A security whose price is dependent upon or derived from
one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is
merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is
determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The
most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds,
commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes.
Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage
TYPES: futures,forwards,options and swaps
A security whose price is dependent upon or derived from
one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is
merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is
determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The
most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds,
commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes.
Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage
TYPES: futures,forwards,options and swaps
A derivative can be defined as a financial instrument whose
value depends on (or derives from) the values of other, more
basic, underlying variables. Very often the variables
underlying derivatives are the prices of traded assets.
For example, a stock option is a derivative whose value is
dependent on the price of a stock. And another one is, wheat
farmers may wish to sell their harvest at a future date to
eliminate the risk of a change in prices by that date. Such
a transaction is an example of a derivative.
Derivatives Include:
1. A security derived from a debt instrument, share, loan
whether secured or unsecured, risk instrument or contract
for differences or any other form of security.
2. A contract which derives its value from the prices, or
index of prices, underlying securities.
A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from
the value of one or more underlying assets, which can be
commodities, precious metals., currency, bonds, stocks,
stocks indices, etc. the emergence of the market for
derivative products, most notably forwards, futures and
options, can be traced back to the willingness of
risk-averse economic agents to guard themselves against
uncertainties arising out of fluctuations in asset prices.
By their very nature, the financial markets are marked by a
very high degree of volatility. Through the use of
derivative products, it is possible to partially or fully
transfer price risks by locking in asset prices. As
instruments of risk management, these generally do not
influence the fluctuations in the underlying asset prices
Types Of Derivatives
The most commonly used derivatives contracts are forwards,
futures and options which we shall discuss in detail later.
Here we take brief look at various derivatives contracts
that have come to be used.
Forwards: A relatively simple derivative is a forward
contract. It is a agreement to buy or sell an asset at a
certain price. It can be contrasted with a spot contract,
which is an agreement to buy or sell an asset today.
A forward contract is traded in the over-the-counter market
usually between two financial institutions or between a
financial institution and one of its clients.
Futures: A futures contract is an agreement between two
parties to buy or sell an asset at a certain time in the
future at a certain price. Futures contracts are special
types of forward contracts in the sense that the former are
standardized exchange traded contracts.
Option: Options are traded in both on exchanges and in the
over-the-counter market. There are two basic types of
option. They are “call option and put option”.
A call option gives the holder (buyer) the right
to buy the underlying asset by a certain date for a certain
price but not the obligation to buy a given quantity of the
underlying asset, at a given price on or before a given
future date.
A put option gives the holder the right to sell
the underlying asset by a certain date for a certain price
but not the obligation to sell a given underlying asset at a
given price on or before a given date.
Warrants: Options generally have lives of up to one year,
the majority of options traded exchanges having a maximum
maturity of nine months. Longer dated options are called
warrants and are generally traded over the counter.
Leaps: The acronym LEAPS means Long Term Equity Anticipation
Securities. These are options having a maturity of up to
three years.
Baskets: Basket options are options on portfolios of
underlying assets. The underlying asset is usually moving
average of a basket of assets. Equity index options are a
form of basket options.
Swaps: Swaps are private agreement between two parties to
exchange cash flows in the future according to a pre
arranged formula. They can be regarded as portfolios of
forward contracts. The two commonly used swaps are:
A company maintains a margin of safety of 25% on its
current sales and earns a profit of Rs. 30 lakhs per annum.
If the company has a profit volume (P/V) ratio of 40%, its
current sales amount to A. Rs. 200 lakhs;
B. Rs. 300 lakhs;
C. Rs. 325 lakhs;
D. None of the above.
On 01-04-2006 Mr. Dhanpal started business with Rs.2,00,000
cash and opened a bank account with Rs.1,50,000. He
purchased furniture for his business for Rs.25,000. Goods
were bought from Deendayal for Rs.50,000 on credit. He sold
goods for Rs.27,000 in cash and 30,000 on credit. He paid
Rs. 2,500 for business expenses during April month. Rs.
10,000 was withdrawn for office purposes from the bank. Find
out the closing balance of cash and bank.
Under what rate will be the Head office related accounts,
like Head Office Current A/c, Goods from Head Office A/c,
will be converted in case of Foreign Branch...??
what is the difference between a company's balance sheet &
a bank's balance sheet.what is the negotiable instrument
act . is cheque a negotiable instrument.
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