DERIVADOS FINANCIEROS ¿QUE SON? - COBERTURA, ESPECULACIÓN Y ARBITRAJE. ¿Qué es el ACTIVO SUBYACENTE?

A derivative is a financial instrument whose value depends on the value of an underlying asset. An underlying asset can be any real, physical, or financial asset traded in the market, such as currencies, gold, corn, livestock, coffee, or oil.

Hedging aims to reduce or eliminate the risk associated with changes in the prices of the underlying asset. The goal is not to generate profit but to secure future prices today. An example is a European company using a derivative to fix the exchange rate for a future dollar purchase, ensuring a specific euro cost regardless of currency fluctuations.

Speculation seeks to generate profits from the differential in underlying asset prices. Speculators bet on price increases or decreases based on their future expectations. For instance, a speculator might buy a derivative to purchase gold at a set price, anticipating a future rise in gold prices to profit from the difference.

Arbitrage involves taking advantage of price differences across multiple markets through complementary transactions to secure a risk-free profit. It's difficult to find due to market efficiency, as it essentially exploits pricing errors. An example would be simultaneously buying dollars at a lower price through one derivative and selling them at a higher price through another.

The video introduces key terms: T0 (contract start), Tt (contract end), S0 (underlying asset price today), ST (underlying asset price at end time), K (agreed asset value for future transaction), N (number of contracts), f0 (derivative value at T0), and ft (derivative value at Tt, also known as the payoff).

The video concludes by mentioning that future videos will analyze common derivatives such as futures, forwards, options, and swaps.