12. What is hedging?
Hedging means taking a position in the futures or options market that is opposite to a position in the physical market. It reduces or limits risks associated with unpredictable changes in price. The objective behind this mechanism is to offset a loss in one market with a gain in another.
13. What is arbitrage in commodity markets?
Arbitrage is making purchases and sales simultaneously in two different markets to profit from the price differences prevailing in those markets. The factors driving arbitrage are the real or perceived differences in the equilibrium price as determined by supply and demand at various locations.
14. What are warehouse receipts?
It is a document issued by a warehouse indicating ownership of a stored commodity and specifying details in respect of some particulars, like, quality, quantity and, some times, indicating the crop season. The original depositor or the holder in due course can claim the commodities from the warehouse by producing the warehouse receipt.
15. Is an ISIN number also allotted to commodity like in equities?
Yes, the identifier is called as ICIN. Depending on the type of commodity, grade, validity, expiry date, name & location of warehouse, the exchanges allot ICIN to each commodity. ICIN differs from exchange to exchange.
16. Unlike equities where rate is per share basis, does the commodities market have different rate units for different commodities?
Commodities have predefined lot sizes (set by the respective exchanges as per existing regulation) where current price of a particular commodity, for selected expiry, is shown in contract information available & rate units differ for different commodities. The standard unit based on which the price of the contract is quoted for trading is called quotation or base value. E.g. for gold contract, the quotation or base value is 10 grams while it is 1 kg in case of silver on MCX.
Hedging means taking a position in the futures or options market that is opposite to a position in the physical market. It reduces or limits risks associated with unpredictable changes in price. The objective behind this mechanism is to offset a loss in one market with a gain in another.
13. What is arbitrage in commodity markets?
Arbitrage is making purchases and sales simultaneously in two different markets to profit from the price differences prevailing in those markets. The factors driving arbitrage are the real or perceived differences in the equilibrium price as determined by supply and demand at various locations.
14. What are warehouse receipts?
It is a document issued by a warehouse indicating ownership of a stored commodity and specifying details in respect of some particulars, like, quality, quantity and, some times, indicating the crop season. The original depositor or the holder in due course can claim the commodities from the warehouse by producing the warehouse receipt.
15. Is an ISIN number also allotted to commodity like in equities?
Yes, the identifier is called as ICIN. Depending on the type of commodity, grade, validity, expiry date, name & location of warehouse, the exchanges allot ICIN to each commodity. ICIN differs from exchange to exchange.
16. Unlike equities where rate is per share basis, does the commodities market have different rate units for different commodities?
Commodities have predefined lot sizes (set by the respective exchanges as per existing regulation) where current price of a particular commodity, for selected expiry, is shown in contract information available & rate units differ for different commodities. The standard unit based on which the price of the contract is quoted for trading is called quotation or base value. E.g. for gold contract, the quotation or base value is 10 grams while it is 1 kg in case of silver on MCX.
17. What is a lot Size? Do the trading & delivery lot sizes differ from each other?
It is the quantity of a commodity specified in the contract as tradable units. The lot size is different for each commodity. The details about lot sizes / delivery lot can be obtained from the respective exchanges’ website.
Each contract has a lot size and a delivery size, which are not the same; in the case of gold, the lot size on the NCDEX is 100 gm while the delivery size is 1000 gm. If a person wants to enter into a delivery settlement for gold, he will have to enter into a minimum of 10 contracts or multiples thereof. Market participants are required to negotiate only the quantity and price of the contract, as all other parameters are predetermined by the exchange.
Please note the trading/delivery lot varies from exchange to exchange.
18. What are the various elements in cost-of-carry for a commodity?
The cost-of-carry of a commodity is the sum of all the costs including interest, insurance, storage costs, and other miscellaneous costs. Usually, the commodity futures price in the exchange is the spot price plus cost-of-carry.
19. What is the meaning of Basis?
Basis is the difference between the spot price of an asset and the futures price of the same asset underlying. The spot price is the ready price prevailing in the physical commodity market while the futures price is the price of any specific contract that is prevailing in the exchanges where it is traded.
20. What is meant by basis risk?
Generally, the spot price of a commodity and future price of the same underlying commodity do not change by the same amount during the life of the futures contract. This uncertainty in the variation of basis is known as basis risk.
