Sunday, March 16, 2014

How To Arrive At A Price For Bond

By Jaclyn Hurley


In most cases, the valuation of the securities being traded within a specified market is determined by interplay of factors. The demand and supply of such commodities often determines the much that the traders are likely to part with in order to acquire such securities. The higher the demand of a commodity within the markets, the higher the face value. A price for bond has to take into consideration the demand the supply factors too.

The valuation of the bonds being traded in the market of other securities is done after the cash flows have been taken into consideration. In practice, the face value of the bonds in trading is often the present value of the future cash flows. All the relevant costs have to be deducted from the value of the cash flows. This is done using an appropriate discount factor.

There are several classes of bonds that are traded in the financial instruments markets. Some of the binds have options while others do not. The options are mainly in form of conversion choices. This means that the owners have an option of converting them into equity on maturity. The embedded bonds are relatively priced higher as compared to the plain options since they have a higher rate of risk associated with them.

Before the pricing of a financial instrument, several pieces of data have to be collected. The discount rates to be used have to be calculated depending on the general performance of markets. The yield rates and rate of returns also have to be calculated. Where such information is hard to acquire, the bonds are relatively priced. This means that their prices are determined using a benchmark. In most cases, the corporate and the government securities are used for arriving at their prices.

Segregation of cash flows is done in different markets so as to separate the costs from the returns. This means that each of them is rated using a different rate. Some may be treated as zero-rated coupons. The use of coupons helps the traders to determine the rate of returns and general profitability in the general markets. Bundling of rates may also be done.

Business and finance risks have to be taken into consideration at the different levels of trading. Business risks are often associated with the industry in which the respective firms operate in. The finance risks are associated with the rate of returns and risks of each class of bonds. Embedded options are riskier that than other classes.

Modeling is very important in estimation of the future prices. This puts the risks and the uncertainties that associated with adverse price movements into perspective. With the use of the appropriate equations, the interest rates and yield rates can be approximated. This is done by plugging the various trading parameters into the trading equations developed by the models.

There is a need to ensure that accuracy is observed during the calculations and the estimations. In cases where approximations are to be made, prudence in estimation should be observed. This ensures that the movements within the bonds band remain within the estimated range. This avoids giving the wrong pieces of information to the traders.




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