EBF 301
Global Finance for the Earth, Energy, and Materials Industries

Summary and Final Tasks - Hidden

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Key Learning Points: Lesson 9

  1. The financial derivative contracts for energy commodities provide actual supply and market for commercial players.
  2. Fixed prices for the commodities can be established as well.
  3. Utilizing financial derivatives to reduce one’s price and supply/market risk is known as “hedging.”
  4. Commercial entities must take a financial position that is the opposite of their physical position in order for the hedge transaction to be successful.
  5. Producers of the commodity are said to be “long” the physical product and therefore, must be Sellers in the financial market (sell contracts).
  6. Consumers for the commodity are said to be “short” the physical product and therefore, must be Buyers in the financial market (buy the contracts).
  7. Companies that lease storage capacity can hedge their price, supply, and market risk through buying contracts in one month and selling contracts in a subsequent month. This is known as a “time” or “storage” spread.
  8. By taking these opposite positions, price changes in one market are offset by price changes in the other market. When these occur on a 1:1 basis, it is referred to as a “perfect” hedge.
  9. These are known as “simple, fixed-price” hedges and represent the “first layer” of any more complex hedge transaction.

In Lesson 10, we will explore other, more advanced, financial derivatives that can also be used for hedging. Among these are Swaps, Spreads and Options. They are mostly traded in the "over-the-counter" markets, that is, non-exchange traded. "OTC" encompasses electronic trading platforms as well as "voice" Brokers where transactions occur over the phone.

Quiz

Log onto ANGEL and complete the Lesson 9 Quiz (located in the Quizzes, Surveys, Midterm, and Final Exam folder).

Reminder - Complete all of the Lesson 9 tasks!

You have reached the end of Lesson 9. Double-check the list of requirements on the first page of this lesson to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before beginning the next lesson. (To access the next lesson, use the link in the "Course Outline" menu at left.