FIXED-INCOME SECURITIES Chapter 11 Forwards and Futures
Outline Futures and Forwards Types of Contracts Trading Mechanics Trading Strategies Futures Pricing Uses of Futures
Futures and Forwards Forward An agreement calling for a future delivery of an asset at an agreedupon price Futures Similar to forward but feature formalized and standardized characteristics Key differences in futures Secondary market - liquidity Marked to market Standardized contract units Clearinghouse warrants performance
Key Terms for Futures Contracts Futures price: agreed-upon price (similar to strike price in option markets) Positions Long position - agree to buy Short position - agree to sell Interpretation Long : believe price will rise Short : believe price will fall Profits on positions at maturity (zero-sum game) Long = spot price S T minus futures price F 0 Short = futures price F 0 minus spot price S T
Markets for Interest Rates Futures The International Money Market of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (www.cme.com) The Chicago Board of Trade (www.cbot.com) The Sydney Futures Exchange The Toronto Futures Exchange The Montréal Stock Exchange The London International Financial Futures Exchange (www.liffe.com) The Tokyo International Financial Futures Exchange Le Marché à Terme International de France (www.matif.fr) Eurex (www.eurexchange.com)
Instruments CME CBOT LIFFE Eurodollar Futures 30-Year US Treasury Bonds Long Gilt Contract 13-Week Treasury Bill Futures 10-Year US Treasury Notes German Government Bond Contract Libor Futures 5-Year US Treasury Notes Japanese Government Bond Contract Fed Funds Turn Futures 2-Year US Treasury Notes 3-Month Euribor Future 10-Year Agency Futures 10-Year Agency Notes 3-Month Euro Libor Future 5-Year Agency Futures 5-Year Agency Notes 3-Month Sterling Future Argentine 2X FRB Brady Bond Futures Long Term Municipal Bond Index 3-Month Euro Swiss Franc Future Argentine Par Bond Futures 30-Day Federal Funds Mortgage 3-Month Euroyen (TIBOR) Future Brazilian 2 X C Brady Bond Futures 3-Month Euroyen (LIBOR) Future Brazilian 2 X EI Brady Bond 2-Year Euro Swapnote Futures Mexican 2 X Brady Bond 5-Year Euro Swapnote Futures Euro Yen Futures 10-Year Euro Swapnote Japanese Government Bond Futures Euro Yen Libor Futures Mexican TIIE Futures Mexican CETES Futures
Characteristics of Future Contracts A future contract is an agreement between two parties The characteristics of this contract are The underlying asset The contract size The delivery month The futures price The initial regular margin
Underlying Asset and Contract Size The underlying asset that the seller delivers to the buyer at the end of the contract may exist (interest rate) or may not exist (bond) The underlying asset of the CBOT 30-Year US Treasury bond future is a fictive 30-year maturity US Treasury bond with 6% coupon rate The contract size specifies the notional principal or principal value of the asset that has to be delivered The notional principal of the CBOT 30-Year US Treasury bond future is $100,000 The principal value of the Matif 3-month Euribor Future to be delivered is euros 1,000,000
Price The futures price is quoted differently depending on the nature of the underlying asset When the underlying asset is an interest rate, the future price is quoted to the third decimal point as 100 minus this interest rate When the underlying asset is a bond, it is quoted in the same way as a bond, i.e., as a percentage of the nominal value of the underlying The tick is the minimum price fluctuation that can occur in trading Sometimes daily price movement limits as well as position limits are specified by the exchange
Trading Arrangements Clearinghouse acts as a party to all buyers and sellers Obligated to deliver or supply delivery Initial margin Funds deposited to provide capital to absorb losses Marking to market Each day profits or losses from new prices are reflected in the account Maintenance or variation margin An established margin below which a trader s margin may not fall Margin call When the maintenance margin is reached, broker will ask for additional margin funds
Conversion Factor When the underlying asset of a future contract does no exist, the seller of the contract has to deliver a real asset May differ from the fictitious asset in terms of coupon rate May differ from the fictitious asset in terms of maturity Conversion factor tells you how many units of the actual asset are worth as much as one unit of the fictive underlying asset Given a future contract and an actual asset to deliver, it is a constant factor which is known in advance Conversion factors for next contracts to mature are available on web sites of futures markets
Conversion Factor (Cont ) Consider A future contract whose fictitious underlying asset is a m year maturity bond with a coupon rate equal to r Suppose that the actual asset delivered by the seller of the future contract is a x-year maturity bond with a coupon rate equal to c Expressed as a percentage of the nominal value, the conversion factor denoted CF is the present value at maturity date of the future contract of the actual asset discounted at rate r Example Consider a 1 year future contract whose underlying asset is a fictitious 10- year maturity bond with a 6% annual coupon rate Suppose that the asset to be delivered is at date 1 a 10-year maturity bond with a 5% annual coupon rate CF 10 i1 50 (1 6%) i 1,000 1 6% 10 $926.3991
Invoice Price The conversion factor is used to calculate the invoice price Price the buyer of the future contract must pay the seller when a bond is delivered IP = size of the contrat x [futures price x CF] Example Suppose a future contract whose contract size is $100,000, the future price is 98. The conversion factor is equal to 106.459 and the accrued interest is 3.5. The invoice price is equal to IP = $100,000 x [ 98% x106.459% + 3.5% ] = $104,329.82
Cheapest-to-Deliver At the repartition date, there are in general many bonds that may be delivered by the seller of the future contract These bonds vary in terms of maturity and coupon rate The seller may choose which of the available bonds is the cheapest to deliver Seller of the contract delivers a bond with price CP and receives the invoice price IP from the buyer Objective of the seller is find the bond that achieves Max (IP - CP) = Max (futures price x CF quoted price)
Cheapest-to-Deliver (Example) Suppose a future contract Contract size = $100,000 Price= 97 Three bonds denoted A,B and C Quoted Price Conversion Factor IP-CP Bond A 103.90 107.145% 3,065$ Bond B 118.90 122.512% -6,336$ Bond C 131.25 135.355% 4,435$ Search for the bond which maximises the quantity IP-CP Cheapest to deliver is bond C
Forward Pricing Consider at date t an investor who wants to hold at a future date T one unit of a bond with coupon rate c and time t price P t He faces the following alternative Either he buys at date t a forward contract from a seller who will deliver at date T one unit of this bond at a fixed price F t Or he borrows money at a rate r to buy this bond at date t Date t T Buy a forward contract written on 1 unit of bond B 0 F t Borrow money to buy 1 unit of bond B Pt -Pt 1 r Tt 360 Buy 1 unit of bond B Pt AC 100 c Tt 365
Forward Pricing Given that both trades have a cost equal to zero at date t, in the absence of arbitrage opportunities, the cash-flows generated by the two operations at date T must be equal From this we obtain T t T t Ft Pt 1 r 100c 360 365 or T t Ft Pt 1 R C 365 with R = 365r/360 and C = 100c/P t
Forward Pricing - Example On 05/01/01, we consider a forward contract maturing in 6 months, written on a bond whose coupon rate and price are respectively 10% and $115 Assuming a 7% interest rate, the forward price F 05/01/01 is equal to F 184 184 115 1 7% 10010% 360 365 05/01/01 114.07
Forward Pricing Underlying is a Rate Simply determine the forward rate that can be guaranteed now on a transaction occurring in the future Example An investor wants now to guarantee the one-year zero-coupon rate for a $10,000 loan starting in 1 year Either he buys a forward contract with $10,000 principal value maturing in 1 year written on the one-year zero-coupon rate R(0,1) at a determined rate F(0,1,1), which is the forward rate calculated at date t=0, beginning in 1 year and maturing 1 year after Or he simultaneously borrows and lends $10,000 repayable at the end of year 2 and year 1, respectively This is equivalent to borrowing $10,000x[1+R(0,1)] in one year, repayable in two years as $10,000x(1+R(0,2)) 2. The implied rate on the loan given by the following equation is the forward rate F(0,1,1) F 0,1,1 1 R 0,2 1 R 0,1 2
Futures Pricing Price futures contracts by using replication argument, just like for forward contracts Let s consider two otherwise identical forward and futures contracts Cash-flows are not identical because gains and losses in futures trading are paid out at the end of the day Denoted as G 0 and F 0, respectively, current forward and futures prices When interest rates are changing randomly Cannot create a replicating portfolio Cannot price futures contracts by arbitrage However, short term bond prices are very insensitive to interest rate movements Replication argument is almost exact
Futures versus Forward Pricing Date Forward Contract Futures Contract 0 0 0 1 0 F 1 F 0 2 0 F 2 F 1 3 0 F 3 F 2......... T 1 0 F T1 F T2 T P T G 0 P T F T1 Total P T G 0 P T F 0
Uses of Futures Fixing today the financial conditions of a loan or investment in the future Hedging interest rate risk Because of high liquidity and low cost due to low margin requirements, futures contracts are actually very often used in practice for hedging purposes Can be used for duration hedging or more complex hedging strategies (see Chapters 5 and 6) Pure speculation with leverage effect Like bonds, futures contracts move in the opposite direction to interest rates This is why a speculator expecting a fall (rise) in interest rates will buy (sell) futures contracts Advantages : leverage, low cost, easy to sell short
Uses of Futures Con t Detecting riskless arbitrage opportunities using futures Cash-and-carry arbitrage Consists in buying the underlying asset and selling the forward or futures contract Amounts to lending cash at a certain interest rate X There is an arbitrage opportunity when the financing cost on the market is inferior to the lending rate X Reverse cash-and-carry Consists in selling (short) the underlying asset and buying the forward or futures contract Amounts to borrowing cash at a certain interest rate Y There is an arbitrage opportunity when the investment rate on the market is superior to the borrowing rate Y