Each entity has a different access and different needs in the international financial markets. Companies receive more favorable credit ratings in their country of domicile than in the country in which they need to raise capital. Investors are likely to demand a lower return from a domestic company, which they are more familiar with than from a foreign company. In some cases a company may be unable to raise capital in a certain currency. Currency swaps are also used to lower the risk of currency exposure or to change returns on investment into another, more favorable currency. Therefore, currency swaps are used to exchange assets or capital in one currency for another for the purpose of financial management. A currency Continue reading
Forex Investments
Pricing of Futures Contracts Using Interest Rate Parity in Forex Trading
According to the interest rate parity theory, the currency margin is dependent mainly on the prevailing interest rate (for investment for the given time period) in the two currencies. The forward rate can be calculated by the following formula: F/S = (1+Rh)/ (1+Rf) Where, F and S are future and spot currency rate. Rh and Rf are simple interest rate in the home and foreign currency respectively. Alternatively, if we consider continuously compounded interest rate then forward rate can be calculated by using the following formula: F = S*e (rh- rf)*t Where, rh and rf are the continuously compounded interest rate for the home currency and foreign currency respectively, T is the time to maturity and e = 2.71828 (exponential). Continue reading
Hedging with Foreign Currency Futures
Exchange rates are quite volatile and unpredictable, it is possible that anticipated profit in foreign investment may be eliminated, rather even may incur loss. Thus, in order to hedge this foreign currency risk, the traders’ often use the currency futures. For example, a long hedge (i.e., buying currency futures contracts) will protect against a rise in a foreign currency value whereas a short hedge (i.e., selling currency futures contracts) will protect against a decline in a foreign currency’s value. It is noted that corporate profits are exposed to exchange rate risk in many situation. For example, if a trader is exporting or importing any particular product from other countries then he is exposed to foreign exchange risk. Similarly, if the Continue reading
Translation Exposure in Terms of Foreign Exchange Risk
Consolidation of financial statements, which involve foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities automatically, gives rise to translation exposure, sometimes termed as accounting exposure. Consolidation of foreign subsidiaries account into group financial statements denominated in home currency requires the application of a rate or rates of exchange to foreign subsidiaries accounts, in order that they may be translated into the parent currency. Both balance sheets and income statements must be consolidated and they both give rise to translation exposure. Translating foreign currency profit and loss accounts at either the average exchange rate during the accounting year or at the exchange rate at the end of the accounting year (both methods are currently permissible as per British accounting procedures) will mean that Continue reading
Understanding the Financial Swaps Market
Exchange rate instability and the collapse of the Bretton Woods System and particularly the control over the movement of the capital internationally, paved the way for the origin of the financial swaps market. To day swaps are at the center of the global financial revolution. The growth is such that sometimes it looks like unbelievable but it is true. Though its growth will continue or not is doubtful. Already the shaking has started. In the “plain vanilla” dollar sector, the profits for brokers and market makers, after costs and allocation of risk capital, are measured in fewer than five basis points. This is before the regulators catch up and force disclosure and capital haircuts. At these spreads, the more highly Continue reading
Factors That Affect Currency Values
To date, there is no exchange rate model that can predict future currency prices with 100% accuracy. In rapidly growing global foreign exchange markets, currency movements become harder to predict as more participants enter the market on a daily basis, bringing with them all their research opinions, emotions, and expectations about where currencies should be headed. Currency movements in the short term can be influenced by publicly available information like the release of the country’s gross domestic product data, the consumer price index, or employment data. The following publicly available information can have immediate impact on currency movements: Local economic data releases and the anticipation of those releases. Economic data releases in foreign countries, especially of major trading partners, and Continue reading