Forex Digest

I have floating rate SBA commercial borrowing with 30 year term. Right now, the interest rates are low and My cash flow from the operation covers interest very well. But if Interest rates go up, the equation can change dramatically. How can I hedge this risk? SBA does not allow fixed rates.

Unfortunately, the only way to hedge against this risk is to get a fixed rate. The adjustable rate loans are definitely NOT to protect the consumer, it's how the bank protects themselves from interest rate risk. Refinancing to a fixed rate is really your only option.

2009-05-23 06:07:30 by jagdip d

County, Alabama bought 17 interest rate swaps from JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers and Bank of America with the intention of hedging interest rate risk ...

How do they do it . ?

All (major) airlines do fuel hedging. It's basically very simple: they buy fuel that will be delivered in the future (next month, next year) at a predetermined price. If the price increases they make a profit on it, if the price decreases they are loosing money.

Hedging allow to predict the operating costs and takes away part of the risk associated with the wrong price. It can be done by buying options (the right to buy or sell at the predetermined price in the future) or by buying futures (the duty of buy or sell at a predetermined price in the future).

2007-06-13 00:58:08 by Viswa

Interest rate risk is the risk a borrower and lender face in a lending transaction.

The borrower faces the risk that the interest rates might go down from what he borrowed at, and thereby occur a possiblity of him paying more than what he would have paid under a lower interest rate regime.

The lender faces the risk of possible revenue loss, if the interest rates move up from the lending rate.

One way of reducing/hedging the interest rate risk is by opting for a variable/floating interest rate. Another way is by interest rate swaps (derivatives).

2007-04-03 22:15:19 by durlovd

Why an floating bond issuer add a sell position on a eurodollar future to the existing liability in the correct amount, the interest risk can be hedged

Think first of what the floating bond issuer's position is: they are short the floating interest rate. So if the interest rate goes up, they have to pay more.

Now think about how a Eurodollar future works. If the rate goes up, the value of the future goes down. So if you are short, you make money when the rates go up.

Combine these two: You are short the floating rate, and you are short the Eurodollar future. Rates go up, you pay more, but your short futures position compensates for you because it went up in value. If rates go down, your short futures position loses money, but you don't pay as much on your floating rate.

In the "correct amounts", as you say, this is the hedge.

2009-05-30 08:41:56 by amiao

Consider the following scenario: a bank enters an interest rate swap in which it pays firm "A" a floating rate and receives a fixed rate. To hedge the risk of firm "A" going bankrupt, the bank enters a credit default swap. How much insurance is the bank looking for in this credit default swap; that is, what are they trying to insure?


For instance, let's say the bank receives a fixed rate from "A" of 6.5%. The bank is willing to pay a fixed rate of 6.45% to a firm on an opposite interest rate swap. Therefore, the banks spread is 5 basis points. Does the bank do a credit default swap for the 6.5% they would have received from firm "A"? Does it do a credit default swap for the spread, .05%? How much insurance does the bank need??
drm7 - I guess what I'm trying to find out is what % the CDS dealer is going to pay the bank on the notional principal if "A" does default; that is, what is a bank hedging, generically, when buying a CDS? If "A" defaults, does the bank want the entire notional principal they would have gotten if "A" didn't default, or do they just want their spread for any given credit rating, or is it a combination of the two?

Interest rate swaps and credit default swaps hedge entirely different risks.

In your example, the bank receives a fixed rate on a loan for 6.5%, but pays 6.45% to a dealer. The dealer will then pay a floating rate (i.e. the "swap rate") to the bank, which depends on the time to maturity and current interest rate environment. The bank in this case wants to take the opportunity to benefit from a rise in interest rates (since it now receives floating from the dealer) but will accept the risk of interest rates falling (which is generally acceptable for a bank, which has mostly floating-rate liabilities).

To hedge credit risk, the bank will buy a credit default swap from another dealer, and the pricing has nothing to do with the interest rate swap. It will be related to the credit risk of firm "A". Let's say that the 6.5% loan is 200 basis points over treasuries (i.e. a treasury bond maturing at the same time yields 4.5%). The bank will probably have to pay about 2% (the amount of the spread) to another dealer to hedge the risk of the loan, since most of this spread relates to the credit rating of company "A". If company "A" defaults, the CDS dealer must pay the bank off. If "A" pays off the loan, the dealer keeps the 2% payments.

2007-03-27 21:18:58 by Paul