Options

Options are contracts that give the owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy (in the case of a call option) or sell (in the case of a put option) an asset. The price at which the sale takes place is known as the strike or exercise price, and is specified at the time the parties enter into the option. A call option gives the right to buy securities (or a currency, or a commodity) at a certain price during a certain period of time. A put option gives the right to sell an asset at a certain price during a certain period of time. These options allow organizations to hedge their equity investments.

The option contract also specifies a maturity date. In the case of a European option, the owner has the right to require the sale to take place on (but not before) the maturity date; in the case of an American option, the owner can require the sale to take place at any time up to the maturity date. If the owner of the contract exercises this right, the counter-party has the obligation to carry out the transaction

For example, if you think a share worth 100 will rise, you can buy a call option giving the right to buy at 100, hoping to sell this option, or to buy and resell the share at a profit. Alternatively, you can write a put option giving someone else the right to sell the shares at 100: if the market price remains above 100, no one will exercise the option, so you earn the premium.

On the contrary, if you expect the value of a share that you own to fall below its current price of 100, you can buy a put option at 100 (or higher): if the price falls, you can still sell your shares at this price. Alternatively, you could write a call option giving someone else the right to buy the share at 100: if the market price of the underlying security remains below the option’s exercise price or strike price, no one will take up the option and you can earn the premium.

Swaps

Options are merely one type of derivative instrument, based on another underlying price. Many companies nowadays also arrange currency swaps and interest rate swaps with other companies or financial institutions. Swaps are contracts to exchange cash (flows) on or before a specified future date based on the underlying value of currencies/exchange rates, bonds/interest rates, commodities, stocks or other assets.

For example, a French company that can borrow francs at a preferential rate, but which also will need yen, can arrange a swap with a Japanese company in the opposite position. Such currency swaps, designed to achieve interest rate savings, are of course open to the risk of exchange rate fluctuations. A company with a lot of fixed interest debt might choose to exchange some of it for another company’s floating rate loans. Whether they save or lose money will depend on the movement of interest rates.