back into the company.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors commonly engage in derivatives trading in order to increase their leverage. Paying on margin is the term used to describe the minimal investment required for derivatives.
Prior to maturity, many derivatives contracts are offset, or liquidated, by another derivative. If the market turns against them, these investors aren’t concerned about how they’ll cover the cost of the derivative. They get cash if they win.
Note
“Over-the-counter” options are derivatives that are traded between two companies or traders that are familiar with one another personally. They are also traded via a middleman, typically a major bank.
Only a fraction of derivatives are traded on regulated markets. The terms of contracts are standardized by these open markets. They detail the contract’s premiums or discounts. Derivatives market liquidity has been boosted by this standardization. They become more or less interchangeable, which is great for hedging purposes.
In addition to matching buyers and sellers of derivatives, exchanges can also take on this role. Because of this, traders may rest assured that their deal will be honored. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed into law in 2010 in reaction to the financial crisis and to curb reckless lending practices.2
The CME Group, a combination of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (commonly known as CME or the Merc), is the largest exchange in the world. It deals in derivatives across all markets and asset types.
The NASDAQ and the Chicago Board Options Exchange are the primary markets for trading stock options. The New York Board of Trade was acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange in 2007, making it the primary futures exchange in the United States.3 Contracts involving currencies and agricultural commodities, especially coffee and cotton, are highlighted.
Depending on the type of exchange, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission may be responsible for oversight. A directory of exchanges is available from the Trading Organizations, Clearing Organizations, and SEC Self-Regulating Organizations.
Financial Derivatives: Their Various Forms
Collateralized debt obligations are the most infamous type of derivative. The CDO market was a major contributor to the 2008 economic downturn.4 These packages group debts together, including vehicle loans, credit card bills, or mortgages, and are then assessed according to the likelihood that the debts will be repaid.
The two most common kinds are: Based on corporate and business debt, asset-backed commercial paper. Mortgages are the foundation of mortgage-backed securities. The MBS and ABCP both lost value when the property market crashed in 2006.5
Swaps are the most typical derivative. This is a deal whereby two parties agree to swap assets or debts of equal value. The goal is to reduce potential harm to both parties. Swaps can be broken down into two categories: interest rate and currency.
A trader may sell U.S. stocks and acquire those of a foreign company in order to offset exposure to currency fluctuations. These transactions occur off-exchange, or OTC. A bond swap occurs when one firm exchanges its fixed-rate coupon payments for the variable-rate payments of another bond.
Credit default swaps were the most controversial type of swap. They contributed to the 2008 economic collapse as well. Municipal bonds, corporate debt, and mortgage-backed securities were insured with these products.
After the MBS market crashed, there wasn’t enough money to reimburse CDS investors. The American International Group was nationalized by the federal government. As a result of Dodd-Frank, the CFTC now has authority over swaps.
Another type of OTC derivative is the forward. Futures contracts are agreements to acquire or sell an item at a specified price on a future date. The two parties have a lot of leeway in crafting their forward. Commodity, interest rate, currency, and equities risk can all be mitigated with the help of forward contracts.
Futures contracts are another important derivative. Commodity futures are the most popular type of derivative. Oil price futures are the most significant since they determine the cost of oil and, in turn, gasoline.
The buyer of another sort of derivative receives the right, but not the obligation, to acquire the asset at the specified price and time.
Note
Options are the most popular choice. Both the right to buy and the right to sell a stock are referred to as options.
Risks Associated with Derivatives
There are four major dangers associated with derivatives. The fact that it is extremely difficult to determine the true value of any derivative is the most concerning. The value of one or more underlying assets serves as the foundation for it. They are difficult to put a price on because of their intricacy.
That’s why MBSs were such a bad idea for the economy. When the value of homes declined, no one, not even the developers who made them using computers, knew how much they were worth. Because they couldn’t put a value on them, Banks had stopped trading them.
The use of leverage is both a potential downside and a major selling point. Futures traders, for instance, need to deposit between 2% and 10% of the contract’s value into a margin account in order to keep full ownership of the asset.6 To keep that percentage until the contract expires or is offset, they must deposit additional funds into the margin account if the underlying asset’s value lowers.
Covering the margin account can result in massive losses if the commodity price continues to fall. You can learn a lot about derivatives at the CFTC Education Center.
The third danger is that they are rushed. Betting that gas prices will rise is one thing. Attempting to pinpoint an exact time when this will occur is a whole different ballgame. No one who invested in MBS anticipated a decline in home prices. It hasn’t happened since the Great Depression. They also believed that CDS would safeguard them.
The leverage meant that any losses were felt much more strongly across the economy. They were also not traded on any official markets and lacked any form of oversight. That’s a danger only present in OTC derivatives.7
Scams are the last thing to consider. Bernie Madoff used derivatives as the foundation of his Ponzi scam. The derivatives market is rife with fraud. The most recent commodities futures frauds are detailed in the CFTC recommendation.
Questions and Answers (FAQs)
Define crypto derivatives
Cryptocurrency derivatives allow investors to speculate on or protect themselves from price fluctuations. The CME Group facilitates trading in a variety of derivatives, including bitcoin futures, in addition to equities and commodities.8 Bitcoin futures (BITO) are included in an exchange-traded fund (ETF), and options on BITO are traded as yet another sort of crypto derivative.910
Futures contracts that trade on cryptocurrency exchanges like BitMEX are another type of crypto derivative. High leverage and a different liquidation process set these securities apart from traditional futures, but otherwise they are very similar.11
What are the many stock derivatives available?
Although call and put options are the most well-known types of stock derivatives, they are by no means exhaustive. Swaps and forwards are two other common types of derivatives issued in connection with stocks. Futures such as ES and NQ are used by traders as proxies for the overall stock market, despite the fact that they are not technically derivatives of any one stock.
