Volume 3 - Equity Investments Flashcards
(162 cards)
Market Organization and Structure
explain the main functions of the financial system
describe classifications of assets and markets
describe the major types of securities, currencies, contracts, commodities, and real assets that trade in organized markets,
including their distinguishing characteristics and major subtypes
describe types of financial intermediaries and services that they provide
compare positions an investor can take in an asset
calculate and interpret the leverage ratio, the rate of return on a margin transaction, and the security price at which the investor
would receive a margin call
compare execution, validity, and clearing instructions
compare market orders with limit orders
define primary and secondary markets and explain how secondary markets support primary markets
describe how securities, contracts, and currencies are traded in
quote-driven, order-driven, and brokered markets
describe characteristics of a well-functioning financial system
describe objectives of market regulation
What are the main functions of the financial system ?
1- Facilitate the transfer of Capital and / or Risk (Saving. Borrowing, Raise Equity Capital, Managing Risks, Exchange assets & Information based trading)
2- Price Discovery : Rates of return
3- Facilitate the efficient allocation of capital : Capital seeks out the bets risk-adjusted return avaible
1,2 & 3 require:
- Speedy transactions (liquidity)
- Low transation costs
- Acces to info
- Regulation
Money market < 1 yr
Capital market > 1 yr
Public Market : Exchanges
Private Market : Qualified investors only
Equity ownership claims:
1- Common
2- Preferred
3- Warrants : 10 years, Right to purchase and can be detached from the bond.
Major types of securities:
1- Securities
2- Currencies
3- Contracts
Intermediaries: Facilitate the matching of providers and users of capital and structuring products / services to satisfy that function
1:
- Brokers –> Fulfill orders for clients
- Exchanges –> Provide an auction platform and must print best bid and ask
- Alternative Trading System (ATS) –> No regulatory authority over members. (Dark pools –> do not display orders sent to them. Usually used by large traders)
2:
- Dealers –> Will hold inventory, Will become contract counterparties, Create liquidity, Can act as a broker, Primary dealers can buy/sell with the Central Bank
3:
- Securitizers –> Buying assets, placing them in a pool, and selling securities against them
4:
- Depository institution and other financial corporations –> Banks and credit unions that take deposits - pay interest, lend to borrower and charge interests
5:
- Insurance companies –> Contracts to protect
6:
-Arbritageurs –> Trades on mispricing
7:
- Settlement & Custodial Services –> Hold securities on behalf of clients. Clearinghouses arrange for the final settlement and act as counterpary for futures contracts
Bid : Prices at which dealers and traders are willing to buy
Ask: Prices at which dealers and traders are willing to sell
You can buy the Ask and sell the Bid
Trades validity instructions:
Day - Expire at the end of the day (default)
ATC - good-til-cancelled (max typically 6 months)
FOK - fill or kill
Good on close - Market on close. Execute at the close of trading
An IPO can be done as:
1- Underwriting offer ; The IB buys the entire issue at a negociated price then proceeds to sell on the IPO and makes the spread (can put a closure that if they sell to a certain % the company has to sell another % more to the IB)
2- Best effort offer; The IB acts as a broker only and sells what they can sell on IPO. Works on commission
Call market trades only take place when the market is called at a particular time and place. They are very liquid markets when called, but completely illiquid otherwise. Most use a single price auction in which the price chosen maximizes the total trading volume. They are usually called once a day.
In continuous trading markets, trades can take place anytime the market is open. It may be difficult if other buyers and sellers are not present. Many continuous trading markets use call market auctions at the beginning and/or end of the trading day.
Orders are used by buyers and sellers to communicate with brokers and exchanges. An order will specify the following information:
What instrument to trade
Whether to buy or sell
How much to trade
Execution instructions: How to fill the order
Validity instructions: When the order may be filled
Clearing instructions: How to settle the trade
Dealers are willing to buy at bid prices and sell at ask prices (or offer prices). Traders may specify bid or ask sizes – the amount they are willing to trade at that price. The market bid-ask spread is the difference between the best bid and best offer.
Those who offer a trade are said to make the market, while those who accept those offers are said to take the market.
Execution instructions specify how to fill the order.
Market order: trades immediately at the best price, which can be costly in illiquid markets because price concessions are needed to attract traders.
Limit order: specifies either the maximum price that a buyer is willing to pay or the minimum price that a seller is willing to accept. If the limit price is greater than the best offer, the order is described as a marketable limit order because it will be filled immediately (at least partially) as if it were a market order.
Buy orders placed below the best bid are described as being behind the market and will only execute if the best offer price drops. Limit orders waiting to trade are called standing limit orders. A limit order makes a new market if it is between the best bid and offer prices.
All-or-nothing (AON) order: will only be executed if the entire quantity can be filled.
Hidden order: can only be seen by brokers or exchanges, not by other traders.
Iceberg order: only display a fraction of the amount the trader is really willing to transact.
Validity instructions indicate when an order may be filled.
Day orders are the most common. They expire at the end of the business day if not filled.
Good-till-cancelled (GTC) orders are valid until executed, but some brokers will automatically cancel them after a few months.
Immediate or cancel orders (aka. fill or kill) expire if they are not filled (at least partly) immediately upon being received.
Good-on-close orders are filled at close of trading. They are also called market-on-close. These orders are typically used by mutual funds because the portfolios are usually valued at closing prices.
Stop orders cannot be filled until the stop price condition has been met.
Stop-loss orders are often used to limit losses. For example, the order will be automatically filled if the price falls below a trigger point. If the price is falling rapidly, there is no guarantee that the order will be executed at the specified price. In such circumstances, a put option may be preferable to a stop-loss order.
Stop-buy orders can be used to limit losses on short positions or to ensure that an undervalued stock is not purchased until interest from other investors bids the price over a certain threshold.
Quote-Driven Markets
In quote-driven markets, customers trade with dealers. Most trading is done in this type of market. These are also called over-the-counter (OTC) markets. Most currencies and fixed-income securities are traded in quote-driven markets.
Order-Driven Markets:
Order-driven markets are based on a matching system run by an exchange or broker to match traders. Orders can be submitted by customers or dealers. Exchanges use this type of market structure. Often people are trading with strangers, so there is a need to ensure performance. Stocks typically trade in order-driven markets.
In order-driven markets, there are order matching rules. Price is the top priority – the highest buy orders and lowest sell orders are executed first. Among orders with the same price, a secondary precedence rule prioritizes those that were placed earliest.
In markets where hidden orders are permitted, orders with displayed quantities are usually given priority over those with undisplayed quantities. In these markets, orders are prioritized according to price first, display status second, and time of arrival third.
There are also trade pricing rules in order-driven markets:
Uniform pricing rules are used by call markets. All trades are executed at the same price. The market chooses the price to maximize the total quantity traded.
Discriminatory pricing rules are used by continuous trading markets. They fill orders incrementally, starting with the most aggressively priced orders on the other side of the book. This allows investors to submit a single large order rather than breaking it up into many smaller orders.
Derivative pricing rules are used by crossing networks that match buyers and sellers. However, these traders must be willing to accept prices that are determined in other markets. Crossing network trades typically execute at the midpoint of the best bid and ask quotes from the exchange where the security is primarily traded.
Brokered Markets
In brokered markets, the brokers arrange trades between customers. They are ideal for trading unique assets (e.g., real estate) that dealers would be unwilling to carry in inventory.
Market Information Systems
A market is pre-trade transparent if it publishes information about quotes and orders in real time. It is post-trade transparent if execution prices and trade sizes are published soon after trades are completed. Buy-side traders like transparency, while dealers prefer opaque markets.
A complete market will satisfy :
savers
borrowers
hedgers
asset exchange (spot)
Features of a well functionning system:
- timely & accurate disclosures
- Liquidity
- Complete market
-External / Informational efficiency
Gouv. raise funds with long term bonds in capital markets
Which of the following types of financial market participants is least likely to design risk management instruments?
A) Exchanges
B) Investment banks
–> C) Defined-benefit pension plans
Private placement securities are illiquid because they cannot be traded in the secondary market. Issuers are forced to accept lower prices than they would receive for an equivalent public offering.
A shelf registration can be used by issuers to sell securities directly to secondary market investors on a piecemeal basis rather than in a single large offering in the primary market. This gives the issuer the flexibility to raise capital as needed.
Dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) allow investors to purchase new shares with dividends, sometimes at a discount. The company must issue new shares for DRIPs rather than purchasing existing shares in the secondary market.
Rights offerings grant existing shareholders the option to purchase additional shares at a below-market price. These are effectively warrants that dilute the value of existing shares.
Security Market Indexes
describe a security market index
calculate and interpret the value, price return, and total return of an index
describe the choices and issues in index construction and management
compare the different weighting methods used in index construction
calculate and analyze the value and return of an index given its weighting method
describe rebalancing and reconstitution of an index
describe uses of security market indexes
describe types of equity indexes
compare types of security market indexes
describe types of fixed-income indexes
describe indexes representing alternative investments
Index: consist of individual securities (coonstituent securities) that represent a given security market, market segment or asset class
1- Price Return Index: reflects only prices
2- Total Return Index: (Price Return +) assumes reinvestment of all income received since inception