Download PDF Introduction Commodity Swaps are a widely used instrument for hedging and speculation in the commodities markets. Like other swaps, they are an OTC instrument where two counterparties agree on exchanging some cashflows based on the trend of an underlying security (most often oil, but also other commodities like Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Swap spreads, which measure the difference between the fixed rate on a swap and the yield on a Treasury bond of the same maturity, have often been negative in recent years, particularly in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. This phenomenon has puzzled market participants, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Inflation is back. After more than 10 years with inflation rates at around 1-2% in most developed economies, governments and central banks are now being confronted with significantly higher inflation rates. This increasing rate of cost of living has prompted a majority of the central banks worldwide, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Structured products are complex OTC derivatives which offer a glance into some of the deeper aspects of pricing; they are hedged with vanilla products where possible, almost always leaving basis risk, the management of which is the art of making markets in SPs. These products are very Read more…
Download PDF In the previous article of our series, we highlighted the questionable use of cross currency swaps and concluded that this kind of window dressing techniques are a manifestation of the larger issue of problematic debt management on the sovereign entity scale. In this article, we delve deeper into Read more…
Download PDF There’s a Yiddish proverb fittingly saying: “interest on debts can grow without rain”. How can this be? In an ultra-low-rate environment, debt has become ubiquitous to sail through the COVID-19 pandemic and so has the fear related to its sustainability. Countries have taken the center stage in the Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) have had an interesting trajectory to say the least, starting out as a niche derivative, they rose to prominence after the Russian financial crisis of 1998, ballooning into a market worth an enormous $62.2 trillion in 2007. In 2008, this market promptly collapsed, Read more…