In: Finance
Suppose that a manufacturer has an ongoing need for silver as a raw material in the production process, and is concerned about the risk of the price of silver going up. The firm is considering two hedging choices: futures contracts and option contracts.
(i) Suppose that the firm decides to hedge using futures contracts. Should it buy or sell futures contracts? Explain.
(ii) Suppose that the firm decides to hedge using option contracts. Should it use call or put options? Should it buy or sell these options? Explain.
Lastly, briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of hedging using options as compared to futures contracts.
Answer:
i)Since the manufacturer has an ongoing need for silver as a raw material in the production, and he is concerned about the risk of price of silver going up, the manufacturer must enter into a long position i.e he must buy future contract so that he can lock in the price.
ii) A call is an option contract giving the owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy a specified amount of an underlying security at a specified price within a specified time. Therefore the manufacturer must enter into a call option and he must buy it. It will give him the right to buy the commodity at the future date.
Advantages of using option contracts:
Disadvantages of using option contracts: