Question: Task 1 You work as a trader for an equity fund. On the first trading day of 2008, you are concerned that your long position
Task 1
You work as a trader for an equity fund. On the first trading day of 2008, you are concerned that your long position (1,000 stocks) in a large company in the U.S equity market is subject to significant downside risks for the year, as some potentially negative news could result in market crashes. However, you have no plans to liquidate your long position until the end of 2008.
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a) Devise a strategy involving taking long positions in options to help protect your stock holdings from potentially negative market movements. You should describe the key attributes of the options you use and justify your choices.
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b) Assume you implemented the strategy you devised from part a), calculate the month-end (for every holding months) gains/losses for your position with and without hedging, compared with your initial position at the beginning of the year. Was your hedging strategy an effective one? (Hint: you should evaluate the effectiveness of your hedging strategy once you liquidate your stock position at the end of 2008).
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c) In early 2008, the popular prediction is that the market will experience a downturn, hence most hedging strategies focus on loss minimisations. Imagine a scenario where prices are extremely volatile, but no one can predict the direction, and you have a long position in stocks. Design two different strategies involving taking long positions in options to minimise losses and capture potential gains. Justify which one is the best. (Hint: you do not need to provide calculations of profit or loss here).
| Company name | Ticker | Date | Stike Price | Bid Price - Call | Ask Price - Call | Bid Price - Put | Ask Price Put | Stock Price |
| APPLE INC | AAPL | 2-Jan-08 | 200 | 39.3 | 39.65 | 36.95 | 37.3 | 194.84 |
| BOEING CO | BA | 2-Jan-08 | 90 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 10.7 | 11 | 86.62 |
| CHEVRON CORP | CVX | 2-Jan-08 | 95 | 10 | 10.3 | 10.5 | 10.7 | 93.46 |
| COCA-COLA CO | KO | 2-Jan-08 | 62.5 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 61.09 |
| WALT DISNEY CO | DIS | 2-Jan-08 | 32.5 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 31.84 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | GS | 2-Jan-08 | 210 | 34.1 | 35 | 30.5 | 31 | 207.6 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | HD | 2-Jan-08 | 30 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 6 | 6.2 | 26.11 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | IBM | 2-Jan-08 | 105 | 12.2 | 12.5 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 104.69 |
| MERCK & CO INC | MRK | 2-Jan-08 | 60 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 57.37 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | VZ | 2-Jan-08 | 45 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 5.8 | 6 | 43.21 |
| Company Name | Date | Stock Price |
| APPLE INC | 31-Jan-08 | 135.36 |
| APPLE INC | 29-Feb-08 | 125.02 |
| APPLE INC | 31-Mar-08 | 143.5 |
| APPLE INC | 30-Apr-08 | 173.95 |
| APPLE INC | 30-May-08 | 188.75 |
| APPLE INC | 30-Jun-08 | 167.44 |
| APPLE INC | 31-Jul-08 | 158.95 |
| APPLE INC | 29-Aug-08 | 169.53 |
| APPLE INC | 30-Sep-08 | 113.66 |
| APPLE INC | 31-Oct-08 | 107.59 |
| APPLE INC | 28-Nov-08 | 92.67 |
| APPLE INC | 31-Dec-08 | 85.35 |
| BOEING CO | 31-Jan-08 | 83.18 |
| BOEING CO | 29-Feb-08 | 82.79 |
| BOEING CO | 31-Mar-08 | 74.37 |
| BOEING CO | 30-Apr-08 | 84.86 |
| BOEING CO | 30-May-08 | 82.77 |
| BOEING CO | 30-Jun-08 | 65.72 |
| BOEING CO | 31-Jul-08 | 61.11 |
| BOEING CO | 29-Aug-08 | 65.56 |
| BOEING CO | 30-Sep-08 | 57.35 |
| BOEING CO | 31-Oct-08 | 52.42 |
| BOEING CO | 28-Nov-08 | 42.63 |
| BOEING CO | 31-Dec-08 | 42.67 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 31-Jan-08 | 83.25 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 29-Feb-08 | 86.66 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 31-Mar-08 | 85.36 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 30-Apr-08 | 96.15 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 30-May-08 | 99.15 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 30-Jun-08 | 99.13 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 31-Jul-08 | 84.56 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 29-Aug-08 | 86.32 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 30-Sep-08 | 82.48 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 31-Oct-08 | 74.6 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 28-Nov-08 | 79.01 |
| CHEVRON CORP | 31-Dec-08 | 73.97 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 31-Jan-08 | 59 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 29-Feb-08 | 58.46 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 31-Mar-08 | 60.87 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 30-Apr-08 | 58.87 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 30-May-08 | 57.26 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 30-Jun-08 | 51.98 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 31-Jul-08 | 51.5 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 29-Aug-08 | 52.07 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 30-Sep-08 | 52.88 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 31-Oct-08 | 44.06 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 28-Nov-08 | 46.87 |
| COCA-COLA CO | 31-Dec-08 | 45.27 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 31-Jan-08 | 199.55 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 29-Feb-08 | 169.63 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 31-Mar-08 | 165.39 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 30-Apr-08 | 191.37 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 30-May-08 | 176.41 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 30-Jun-08 | 174.9 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 31-Jul-08 | 184.04 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 29-Aug-08 | 163.97 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 30-Sep-08 | 128 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 31-Oct-08 | 92.5 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 28-Nov-08 | 78.99 |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 31-Dec-08 | 84.39 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 31-Jan-08 | 30.64 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 29-Feb-08 | 26.55 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 31-Mar-08 | 27.97 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 30-Apr-08 | 28.8 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 30-May-08 | 27.36 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 30-Jun-08 | 23.42 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 31-Jul-08 | 23.83 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 29-Aug-08 | 27.12 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 30-Sep-08 | 25.89 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 31-Oct-08 | 23.59 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 28-Nov-08 | 23.11 |
| HOME DEPOT INC | 31-Dec-08 | 23.02 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 31-Jan-08 | 107.11 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 29-Feb-08 | 113.86 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 31-Mar-08 | 115.14 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 30-Apr-08 | 120.7 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 30-May-08 | 129.43 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 30-Jun-08 | 118.53 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 31-Jul-08 | 127.98 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 29-Aug-08 | 121.73 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 30-Sep-08 | 116.96 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 31-Oct-08 | 92.97 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 28-Nov-08 | 81.6 |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP | 31-Dec-08 | 84.16 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 31-Jan-08 | 46.1 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 29-Feb-08 | 44.3 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 31-Mar-08 | 37.95 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 30-Apr-08 | 38.04 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 30-May-08 | 38.96 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 30-Jun-08 | 37.69 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 31-Jul-08 | 32.9 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 29-Aug-08 | 35.67 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 30-Sep-08 | 31.56 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 31-Oct-08 | 30.95 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 28-Nov-08 | 26.72 |
| MERCK & CO INC | 31-Dec-08 | 30.4 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 31-Jan-08 | 38.83 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 29-Feb-08 | 36.32 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 31-Mar-08 | 36.45 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 30-Apr-08 | 38.48 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 30-May-08 | 38.47 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 30-Jun-08 | 35.4 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 31-Jul-08 | 34.04 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 29-Aug-08 | 35.12 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 30-Sep-08 | 32.09 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 31-Oct-08 | 29.67 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 28-Nov-08 | 32.65 |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 31-Dec-08 | 33.9 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 31-Jan-08 | 29.84 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 29-Feb-08 | 32.41 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 31-Mar-08 | 31.38 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 30-Apr-08 | 32.43 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 30-May-08 | 33.6 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 30-Jun-08 | 31.2 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 31-Jul-08 | 30.35 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 29-Aug-08 | 32.35 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 30-Sep-08 | 30.69 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 31-Oct-08 | 25.91 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 28-Nov-08 | 22.52 |
| WALT DISNEY CO (THE) | 31-Dec-08 | 22.69 |
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