Derivatives - Overviews

Overview of Derivatives

  • Derivatives are essentially bets placed on the direction or volatility of physical and financial assets, such as shares, bonds, commodities etc
  • These instruments initially started trading in financial markets several decades ago, and now they are commonly used by both institutions and individual investors
  • Types of derivatives: forwards, futures, options, and swaps

20-Minute Overview of Futures

  • The history of futures
  • What future contracts involve The life cycle of future contracts
  • Various future contracts
  • How futures are traded and applied

20-Minute Overview of Options

  • An option is a contract that gives its owner the right to buy or to sell a specified quantity of an asset (e.g. a share or a bond), at a specified price, for a limited period of time
  • An option that gives the right to buy is called a "call option", while an option that gives the right to sell is called a "put option"
  • The party buying the option contract is called the "owner" or the "holder"
  • The party selling the option contract is called the "writer"
  • The option holder has the right but not the obligation to exercise the option

20-Minute Overview of FRAs

  • What is a FRA?
  • What are the motivations and positions of a FRA buyer and a FRA seller
  • How is the FRA settled
  • How are FRA rates calculated How are FRAs traded in the market What are the risks due to FRAs

20-Minute Overview of Swaps

  • What are swaps
  • Swaps applications
  • The swaps market
  • How swaps are valued
  • The risks due to swaps

20-Minute Overview of Credit Derivatives

  • Credit derivatives are contracts that allow market professionals to trade protection from reference credits between themselves
  • Motivations for Protection Buyers and Protection Sellers
  • Most important credit derivatives structures and their applications

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