Equity Forwards Fundamentals Workout
- 02:37
Learn what a forward is and some of the key terminology.
Glossary
Long Forward Short Forward Underlying AssetTranscript
So in this workout, we're going to be looking at the calculations of gains and losses that two counterparties to an equity forward contract might be making. We're looking at Hanworth and Feltham Inc, entered into a one year forward contract with Intel as the underlying asset. Hanworth's got the long position, so they're agreeing to buy Intel shares in one year's time, and Feltham with the short position are gonna be delivering those Intel shares and receiving the forward price. That forward price we're given in the question here $36.72, and the contract size, 450 shares. So that's the number of shares that Feltham Inc. will have to deliver in one year's time on the delivery date. To calculate the gain or loss on the delivery date, we need the stock price on that same delivery date, which we are given here as $37.92. So to calculate the gain or the loss that Hanworth may have made, we first need to look at a comparison between that forward price and the stock price on the delivery date. Since Hanworth has the long position, they are going to buy the Intel shares on the delivery date. They will have made a gain if the stock price is higher than the forward price on the delivery date, which we can see here that it is. The stock price is $37.92, which is greater than the forward price to the tune of $1.20. Hanworth has to pay $36.72 to take delivery of those Intel shares that are worth $37.92 each, making a gain of $1.20 per share. Feltham on the other side of this trade is delivering those Intel shares that are worth $37.92, but will only be receiving the forward price for them, $36.72, So they'll be making a loss of $1.20. That is the gain and loss that Hanworth and Feltham are making respectively per share. But this one forward contract is for 450 shares. So to get the overall gain or loss that the two counterparties might be making, you need to take the gain or lost per share, and multiply through by the contract size, the number of shares that are specified in the contract. So for Hanworth, where we have 450 shares in the contract and they're making a $1.20 gain per share, that overall gain is gonna be $540. Equally for Feltham, where they are losing $1.20 per share and delivering 450 shares, their overall loss is gonna be $540 as well.