Friday, May 15, 2009

Derivatives Unleashed by Professor Michael Greenberg

On 05/15/2009, Michael Greenberg, Professor gave a good explanation of the derivatives.
My understanding: Derivatives are the value derived from the value of the underlying asset. If the underlying asset's value goes down, depending on the stand that the derivative took, the derivative value goes up or down.
Eg: If I own a house and run the risk of fire on the house, I get a fire insurance. When my house goes on fire, I can claim the loss through my insurance which is straight forward. If three other people buy the same insurance on my house, they are really indirectly betting that my house will go on fire and they make money if it does.While me taking the insurance makes economic sense from a risk perspective, the other bets turn the derivative market into a frankenstein monster cassino.

Currently Congress is contemplating on regulation similar to the Pecora investigation in the link below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecora_Commission

From an accounting point of view, there is no contingent obligation through any unrealized loss booked as well which hides these exposures until they realize.


CSPAN also shared the illustration of Derivatives published in The Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/05/15/GR2009051500187.html

No comments: