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Make a reality check before a loan check

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

164Our reality check should either reinforce the efficacy of our process or help us understand just where our process has broken down. We can learn to improve our planning in the first step. We can recommit to executing our plan better in the second step. Perhaps we should evaluate more frequently in the third step.What can we improve on? How can we do better? We study the results of our process, draw conclusions, and decide how we will act right now.What’s the best decision we can make at this moment?

Sometimes the action we should take is simply to abandon the activity. Suppose we discover that we do not play well together. This is the perfect time—before we have too much invested in the partnership—to acknowledge the fact, pick up our toys, and move on. Companies frequently find that their cultures or technologies are not as compatible as they thought they were. Rather than ontinuing down a path to nowhere, it’s best sometimes to acknowledge the fact and look for a new partner. This is a healthy sign of maturity and growth. Like couples dating, you learn something about your partner and, just as important, you learn something about yourself. You have just increased your Partnering Intelligence.

Devising a credit plan that will work out

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

The first step is to decide what actions we should take to accomplish a task. Breaking down a manufacturing or sales process or a performance procedure into its parts is not hard to do.We also need to plan our relationship. We need to single out the components of the relationship that we agree are important: the nature of the relationship and how we’ll resolve conflicts, make decisions, and communicate. Like the logical steps in accomplishing a task, these preparations can lead to an open, constructive relationship. Whether we’re working on a task or the relationship, we cannot proceed
without a plan.

We carry out our plan.We do the activity.We solve problems, make decisions, and communicate just as we had planned.

Did we follow our plan? Did we end up where we thought we would? Did the relationship work out as planned? The phrase “reality check” is popular in business discussions today—we can get so wrapped up in activity, in the busyness of working hard, that we forget to stand back and see how we’re doing. In this step, we should primarily observe how well we’ve implemented our plan. What new information do we need to consider in the partnership?

Credit options on liquidity traded assets

Friday, March 12th, 2010

1However, since options are nonlinear derivatives, the delta itself will change with every move of the underlying asset;  i.e. the hedger must adjust the hedge amount dynamically, in order tocorrectly mimic the option to be replicated. Since in reality it is not possible to continuously adjust the hedge, the hedger is exposed to the risk of the delta changing quickly. The hedger with the delta position is always one step behind the true actual delta. The risk of unanticipated changes in the delta is called the gamma risk. In other words, the gamma is the sensitivity of the delta with respect to the underlying asset. If a trader wants to hedge gamma risk in addition to delta risk, he or she needs a security with a nonlinear payoff depending on the same underlying asset in addition to the underlying asset itself. By just using the underlying asset (which is an instrument with a linear payoff) the trader could never hedge gamma risk (which arises only in nonlinear payoffs). Similarly, option price sensitivities with respect to volatility (called vega), to interest rates (called rho) and to net yield can be calculated and used as a hedge measure for a change in the respective parameter. These sensitivities, which were developed for options on liquidly traded assets (e.g. equity), will generally be appropriate for property options as well.