Intro to Financial Derivatives and Options – 11/11/2015

Market Update – by Linh C. Nguyen

  • Some reports show that the U.S Labor Market is doing well. Data shows that the unemployment rate fell in October, while both the number of jobs in U.S and the average hourly wage rose.
  • Alibaba held a big Single Day Sale on Nov. 11th. Its total revenue reached $14.3 billion.
  • On Nov. 4th the government of Japan sold 11% of the shares of Japan Post to the public, delivering around $12 billion. It is the world’s biggest IPO in 2015.

Intro to Options – by Siran Tang:

  • An option is a contract that offers the buyers the right to buy or sell a financial asset at an agreed-upon price during a certain period of time or on a specific date.
  • Traders use options to speculate, which is a relatively risky practice, while hedgers use options to reduce the risk of holding an asset.
  • There are many strategies to control the risk in using options. Graphs of vertical spread and butterfly spread are some of them.

We also had Brainteaser activities that were held by Linh C. Nguyen.