Financial futures / by M. Desmond Fitzgerald.

On September 30, 1982, the London International Financial Futures Exchange introduced the world of financial futures trading to Europe. This has lenta new aspect to an industry whose growth has been nothing short of spectacular since the introduction of exchange rate contracts on th Chicago Mercantile Excange in 1972 and interest rate contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade in 1975. The year 1982 also saw the introduction of stock index futures on several US exchanges, and the approval by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission of a pilot options on futures programme scheduled to begin in 1983. All the signs are that the next five years will see just as much growth in financial futures trading at the last five. As these markets develope, and the scope for hedging interest and exchange rate risk widens, it will be neccesary for all bankers, corporate treasurers, porfolio managers and indeed anyone concerened with the management of money to knw the features of these markets and how they can be used not just foe hedging but for trading, arbitrage and investment strategies as well. This book is designed to provide just that information: fron the basic mechanics of futures trading to the sophisticated hedging and trading strategies that are available with financial futures in Chicago, London and elsewhere.