Hedging

Cutting hedges

Buoyed by a strong local currency and surging commodities prices in recent years, many Russian corporates eschewed derivatives to hedge risks. But with both the rouble and commodity prices plummeting in recent months, it may be time for a rethink…

Safe haven

Gold has been a favourite with investors looking for a safe haven since last year’s turbulence began. But will this persist in 2009, or will the precious metal start to lose its shine as a hedging option? Pauline McCallion finds out

Sovereign hedging lessons

The big oil-hedging losses at Sri Lankan state-owned refiner Ceylon Petroleum Corporation provide another salutary lesson in the proper use of derivatives. Is the situation reflective of state-owned energy companies as a group? By Joe Marsh

Hedging the hard way

Quanto options have stung dealers' equity derivatives books after the unexpected spikes in volatility and correlation that followed the Lehman Brothers collapse, while structured product issuers have been hit by plummeting dividend expectations and…

Struck off

Credit default swaps (CDSs) offer protection against issuer default, and in general the protection is paid via a running spread rather than upfront. When the par spread changes, the contract cannot be unwound without leaving a default-contingent annuity…

Flight plan

British Airways' Group treasurer, George Stinnes, talks to Alexander Campbell

Maximum draw-down and directional trading

Maximum draw-down measures the worst drop in a market in a given time period. Jan Vecer shows how to price and replicate this event. Replication can be naturally linked to existing popular trading strategies, such as momentum or contrarian trading