期货从业第二章

2.1 Distinguish between the terms open interest（未平仓合约）and trading volume（交易量）. The open interest of a futures contract at a particular time is the total number of long position（长头寸） outstanding（未偿还的）. (Equivalently（等价的）, it is the total number of short positions outstanding.) The trading volume during a certain period of time is the number of contracts traded during this period. 2.2What is the difference between a local and a futures commission merchant? A future commission merchant（期货佣金经纪人） trades on behalf of a client（客户） and charges a commission（收取佣金）. A local trades on his or her own behalf（利益）. 2.3 There will be a margin call when $1.000 has been lost from the margin call. The price of silver must therefore rise to $17.40 per ounce for there to be a margin call. If the margin call is not met, your broker经纪人 closes out your position（平仓）. 2.4 The total profit is ($70.5-$68.3)*1,000=$2,200. Of this ($69.10.5-$68.3)*1,000=$800 is realized on a day-by-day basis between September 2012 and December 31, 2012. A further ($70.5-$69.10)*1,000=$1,400 is realized on a day-by-day basis between January 1, 2013,and March 2013. A hedger对冲者 would be taxed on the whole profit of $2,200 in 2013. A speculator投机者 would be taxed on $800 in 2012 and $1,400 in 2013. 2.5 What does a stop order to sell at $2 mean? When might it be used? What does a limit order to sell at $2 mean? When might it be used? A stop order to sell at $2 is an order to sell at the best available price of $2 or less is reached. It could be used to limit the losses from an existing long position. A limit order to sell at $2 is an order to sell at a price of $2 or more. It could be used to instruct a broker that a short position should be taken, providing it can be done at a price more favorable than $2. 2.6 What id the difference between the operation of the margin accounts administered by a clearing house and those administered by a broker? （结算中心管理的保证金账户的运作与经纪人管理的保证金账户的运作有什么区别） The margin account administered by the clearing house is marked to market daily, and the clearing house member is required to bring the account back up to the prescribed规定的 level daily. The margin account administered by the broker is also market to market daily. However, the account does not have to be brought up to the initial level on daily basis. It has to be brought up to the initial margin level when the balance in the account falls below the maintenance margin level. The maintenance margin is usually about 75% of the initial margin保证金. 2.7    What differences exist in the way price are quoted in the foreign exchange futures market, the foreign exchange spot market, and the foreign exchange forward market? In future markets, prices are quoted as the number of US dollar per unit of foreign currency. Spot and forward rates are quoted in this way for the British pound, euro, Australian dollar, and New Zealand dollar. For other major currencies, spot and forward rates are quoted as the number of units of foreign currency per US dollar. 2.8The party with a short position in a futures contract sometimes has options as to the precise asset that will be delivered, where delivery will take place, when delivery will take place, and so on. Do these options increase or decrease the futures price? Explain your reasoning. These options make the contract less attractive to the party with the long position and more attractive to the party with the short position. They therefore tend to reduce the futures price. 2.9What are the most important aspects of the design of a new futures contract? The most important aspects of the design of a new futures contract are the specification of the underlying asset, the size of the contract, the delivery arrangements, and the delivery months. 2.10 Explain how margin protect investors against the possibility of default. A margin is a sum of money deposited by an investor with his or her broker. It acts as a guarantee that the investor can cover any losses on the futures contract. The balance in the margin account is adjusted daily to reflect gains and losses on the future contract. If losses are above a certain level, the investor is required to deposit a further margin. This system makes it unlikely that the investor will default. A similar system of margins makes it unlikely that the investor’s broker will default on the contract it has with the clearing house member and unlikely that the clearing house member will default with the clearing house.