Question
You are the manager of a U.S. company situated in Los Angeles and manages the import/export division of the company. The company distributes (resells) a
You are the manager of a U.S. company situated in Los Angeles and manages the import/export division of the company. The company distributes (resells) a variety of consumer products imported to the U.S.A from Europe and also exports goods manufactured in the U.S.A. to Canada.
The first transaction is for the import of good quality wines from France, since a retail liquor trading chain customer in the United States, for who you have been doing imports over the past five years has a very large order this time. The producer in France informed you that the current cost of the wine that you want to import is and 2,500,000. The producer in France will only ship goods in three months time due to seasonal differences but payment will have to be conducted six months from now.
The second transaction is for the export of 3d printers manufactured in the U.S.A. The country where it will be exported to is Canada. The payment of CAD 2,500,000 for the export to Canada will be received twelve months from now.
You consider different transaction hedges, namely forwards, options and money market hedges.
You are provided with the following quotes from your bank, which is an international bank with branches in all the countries:
Forward rates:
Currencies | Spot | 3 month (90 days) | 6 month (180 days) | 9 month (270 days) | 12 month (360 days) |
$/ | 1.14134 | 1.14743 | 1.15354 | 1.15969 | 1.16587 |
$/CAD | 0.76465 | 0.76559 | 0.77475 | 0.76748 | 0.76843 |
Bank applies 360 day-count convention to all currencies (for this assignment apply 360 days in all calculations).
Annual borrowing and investment rates for your company:
Country | 3 month rates | 6 months rates | 9 month rates | 12 month rates | ||||
Borrow | Invest | Borrow | Invest | Borrow | Invest | Borrow | Invest | |
United States | 2.687% | 2.554% | 2.713% | 2.580% | 2.740% | 2.607% | 2.766% | 2.633% |
Europe | 0.505% | 0.480% | 0.510% | 0.485% | 0.515% | 0.490% | 0.520% | 0.495% |
Canada | 2.177% | 2.069% | 2.198% | 2.090% | 2.220% | 2.112% | 2.241% | 2.133% |
Bank applies 360 day-count convention to all currencies. Explanation e.g. 3 month borrowing rate on $ = 2.687%. This is the annual borrowing rate for 3 months. If you only borrow for 3 months the interest rate is actually 2.687%/4 = 0.67175% (always round to 5 decimals when you do calculations). Furthermore, note that these are the rates at which your company borrows and invests. The rates are not borrowing and investment rates from a bank perspective.
Option prices:
Currencies | 3 month options | 6 month options | ||||||
Call option | Put option | Call option | Put option | |||||
Strike | Premium in $ | Strike | Premium in $ | Strike | Premium in $ | Strike | Premium in $ | |
$/ | $1.14399 | $0.00174 | $1.15088 | $0.00174 | $1.15010 | $0.00173 | $1.15702 | $0.00152 |
$/CAD | $0.76292 | $0.00392 | $0.76828 | $0.00392 | $0.77205 | $0.00387 | $0.77747 | $0.00387 |
Bank applies 360 day-count convention to all currencies. (Students also have to apply 360 days in all calculations). Option premium calculations should include time value calculations based on US $ annual borrowing interest rates for applicable time periods e.g. 3 month $ option premium is subject to 2.687%/4 interest rate.)
Table 5: France: Exchange rate hedges compared:
| Forward rate | Money market hedge locked in exchange rate | Option hedge breakeven exchange rate |
$/
| 1.15354 | 1.15402 | 1.15185 |
Calculate the exchange rates that will apply if the money market hedges are used for the export to Canada
Table 6: Canada export with money market hedge:
PV of foreign currency to be borrowed | Converted at spot to $ for investment | $ amount with interest invested | Exchange rate locked in with transaction | |
Show answers in this row: | ||||
Show your workings in the columns below the answers |
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