Saturday, May 1, 2010

Decision !

Saturday night rather Sunday morning 2:23 may 02 , 2010. Three guys all in mid twenties of there age were siting silently staring @ each other. The trio seemed to be deciding on some very critical issue. A deep voice brakes off the long silence "lets do it, probably this is the only chance we got".
The other two gave positive nod.
"We probably will have to slog, but the returns are worth it, besides there is no alternative. Nothing that i can foresee."
"The best thing about this move is we technically will be making infinite ROI , so far, we don't consider the network that we have got access to, as an asset."
"That is an asset perhaps the only one that we got." BY the way what's the plan Akash? The second guy asks.
Look, the plan is very simple , we have got access to the owner of 500 acres of land. He is desperate to liquidate this investment of his , but is unable to find the buyers for very obvious reasons. From here we have two opportunities, the first one is we help him find buyers and take brokerage which is no big deal and so doesn't has very high returns ,else we act as a buffer between buyer and him and sell the land at intervals to buyers and make a higher profit."
"And why on earth do u think both of them would let it happen,and even if they do , how do you claim that the profit would be higher?"
" Rohit , your first question is precisely the agenda for todays discussion,and am pretty sure you would find the answer by the end of this meeting, and to answer your second question its simple economics, if we act as buffer between buyer and seller we actually would be able to add the appreciated value of land to our bottom line , besides when we buy at wholesale and sell at retail in a market heading towards north , we tend to gain arbitrage( with certain assumptions) and also the adds on to our negotiation power with both the parties which has its own financial impact.
.................. To be continued







Thursday, June 18, 2009

Beat this:::interest future by rbi & sebi

REPORT OF
THE RBI-SEBI STANDING TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
ON
INTEREST RATE FUTURES
RESERVE BANK OF INDIAANDSECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA
Contents
Chapter Page. No
1 Background 41.1 Brief Overview of the Debt Market in India
1.2 Need for Interest Rate Futures
1.3 Benefits of Exchange-Traded Interest Rate Derivatives 1.4 Constitution of the Group
1.5 Terms of Reference
1.6 Acknowledgement
2 Product Design, Margins and Position Limits for 710-Year Notional Coupon-bearing Government of India (GoI) Security Futures
2.1 Underlying
2.2 Coupon
2.3 Trading Hours
2.4 Size of the Contract 2.5 Quotation
2.6 Tenor of the Contract 2.7 Available Contracts 2.8 Daily Settlement Price 2.9 Settlement Mechanism
2.10 Deliverable Grade Securities
2.11 Conversion Factor 2.12 Invoice Price
2.13 Last Trading Day 2.14 Last Delivery Day 2.15 Initial Margin
2.16 Extreme Loss Margin 2.17 Calendar Spread Margin
2.18 Model for Determining Standard Deviation
2.19 Formula for Determining Standard Deviation
2.20 Position Limits
3 Risk Management Measures 133.1 Introduction
3.2 Portfolio Based Margining
3.3 Real-Time Computation
3.4 Liquid Networth
3.5 Liquid Assets
3.6 Mark-to-Market Settlement
3.7 Margin Collection and Enforcement
3.8 Safeguarding Client’s Money
3.9 Periodic Risk Evaluation Report


Report of the RBI-SEBI Standing Technical Committee on Exchange-Traded Interest Rate Futures
4
Regulatory and Legal aspects
16
5
Miscellaneous Issues
17

Annex A (Illustration of margin computation)
18

Annex B (List of Committee Members)
20
Chapter 1Background
1.1 Brief Overview of the Debt Market in India
Debt market comprises the primary as well as the secondary market for debt instruments - both sovereign and corporate. A well functioning debt market is critical for inter-temporal resource allocation and is therefore significant for all economic agents.
The development of financial markets started in the early 1990’s. Since then, a series of reforms - both structural as well as institutional – have been initiated with a view to having market determined interest rates. The other objectives of these reforms have been to improve transparency, efficiency and accessibility of the debt market.
The Government started the reforms by borrowing from the market at rates determined through auctions. Previously, this was being carried out at pre-announced rates. Other reforms include introduction of new instruments such as - zero coupon bonds, floating rate bonds, capital index bonds; establishment of specialized institutions such as Discount and Finance House of India (DFHI) and Securities Trading Corporation of India (STCI), setting up of the Negotiated Dealing System (NDS), implementation of the Patil Committee recommendations for corporate bonds, etc.
While these reforms have resulted in increased trading volumes in the debt market (total turnover in Government of India (GoI) dated securities increased from Rs. 1,770,980 crore in 2006-07 to Rs. 2,957,070 crore in 2007-08), yet the trading volume has remained low in comparison to the developed markets. There is a strong need to further deepen and widen the market by offering a wide range of products.
1.2 Need for Interest Rate Futures
Interest rate risk affects not only the financial sector, but also the corporate and household sectors. As observed in the Report on Interest Rate Futures, banks, insurance companies, primary dealers and provident funds bear a major portion of the interest rate risk on account of their exposure to government securities. As such these entities need a credible institutional hedging mechanism1. Today, with a large stock of household financial savings on the assets side and an increasing quantum of housing loans on the liabilities side, interest rate risk is becoming increasingly important for the household sector as well. Moreover, because of the Fisher effect2, interest rate products are the primary instruments available to
1 RBI Report on Interest Rate Futures (August 2008)
2 “Fisher effect” implies that ceteris paribus, increase in expected inflation rate leads to an increase in the nominal interest rate.
hedge inflation risk which is typically the single most important macroeconomic risk faced by the household sector3. In this context, therefore, it is important that the financial system provides the household sector greater access to interest rate risk management tools through Exchange-Traded interest rate derivatives.
1.3 Benefits of Exchange-Traded Interest Rate Derivatives
Interest rate futures, a derivative instrument with linear pay-offs, provide benefits typical to any Exchange-Traded product, such as:
a. Standardization – Through standardization, the Exchanges offer market participants a mechanism for gauging the utility and effectiveness of different positions and strategies.
b. Transparency – Transparency, efficiency and accessibility is accentuated through online real time dissemination of prices available for all to see and daily mark-to-market discipline.
c. Counter-party Risk – The credit guarantee of the clearing house eliminates counter party risk thereby increasing the capital efficiency of the market participants.
1.4
Constitution of the Group
With the expected benefits of Exchange-Traded interest rate futures, it was
decided in a joint meeting of RBI and SEBI on February 28, 2008, that an RBI‑
SEBI Standing Technical Committee on Exchange-Traded Currency and Interest
Rate Derivatives would be constituted. The Committee submitted its Report on
Exchange-Traded Currency Futures on May 29, 2008.
The Committee is constituted with the following officials from RBI and SEBI:

i.
Shri Manas S. Ray -
ED, SEBI

ii.
Shri Nagendra Parakh -
CGM, SEBI

iii.
Dr. Sanjeevan Kapshe -
OSD, SEBI

iv.
Dr. K.V.Rajan -
CGM, RBI

v.
Shri Prashant Saran* -
CGM, RBI

vi.
Shri Salim Gangadharan -
CGM, RBI

vii.
Shri Chandan Sinha -
CGM, RBI

viii. Shri H.S. Mohanty -
DGM, RBI

ix.
Shri Sujit Prasad -
GM, SEBI (Member-Secretary)

*Shri Prashant Sharan has since joined SEBI as a Whole Time Member on May 18,2009
3 Exchange-traded Interest Rate Derivatives in India, Consultative Document, SEBI, March 2003.
1.5 Terms of Reference
The Committee was given the following terms of reference:
i.
ii.
iv.
v. To coordinate the regulatory roles of RBI and SEBI in regard to trading of Currency and Interest Rate Futures on the Exchanges.
To suggest the eligibility norms for existing and new Exchanges for Currency and Interest Rate Futures trading.
To suggest eligibility criteria for the members of such exchanges.
To review product design, margin requirements and other risk mitigation measures on an ongoing basis
ggest surveillance mechanism information
vi. To consider microstructure issues, in the overall interest of financialstability.
v. To su and dissemination of market
With a view to operationalising the Interest Rate Futures products, the Committee deliberated upon the recommendations of the Technical Advisory Committee Report on Interest Rate Futures (August 2008). The Report had primarily focused on introduction of a physically settled Interest Rate Futures contract on 10 year GoI coupon bearing security. It had also recommended retention of the contract based on 91-day Treasury Bills (introduced in 2003) with some modification in the settlement price and consideration of a contract based on some suitable index of money market rates. The High Level Coordination Committee for Financial Markets (HLCCFM) has decided that (1) futures based on the 91-day Treasury Bills may be considered later as deemed appropriate and (2) futures based on the overnight rate may not be introduced. Accordingly, the operational norms for the 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI Security Futures are being issued to the market through this Report for early implementation.
1.6 Acknowledgement
The Committee is grateful for the guidance provided by the senior management of both RBI and SEBI. In particular, the Committee is thankful to Shri V K Sharma, Executive Director, RBI (Chairman: Working Group on Interest Rate Futures) for suggesting an alternate methodology for margin computation.
The Committee places on record its appreciation of the contribution by Shri Bithin Mahanta, Shri Navpreet Singh, Ms. Rajeswari Rath, Shri Ashish Kumar Singh, Shri Shailesh Pingale, Shri Lakshaya Chawla and Shri Sahil Tuli of SEBI.
The Committee also places on record its appreciation of the contribution made by Dr. Abhiman Das and Shri Puneet Pancholy of RBI in data and statistical analysis.
Chapter 2
Product Design, Margins and Position Limits for 10-Year Notional Coupon-bearing Government of India (GoI) Security Futures
2.1 Underlying
10-Year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security
2.2 Coupon
The notional coupon would be 7% with semi-annual compounding.
2.3 Trading Hours
The Trading Hours would be from 9 a.m. to 5.00 p.m on all working days from Monday to Friday.
2.4 Size of the Contract
The Contract Size would be Rs. 2 lakh.
2.5 Quotation
The Quotation would be similar to the quoted price of the GoI security. The day count convention for interest payments would be on the basis of a 360-day year, consisting of 12 months of 30 days each and half yearly coupon payment.
2.6 Tenor of the Contract
The maximum maturity of the contract would be 12 months.
2.7 Available Contracts
The Contract Cycle would consist of four fixed quarterly contracts for entire year, expiring in March, June, September and December.
2.8 Daily Settlement Price
The Daily Settlement Price would be the closing price of the 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures contract on the trading day. (Closing price = Weighted Average price of the futures for last half an hour). In the absence of last half an hour trading the theoretical price, to be determined by the exchanges, would be considered as Daily Settlement Price. The exchanges will be required to disclose the model/methodology used for arriving at the theoretical price.
2.9 Settlement Mechanism
The contract would be settled by physical delivery of deliverable grade securities using the electronic book entry system of the existing Depositories (NSDL and CDSL) and Public Debt Office (PDO) of the RBI. The delivery of the deliverable grade securities shall take place from the first business day of the delivery month till the last business day of the delivery month. The owner of a short position in an expiring futures contract shall hold the right to decide when to initiate delivery. However, the short position holder shall have to give intimation, to the Clearing
Corporation, of his intention to deliver two business days prior to the actual delivery date.
2.10 Deliverable Grade Securities
GoI securities maturing at least 7.5 years but not more than 15 years from the first day of the delivery month with a minimum total outstanding stock of Rs 10,000 crore.
2.11 Conversion Factor
The Conversion Factor for deliverable grade security would be equal to the price of the deliverable security (per rupee of the principal), on the first day (calendar day) of the delivery month, to yield 7% with semiannual compounding.
For deliveries into 10-Year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures, the deliverable security’s remaining term to maturity shall be calculated in complete three-month quarters, always rounded down to the nearest quarter. If, after rounding, the deliverable security lasts for an exact number of 6-month periods, the first coupon shall be assumed to be paid after 6 months. If, after rounding, the deliverable security does not last for an exact number of 6-month periods (i.e. there are an extra 3 months), the first coupon would be assumed to be paid after 3 months and accrued interest would be subtracted.
2.12 Invoice Price
Invoice Price of the respective deliverable grade security would be the futures settlement price times a conversion factor plus accrued interest.
2.13 Last Trading Day
Seventh business day preceding the last business day of the delivery month.
2.14 Last Delivery Day
Last business day of the delivery month.
2.15 Initial Margin
Initial Margin requirement shall be based on a worst case loss of a portfolio of an individual client across various scenarios of price changes. The various scenarios of price changes would be so computed so as to cover a more than 99% VaR over a one day horizon. In order to achieve this, the price scan range may initially be fixed at 3.5 standard deviation4. The initial margin so computed would be subject to a minimum of 2.33% of the value of the futures contract on the first day of trading in 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures and 1.6% of the value of the futures contract thereafter. The initial margin shall be deducted from the liquid net worth of the clearing member on an online, real time basis.
4 One tailed standard normal variate corresponding to 99 % confidence interval is 2.33. However, simulation on the historical data showed that 99 % of data could be covered only with 3.5 times standard.deviation.
2.16 Extreme Loss Margin
Extreme loss margin of 0.3% of the value of the gross open positions of the futures contract shall be deducted from the liquid assets of the clearing member on an on line, real time basis.
2.17 Calendar Spread Margin
Interest rate futures position at one maturity hedged by an offsetting position at a different maturity would be treated as a calendar spread. The calendar spread margin shall be at a value of Rs.2000/- per month of spread. The benefit for a calendar spread would continue till expiry of the near month contract.
2.18 Model for Determining Standard Deviation
The Committee examined the results of empirical tests carried out using different risk management models in the Value at Risk (VaR) framework in the 10-year GoI security yields. Data for the period January 3, 2000 to September 16, 2008 was analyzed. GARCH (1,1)-normal and GARCH (1,1)-GED (Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity) at 3 and 3.5 sigma levels were not found to perform well at 1% risk level, as the actual number of violations were found to be statistically much higher than the expected number of violations. The EWMA (Exponentially weighted moving average) model used by J.P.Morgan’s Risk Metrics methodology was found to work well at 3 and 3.5 sigma levels at 5% risk level and not at 1% risk level.
Given the computational ease of the EWMA model and given the familiarity of the Exchanges with this particular model (it is currently being used in the equity derivatives market), the Committee, after considering the various aspects of the different models, decided that EWMA method would be used to obtain the volatility estimate every day fixing the price scan range at 3.5 standard deviation. During the first time-period on the first day of trading in 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures, the sigma would be equal to 0.8 %.
2.19 Formula for Determining Standard Deviation
The EWMA method would be used to obtain the volatility estimate every day. The estimate at the end of time period t (σyt) is arrived at using the volatility estimate at the end of the previous time period i.e. as at the end of t-1 time period (σyt-1), and the return (ryt) observed in the futures market during the time period t. The formula would be as under:
(σyt)2 = λ (σyt-1)2 + (1 - λ ) (ryt)2
Where
λ(lambda) is a parameter which determines how rapidly volatility estimates changes. The value of λ is fixed at 0.94.
i. σyt (sigma) is the standard deviation of daily logarithmic returns of yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t.
ii. The "return" is defined as the logarithmic return: rt = ln(Yt/Yt-1) where Yt is the yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t.
For computing the margin, two methodologies can be considered.
Methodology A. The plus/minus 3.5 sigma limits5 for a 99% VAR based on logarithmic returns on yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures would have to be converted into price volatility through the following formula :
σpt=D*σyt* Yt
where
σpt is the standard deviation of percentage change in price at time t;
D is Modified Duration6;
Y7t is the yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t; and
σyt (sigma) is the standard deviation of daily logarithmic returns of yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t.
The percentage margin on long position would be equal to 100 (D*3.5σyt* Yt) and the percentage margin on short position would be equal to 100 (D*(-3.5σyt)* Yt). The Modified Duration for 10-Year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures shall be 10.
5 The one-tailed standard normal variate corresponding to 99% confidence interval is 2.33. However, since 3.5 standard deviations cover 99 % of the historical data, σ has been taken as 3.5 in all computations. .
n
i
t c y m
+ ¦= i i /(1 / )
D* i 1
6 Modified Duration = , where D* (Macaulay's duration) =________________ 1/
+ym B
Ci is coupon at time ti, y is the annually compounded yield, m is the frequency of coupon payments, B is the price of the bond. Modified duration essentially measures percentage change in price due to change in yield by 100 bps.

n C P
t_________________________________
=
7 Yield of security is its YTM (Yield to maturity) calculated as ¦= +
B ( ______________ ) +_________
t n
1 (1/)(1/)
+ Y m Ym
t
where Y is the YTM of the security, B is the price of the security, P is the par value of the bond, n is the number of periods for coupon payment, m is the frequency of coupon payments and C is the coupon payment per period.
Methodology B. The potential price change corresponding to 99% VAR can be computed by multiplying the appropriate yield change by the modified duration. That is,
ä P =, D*ä Y
ä Y = Y t - Y0 , and
±σ * / 252 *
t z
y
YY
e = t 0 Where,
äP = Percentage change in price
äY = Change in yield
Yt =Yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t; and
ó = Annualized yield volatility8 of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI
y
security futures
z = One-tailed standard normal variate (value 3.5 as mentioned in footnote 5)
Thus, the percentage margin on long positions would be equal to
y
Pó DYe
= t0 -
**(*/252*3. 5 1)
ä Long
and the percentage margin on short positions would be equal to
y
P ó D Ye
= 0 - t -
* * (*/ 252 *3.5 1)
ä Short
Alternatively, the exchanges can adopt uniform margins for both short and long positions, equivalent to the higher of the two values derived above.
An illustration of the two methodologies discussed above is enclosed at Annex A.
8 Annualized yield volatility is obtained by multiplying the standard deviation of daily logarithmic return by square root of the number of trading days, usually taken as 252.
iii. The volatility estimation and margin fixation methodology should be clearly made known to all market participants so that they can compute the margin for any given closing level of the interest rate futures price. Further, the trading software itself should provide this information on a real time basis on the trading workstation screen.
2.20 Position Limits
i. Client level: The gross open positions of the client across all contracts should not exceed 6% of the total open interest or Rs 300 crores whichever is higher. The Exchange will disseminate alerts whenever the gross open position of the client exceeds 3% of the total open interest at the end of the previous day’s trade.
ii. Trading Member level: The gross open positions of the trading member across all contracts should not exceed 15% of the total open interest or Rs. 1000 crores whichever is higher.
iii. Clearing Member level: No separate position limit is prescribed at the level of clearing member. However, the clearing member shall ensure that his own trading position and the positions of each trading member clearing through him is within the limits specified above.
iv. FIIs and NRIs: Total gross long position in the debt market and the Interest Rate Futures would not exceed the maximum permissible debt market limit prescribed from time to time. Short position in Interest Rate Futures would not exceed long position in the debt market and in Interest Rate Futures.
Chapter 3Risk Management Measures
3.1 Introduction
In exchange traded derivative contracts, the Clearing Corporation acts as a central counterparty to all trades and performs full novation. The risk to the Clearing Corporation can only be taken care of through a stringent margining framework. Also, since derivatives are leveraged instruments, margins also act as a cost and discourage excessive speculation. A robust risk management system should therefore, not only impose margins on the members of the Clearing Corporation but also enforce collection of margins from the clients.
3.2 Portfolio Based Margining
The Standard Portfolio Analysis of Risk (SPAN) methodology shall be adopted to take an integrated view of the risk involved in the portfolio of each individual client comprising his positions in futures contracts across different maturities. The client-wise margins would be grossed across various clients at the Trading / Clearing Member level. The proprietary positions of the Trading / Clearing Member would be treated as that of a client.
3.3 Real-Time Computation
The computation of worst scenario loss would have two components. The first is the valuation of the portfolio under the various scenarios of price changes. At the second stage, these scenario contract values would be applied to the actual portfolio positions to compute the portfolio values and the initial margin. The exchanges shall update the scenario contract values at least 6 times in the day, which may be carried out by taking the closing price of the previous day at the start of trading and the prices at 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 3.30 p.m. and at the end of the trading session. The latest available scenario contract values would be applied to member/client portfolios on a real time basis.
3.4 Liquid Networth
The initial margin and the extreme loss margin shall be deducted from the liquid assets of the clearing member. The clearing member’s liquid net worth after adjusting for the initial margin and extreme loss margin requirements must be at least Rs. 50 Lakhs at all points in time. The minimum liquid networth shall be treated as a capital cushion for days of unforeseen market volatility.
3.5 Liquid Assets
The liquid assets for trading in Interest Rate Futures would have to be provided separately and maintained with the Clearing Corporation. However, the permissible liquid assets, the applicable haircuts and minimum cash equivalent norms would be mutatis mutandis applicable from the equity/currency derivatives segment.
3.6 Mark-to-Market (MTM) Settlement
The MTM gains and losses shall be settled in cash before the start of trading on T+1 day. If MTM obligations are not collected before start of the next day’s trading, the Clearing Corporation shall collect correspondingly higher initial margin to cover the potential for losses over the time elapsed in the collection of margins.
The daily closing price of interest rate futures contract for mark to market settlement would be calculated on the basis of the last half an hour weighted average price of the futures contract. In the absence of trading in the last half an hour the theoretical price would be taken. The eligible exchanges shall define the methodology for calculating the ‘theoretical price’ at the time of making an application for approval of the interest rate futures contract to SEBI. The methodology for calculating the ‘theoretical price’ would also be disclosed to the market.
3.7 Margin Collection and Enforcement
The client margins (initial margin, extreme loss margin, calendar spread margin and mark to market settlements) have to be compulsorily collected and reported to the Exchange by the members. The Exchange shall impose stringent penalty on members who do not collect margins from their clients. The Exchange shall also conduct regular inspections to ensure margin collection from clients.
3.8 Safeguarding Client’s Money
The Clearing Corporation should segregate the margins deposited by the Clearing Members for trades on their own account from the margins deposited with it on client account. The margins deposited on client account shall not be utilized for fulfilling the dues which a Clearing Member may owe the Clearing Corporation in respect of trades on the member’s own account. The client’s money is to be held in trust for client purpose only. The following process is to be adopted for segregating the client’s money vis-à-vis the clearing member’s money:
i At the time of opening a position, the member should indicate whether it is a client or proprietary position.
ii Margins across the various clients of a member should be collected on a gross basis and should not be netted off.
iii When a position is closed, the member should indicate whether it was a client or his own position which is being closed.
iv In the case of default, the margins paid on the proprietary position would only be used by the Clearing Corporation for realizing its dues from the member.
3.9 Periodic Risk Evaluation Report
The Clearing Corporation of the Exchange shall on an ongoing basis and atleast once in every six months, conduct back testing of the margins collected vis-à-vis
the actual price changes. A copy of the study shall be submitted to SEBI along with suggestions on changes to the risk containment measures, if any.
Chapter 4Regulatory and Legal aspects
4.1 The Interest Rate Derivative contracts shall be traded on the Currency Derivative Segment of a recognized Stock Exchange. The members registered by SEBI for trading in Currency/Equity Derivative Segment shall be eligible to trade in Interest Rate Derivatives also, subject to meeting the Balance Sheet networth requirement of Rs 1 crore for a trading member and Rs 10 crores for a clearing member. Before the start of trading, the Exchange shall submit the proposal for approval of the contract to SEBI giving:
i The details of the proposed interest rate futures contract to be traded in the exchange;
ii The economic purposes it is intended to serve;
iii Its likely contribution to market development;
iv The safeguards and the risk protection mechanisms adopted by the exchange to ensure market integrity, protection of investors and smooth and orderly trading;
v The infrastructure of the exchange and surveillance system to effectively monitor trading in such contracts.
4.2 SEBI-RBI Coordination Mechanism
A SEBI-RBI constituted committee would meet periodically to sort out issues, if any, arising out of overlapping jurisdiction of the interest rate futures market.
Chapter 5Miscellaneous Issues
5.1 Banks Participation in Interest Rate Futures
It is stated in the RBI Report on Interest Rate Futures that “…the current approval for banks’ participation in IRF for hedging risk in their underlying investment portfolio of government securities classified under the Available for Sale (AFS) and Held for Trading (HFT) categories should be extended to the interest rate risk inherent in their entire balance sheet – including both on, and off, balance sheet items – synchronously with the re-introduction of the IRF.”
5.2 Extending the Tenor of Short Sales
In the RBI Report on Interest Rate Futures, it has been recommended that the time limit on short selling be extended so that term / tenor / maturity of the short sale is co-terminus with that of the futures contract and a system of transparent and rule-based pecuniary penalty for SGL bouncing be put in place, in lieu of the regulatory penalty currently in force.
Annex A - Illustration of margin computation
· Product: 10-Year Notional Coupon-bearing Government of India (GoI) Security Futures
· Given a time series (January 3, 2000 to September 16, 2008) of yields of a 10-year Constant Maturity Security. Say, the last yield in the time series, Yt was 8.20%. The volatility can be calculated using EWMA method:
(σyt)2 = λ (σyt-1)2 + (1 - λ ) (ryt)2 ………………………………………..(1)
where:
~ λ (lambda) is a parameter which determines how rapidly volatility estimates changes. The value of λ is fixed at 0.94
~ σyt (sigma) is the standard deviation of daily logarithmic returns of yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security, the "return" is defined as the logarithmic return: rt = ln(Yt/Yt-1)
· Using formula (1) on the time series, the σYt (daily) is 0.008, and σYt (annualized) comes to 0.1269.
Methodology A:
σpt = D*σyt* Yt
Where:
· σpt is the standard deviation of percentage change in price at time t
· D is the modified duration;
· Yt is yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t; and
· σyt (sigma) is the standard deviation of daily logarithmic returns of yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t.
The percentage margin on long would be (D* 3.5 * σyt * Yt) i.e. 2.29and the percentage margin on short position would be equal to 100 (D* (-3.5*σyt) * Yt) i.e. (-) 2.29.
Methodology B:
ä P=, D*ä Y
ä Y = ( Y t - Y0 ) and t z YY e * / 252 *
±σ y
=
t 0
where:
· äP = percentage change in price
· äY = change in yield
· Yt = yield of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security futures at time t; and
· ó = annualized yield volatility of 10-year Notional Coupon-bearing GoI security
y
futures
· z = one-tailed standard normal variate (value 3.5 as explained in footnotes 4/5)
Hence,
Yt = 8.20 * e ± 0.1269* 1 / 252 * 3.5 . Here t = 1 and σyt (annualized) = 0.1269.
The values of Yt would be 8.4327 and 7.9737.
· The percentage margin on long positions would be equal to
y
ä i.e. (+) 2.3266
P ó D Y Y D Ye
= t - 0 = 0 -
* () * * (* /252*3.5 1)
Long t
and the percentage margin on short positions would be equal to
y
ä i.e. (-) 2.2625
P ó D Y Y D Ye
= - 0 = 0 - t -
* () * * (*/ 252 *3 .5 1)
Short t
Higher of the two values, viz., 2.3266 i.e. 2.33 may be taken.
Annex B - List of Committee Members The above Report is submitted by;
i. Shri Manas S. Ray - Executive Director,
SEBI
ii. Shri Nagendra Parakh - Chief General Manager,
SEBI
iii. Dr. Sanjeevan Kapshe - Officer on Special Duty,
SEBI
iv. Dr. K.V.Rajan - Chief General Manager,
RBI
v. Shri Chandan Sinha - Chief General Manager,
RBI
vi. Shri Salim Gangadharan Chief General Manager, RBI
vii. Shri H.S. Mohanty - Deputy General Manager,
RBI
viii Shri Sujit Prasad (Member Secretary) - General Manager,
SEBI

Friday, June 5, 2009

Since 2002, the world's reserve currency declined 35%, while everything measured in dollars reacted in kind. While that sneaked by stateside players largely unnoticed, it's been a constant source of stress for foreign holders of dollar-denominated assets.
We call this "asset class deflation vs. dollar devaluation" in Minyanville, which is to say we'll toggle between the two as policymakers pull fiscal and monetary strings. While both sides of the equation can potentially falter, the deck is stacked against the dollar and asset classes rally in synch.
While near-term nuances are difficult to digest, the big picture has come down to a simple question: Will foreigners allow the dollar to devalue further, paving the way towards potential hyperinflation, or will capital drain from the system and induce a prolonged period of deflation?
Critical crossroads
What's clear is that the game itself experienced has a seismic shift. Central banks have been extremely proactive in what they do and how they do it. This has gone on for years, but the efforts increased appreciably since 2007. We opined at the time that something was afoot and the pieces have fallen into place.
The credit contagion brought this conundrum to bear, and all that remains to be seen is where the bears will settle. I'm an optimist by nature, but a realist when it comes to the current financial condition. In my humble view, two potential scenarios exist as we edge down this prickly path.
The first is the continued socialization of markets, bearded nationalization of troubled institutions and the specter of hyperinflation. A significantly lower dollar is a necessary precursor to -- but no guarantor of -- this dynamic, and it could potentially "jack" anything denominated by this measuring stick. If that occurs, it would paradoxically punish savers who preserved capital.
This scenario is presumably preferred by the powers that be as an alternative to watershed deflation. The "haves" would fare better than the "have-nots" as the costs of goods and services could skyrocket and spur the velocity of money, paramount in a finance-based economy.
The other option is the orderly destruction of debt, deflationary pressures and an eventual path toward an "outside-in" recovery that paves to the way towards true globalization. The result would be a higher dollar and lower asset classes in the intermediate term, but a sustainable foundation for economic expansion thereafter.
Deflation in a fractional reserve banking system means policymakers have, for all intents and purposes, lost control of the economy. It would also impact the top tier of our societal structure tied to the marketplace, problematic for politicians and the constituencies that bankroll them.
No easy answers
The banking system, stymied with credit dependency, is not operating normally. Hidden behind bailouts, stimulus packages, super-conduits, term-auction financing, mortgage rate freezes, foreclosure freezes, working groups and Public-Private Investment Programs are politicians attempting to engineer a business cycle that long ago lost its way.
The qualifier of this discussion is the elasticity of debt, stretched by historical standards. Total outstanding credit obligations are 350% of GDP and consumers, who account for 70% of GDP, are hamstrung by wealth destruction and depleted savings. As such, I would place back-of-the-envelope odds at 3-1 that deflationary forces continue to manifest.
This process will take years to unwind but ultimately will yield positive results. The destruction of debt will allow world economies to rebuild a solid foundation for future expansion that is entirely more secure than what we currently have in place.
While it would cause paper wealth to evaporate, rich nations will be forced to pour real money -- as opposed to cheap debt -- into developing economies as a redistribution mechanism. While the path might be painful, the destination will be entirely more palatable for future generations.
A marked difference exists between taking our medicine as a function of time and price, and injecting the system with drugs with hopes that the symptoms will pass. The latter continues to be the diagnosis of choice but the economic patient would be well served to understand both sides of the prognosis

Futures: Defined

Futures
Ever wonder how the coffee you drink in the morning actually got there? Or where the wheat that went into your toast came from? Or what sultanate pumped the oil that was turned into the gas in your car that got you to work so that you could make the money to buy the coffee in the first place?
Probably not, but you may want to. Some very nervy people make a lot of money every day betting whether there's going to be more or less of those things available.
All of these things -- coffee, wheat, oil and dozens more -- are called commodities. They are the raw materials of life. They don't have brand names, they haven't been turned into anything. They're just the stuff from which fortunes are made.
The way those fortunes are made is by people who buy and sell contracts to deliver a set amount of a commodity, say cocoa from West Africa, on a set date for a set price. Those contracts are called futures.
A futures contract is a legally binding obligation for the holder of the contract to buy or sell a particular commodity at a specific price and location at a specific date. They can change value very fast because of changes in the weather, or politics, or people's expectations about what's going to happen.
People who trade futures pay a lot of attention to the weather because a lot of commodities are things that grow, such as wheat, oranges, cocoa and cotton. They also pay a lot of attention to politics because things like wars and revolutions can affect the price of oil and natural gas and gold.
Because so many commodities are agricultural products, the Commodity Research Bureau Futures Price Index is among the most closely watched indicators of future futures activity.
A futures contract is valuable because it lets the owner control a lot of something. One cotton contract represents 100 bales, or 50,000 pounds of cotton, for example.
There are at least a couple of reasons why people might want to buy a futures contract.
One reason is to protect your business against fluctuations in the price of the things that you need to make your products.
For instance: If you're a baker and you need to have wheat to bake your special walnut wheat sourdough bread next summer, and you're not sure that there's going to be enough wheat available then, you can buy a futures contract to guarantee that you'll have it.
Whether the price of wheat goes up or down, you know you'll have your wheat and you know how much it will cost. If wheat goes up between now and when the contract expires, you save money. If wheat goes down, you lose money. But either way, you know you'll have the wheat.
On the other hand, if you grew the wheat, and you're worried that all your brother and sister farmers around the world are growing wheat too, you might buy a contract giving you the right to sell your wheat at the current price. That way, even if prices fall, you'll still get the higher price agreed to in the futures contract.
Another reason to trade futures is to make money. The people who do this, called speculators, don't have bakeries, or chocolate factories or anything that they need the commodities for. They just want to bet on which way the futures contracts are going to go. Of course, if they're wrong, they may wind up having to figure out what to do with 50,000 bushels of cotton.
Futures contracts, like stocks, are traded on exchanges, found mostly in New York and Chicago.
They can be pretty lively places because the prices are usually set by people shouting at each other at the top of their lungs and using hand signals to show how much they are willing to buy and sell for because its too hard to hear.
The top ten U.S. futures exchanges are:
Chicago Board of Trade – grains, precious metals, financial indexes
Chicago Mercantile Exchange - livestock, currency
New York Mercantile Exchange - precious metals, natural gas, energy futures
Commodity Exchange division of the New York Mercantile Exchange - precious metals, copper, financial indexes
Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange - food
New York Cotton Exchange - cotton, orange juice
Kansas City Board of Trade - grains, livestock, food and fiber, stock indexes
Mid America Commodity Exchange - financial futures, currency, agriculture
Minneapolis Grain Exchange - grains
Philadelphia Board of Trade - foreign currency
Naturally the trading of futures is completely above board and honest. But just in case someone like Nelson Bunker Hunt tries to corner the market for silver, as he did, the trading at these exchanges is monitored by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
If you want to find out the latest commodity prices, check out Futures Contracts. And to get a handle on which way the markets are moving you can look at Futures Movers every day.
So the next time you're struggling to wake up with a cup of lukewarm coffee and a piece of dry toast, think about how they got there, and thank your new friend the futures contract.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

बूंदों पर तो छंद लिखे हैं ग़ज़ल लिखी बौछारों पर तारीफों के बंद लिखे हैं गीत लिखे त्योहारों पर किंतु लेखनी सूखी रह्ती निर्धन की कठिनाई पर ,चिंता है किंतु न चिंतन बढ़ती हुई महंगाई पर एक बार तो लिख कर देखो ठग वायदा बाज़ारों पर बूंदों पर तो छंद लिखे हैं ग़ज़ल लिखी बौछारों पर तारीफों के बंद लिखे हैं गीत लिखे त्योहारों पर खंड हुए अभिलेख पुराने नहीं लगाम महंगाई पर, हर्षित नेता श्रेष्ठी हैं सब करते मौज कमाई पर एक बार अब हटा के फेंको ऐसी ठग सरकारों को बूंदों पर तो छंद लिखे हैं ग़ज़ल लिखी बौछारों पर तारीफों के बंद लिखे हैं गीत लिखे त्योहारों पर तपे जेठ की घोर दुपहरी , बे-घर रह मैदानों में ,लथपथ रहे पसीना तन पर , करते काम खदानों में एक बार तो छूकर देखो उन दिल की दीवारों पर बूंदों पर तो छंद लिखे हैं ग़ज़ल लिखी बौछारों पर तारीफों के बंद लिखे हैं गीत लिखे त्योहारों पर जाडों में तन रहे ठिठुरता अधनंगे रह सड़कों पर ,छोटी कथरी खींच तान कर डाल रहा जो लड़कों पर एक बार तो हाथ रखो अब इन मजबूरी के तारों पर बूंदों पर तो छंद लिखे हैं ग़ज़ल लिखी बौछारों पर तारीफों के बंद लिखे हैं गीत लिखे त्योहारों पर निर्धन की कुटिया छप्पर की टपक रही बरसातों में ,बर्तन सारे बिछा फर्श पर जाग रहा जो रातों में एक बार तो लिख कर देखो इनकी करुण पुकारों पर बूंदों पर तो छंद लिखे हैं ग़ज़ल लिखी बौछारों पर तारीफों के बंद लिखे हैं गीत लिखे त्योहारों पर

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Nasdaq ekes 9th straight week of gains-----------------?????does that mean we r thrgh recession and begining of resurrection ?????????????????

Stress Tests: A Test of Transparency


Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a bet on the virtues of transparency when they decided to release bank-by-bank details of the results of the stress tests, not just totals. “There is reassurance in clarity,” Geithner told reporters Thursday afternoon, arguing that the stress test details constitute “a level of disclosure that goes well beyond what you typically see.”
The bank-by-bank details, he argued, will “help replace the cloud of uncertainty hanging our over banking system with an unprecedented level of transparency and clarity. Markets work best when they have full access to information on which to make informed investment decisions. With better disclosure, private capital is more likely to flow into the financial system.”
Perhaps. We’re about to find out if that’s true.
One encouraging sign: The prices for insuring bank debt-holders against default — credit default swaps –- on the weakest banks have come down in recent days. That’s one sign that opacity was punishing the weak, and that fessing up to their problems is a plus in the eyes of investors.
For each of the 19 banks, the Treasury and Fed released estimated losses for 2009 and 2010 under its more-adverse scenario for a variety of asset classes, including credit cards, consumer loans, mortgages and securities in the banks’ trading books. And it showed how much it anticipates each bank will earn in profits over the next two years as well.
The cumulative losses over two years under the adverse scenario come to 9.1%, which exceeds any two year period since the early 1920s, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan said.
In all, the stress test assumes that banks could lose $600 billion if the economy does poorly. It then figures that banks will earn about $363 billion over the next two years. That’s more than the International Monetary Fund estimated, although closer to some private analysts. Had the stress test snapshot been taken on December 31, 2008, the banks would have needed to raise $185 billion in capital. But, the government said, steps that they have taken to sell assets and, especially, convert preferred stock to common stock, reduced that by $110 billion. That leaves $75 billion more in capital to be raised over the next six months. Ten of the 19 banks were told to raise capital.
The biggest move made in anticipation of the stress test results was by Citigroup. It has added $58.1 billion to its tangible common equity, leaving it *only* $5.5 billion more to go.