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Forward contract Type of Orders Stop order Fill or Kill order SEAQ, SETS, SEATS Plus or SEAQ International Stocks Categories of Stock Types of Stock Bonds Funds Mutual Funds Exchange - Traded Fund (ETF) Exchange - Traded Fund (ETF) - Investment uses Exchange - Traded Fund (ETF) - Types of ETFs Exchange - Traded Fund (ETF) - Structure Exchange - Traded Fund (ETF) - ETFs compared to mutual funds Exchange - Traded Fund (ETF) - History Exchange - Traded Fund (ETF) - Criticism Bonds Forward contract Non-deliverable forward Basis Broker Depth of market (DOM) Open Outcry Trading at CME Full map of the CME trading floors Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) General Structure of a Managed Account General Structure of a Futures Fund Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) Hedge Funds - overwiew Hedge Funds - REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS: Exemption from Registering Hedge Fund Interests As Securities FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS: Exemption from Registration as an Investment Adviser Exemptions from Registration as a Commodity Trading Advisor About the Introducing Brokers Introducing Brokers: Volume and Commissions Introducing Brokers: Income Associated Persons (APs): The Exam CTA career: Discretionary Strategies CTA career: Registration Requirements, Cost CTA Registration and Audits: Being Audit Ready, General Information and Records Proprietary Traders "Local" Traders Scalpers Proprietary Traders Rate of Return Calculations Margin-to-Equity Ratio Commission-to-Equity Ratio Sharpe Ratio Requirements for Floor Brokers What is the NYSE? 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How to Read a Stock Table The major UK indices Price Earnings ratio (P/E) Top Down and Bottom Up Strategy Value v growth strategy Large v small cap strategy Understanding Warrants Managed Futures: Pitfalls in Performance Evaluation Secrets of Successful Trading in Commodities and Financial Futures The Genesis of Over The Counter Interest Rate Derivatives Dow Theory Introduction Types of Equity Derivative Naked short selling Municipal bond Credit derivative Money market Money fund Treasury Securities (notes. bills, bonds etc.) Federal funds Commercial paper Certificate of deposit Eurodollar deposits London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) Prime rate Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) ETNs - Structure ETNs - Advantages ETNs - Disadvantages ETNs - Prospect and Conclusion Day Trading Day Trading - Characteristics Day Trading - History Day Trading - Techniques Day Trading - Cost Day Trading - Regulations and Restrictions Scalping Scalping - Market manipulation Scalping - Factors affecting scalping Efficient-market hypothesis A forward contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset (which can be of any kind) at a pre-agreed future point in time. Therefore, the trade date and delivery date are separated. It is used to control and hedge risk, for example currency exposure risk (e.g., forward contracts on USD or EUR) or commodity prices (e.g., forward contracts on oil). One party agrees (obligated) to sell, the other to buy, for a forward price agreed in advance. In a forward transaction, no actual cash changes hands. If the transaction is collateralized, exchange of margin will take place according to a pre-agreed rule or schedule. Otherwise no asset of any kind actually changes hands, until the maturity of the contract. The forward price of such a contract is commonly contrasted with the spot price, which is the price at which the asset changes hands (on the spot date, usually two business days). The difference between the spot and the forward price is the forward premium or forward discount. A standardized forward contract that is traded on an exchange is called a futures contract. Example of how the payoff of a forward contract works Suppose that Bob wants to buy a house in one year's time. At the same time, suppose that Andy currently owns a $100,000 house that he wishes to sell in one year's time. Both parties could enter into a forward contract with each other. Suppose that they both agree on the sale price in one year's time of $104,000 (more below on why the sale price should be this amount). Andy and Bob have entered into a forward contract. Bob, because he is buying the underlying, is said to have entered a long forward contract. Conversely, Andy will have the short forward contract. At the end of one year, suppose that the current market valuation of Andy's house is $110,000. Then, because Andy is obliged to sell to Bob for only $104,000, Bob will make a profit of $6,000. To see why this is so, one needs only to recognize that Bob can buy from Andy for $104,000 and immediately sell to the market for $110,000. Bob has made the difference in profit. In contrast, Andy has made a loss of $6,000. Example of how forward prices should be agreed upon Continuing on the example above, suppose now that the initial price of Andy's house is $100,000 and that Bob enters into a forward contract to buy the house one year from today. But since Andy knows that he can immediately sell for $100,000 and place the proceeds in the bank, he wants to be compensated for the delayed sale. Suppose that the risk free rate of return R (the bank rate) for one year is 4%. Then the money in the bank would grow to $104,000, risk free. So Andy would want at least $104,000 one year from now for the contract to be worthwhile for him - the opportunity cost will be covered. Bob, as any other buyer would, will seek the lowest price he can for the contract - although as we've seen, there is an invisible lower limit of $104,000 that Andy will not go below. As a result, the contract price would be at least $104,000 or it will not happen at all. Theories of why a forward contract exists Allaz and Vila (1993) suggest that there is also a strategic reason (in an imperfect competitive environment) for the existence of forward trading, that is, forward trading can be used even in a world without uncertainty. This is due to firms having Stackelberg incentives to anticipate their production through forward contracts. General public licence