The Microstructure of Foreign Exchange Markets


Book Description

The foreign exchange market is the largest, fastest-growing financial market in the world. Yet conventional macroeconomic approaches do not explain why people trade foreign exchange. At the same time, they fail to explain the short-run determinants of the exchange rate. These nine innovative essays use a microstructure approach to analyze the workings of the foreign exchange market, with special emphasis on institutional aspects and the actual behavior of market participants. They examine the volume of transactions, heterogeneity of traders, the time of day and location of trading, the bid-ask spread, and the high level of exchange rate volatility that has puzzled many observers. They also consider the structure of the market, including such issues as nontransparency, asymmetric information, liquidity trading, the use of automated brokers, the relationship between spot and derivative markets, and the importance of systemic risk in the market. This timely volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in the economics of international finance.







Handbook of Exchange Rates


Book Description

Praise for Handbook of Exchange Rates “This book is remarkable. I expect it to become the anchor reference for people working in the foreign exchange field.” —Richard K. Lyons, Dean and Professor of Finance, Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley “It is quite easily the most wide ranging treaty of expertise on the forex market I have ever come across. I will be keeping a copy close to my fingertips.” —Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management How should we evaluate the forecasting power of models? What are appropriate loss functions for major market participants? Is the exchange rate the only means of adjustment? Handbook of Exchange Rates answers these questions and many more, equipping readers with the relevant concepts and policies for working in today’s international economic climate. Featuring contributions written by leading specialists from the global financial arena, this handbook provides a collection of original ideas on foreign exchange (FX) rates in four succinct sections: • Overview introduces the history of the FX market and exchange rate regimes, discussing key instruments in the trading environment as well as macro and micro approaches to FX determination. • Exchange Rate Models and Methods focuses on forecasting exchange rates, featuring methodological contributions on the statistical methods for evaluating forecast performance, parity relationships, fair value models, and flow–based models. • FX Markets and Products outlines active currency management, currency hedging, hedge accounting; high frequency and algorithmic trading in FX; and FX strategy-based products. • FX Markets and Policy explores the current policies in place in global markets and presents a framework for analyzing financial crises. Throughout the book, topics are explored in-depth alongside their founding principles. Each chapter uses real-world examples from the financial industry and concludes with a summary that outlines key points and concepts. Handbook of Exchange Rates is an essential reference for fund managers and investors as well as practitioners and researchers working in finance, banking, business, and econometrics. The book also serves as a valuable supplement for courses on economics, business, and international finance at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels.




Foreign Exchange


Book Description

Praise for Foreign Exchange "Tim Weithers starts by telling the reader that foreign exchange is not difficult, just confusing, but Foreign Exchange: A Practical Guide to the FX Markets proves that money is much more exciting than anything it buys. This useful book is a whirlwind tour of the world's largest market, and the tour guide is an expert storyteller, inserting numerous fascinating insights and quirky facts throughout the book." -John R. Taylor, Chairman, CEO and CIO, FX Concepts "The book reflects the author's doctorate from the University of Chicago, several years' experience as an economics professor, and, most recently, a very successful decade as an executive at a huge international bank. These fundamental ingredients are seasoned with bits of wisdom and experience. What results is a very tasty intellectual stew." -Professor Jack Clark Francis, PhD, Professor of Economics and Finance, Bernard Baruch College "In this book, Tim Weithers clearly explains a very complicated subject. Foreign Exchange is full of jargon and conventions that make it very hard for non-professionals to gain a good understanding. Weither's book is a must for any student or professional who wants to learn the secrets of FX." -Niels O. Nygaard, Director of Financial Mathematics, The University of Chicago "An excellent text for students and practitioners who want to become acquainted with the arcane world of the foreign exchange market." -David DeRosa, PhD, founder, DeRosa Research and Trading, Inc., and Adjunct Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management "Tim Weithers provides a superb introduction to the arcana of foreign exchange markets. While primarily intended for practitioners, the book would be a valuable introduction for students with some knowledge of economics. The text is exceptionally clear with numeric examples and exercises that reinforce concepts. Frequent references are made to the economic theory behind the trading practices." -John F. O'Connell, Professor of Economics, College of the Holy Cross




Capital Market Instruments


Book Description

Revised and updated guide to some of the most important issues in the capital markets today, with an emphasis on fixed-income instruments. Fundamental concepts in equity market analysis, foreign exchange and money markets are also covered to provide a comprehensive overview. Analysis and valuation techniques are given for practical application.




Foreign Exchange Intervention Rules for Central Banks: A Risk-based Framework


Book Description

This paper presents a rule for foreign exchange interventions (FXI), designed to preserve financial stability in floating exchange rate arrangements. The FXI rule addresses a market failure: the absence of hedging solution for tail exchange rate risk in the market (i.e. high volatility). Market impairment or overshoot of exchange rate between two equilibria could generate high volatility and threaten financial stability due to unhedged exposure to exchange rate risk in the economy. The rule uses the concept of Value at Risk (VaR) to define FXI triggers. While it provides to the market a hedge against tail risk, the rule allows the exchange rate to smoothly adjust to new equilibria. In addition, the rule is budget neutral over the medium term, encourages a prudent risk management in the market, and is more resilient to speculative attacks than other rules, such as fixed-volatility rules. The empirical methodology is backtested on Banco Mexico’s FXIs data between 2008 and 2016.




International Finance


Book Description

The landscape of international finance has drastically changed within the last decade. The institutions inherited from the Bretton-Woods conference—the IMF and the WBD— have become obsolete, in part, due to their lack of reforming. Meanwhile newly created institutions including The New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are increasing their sphere of influence. Developing countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America are more eager than ever to work with the NDB or the AIIB. Meanwhile, new players such as Sovereign Wealth Funds are reshaping financial markets, through their weights and influence in global markets. The book looks to enhance understanding of the real markets of international finance and proposes ways to bring the old and new players together in this sand-shifting world of international finance.​




Foreign Exchange Intervention: A Dataset of Public Data and Proxies


Book Description

Foreign exchange intervention (FXI) is a highly debated topic. Yet, comprehensive and comparable data on FXI is hard to find. This paper provides a new dataset of FXI covering a large number of countries over the period 2000-20 at monthly and quarterly frequencies. It includes publicly available data for about 40 countries and carefully constructed proxies for 122 countries. Proxies are focused on both spot and derivative transactions that alter the central bank’s foreign currency position and account for a wide range of central bank operations, including vis-à-vis residents, the first proxy to do so to our knowledge. The paper discusses the merits of the new proxy relative to coarser measures traditionally used like the change in reserves, and potential definitional differences with published data. The paper also presents stylized facts using our newly constructed FXI proxies.




Foreign Exchange Rates and International Finance


Book Description

History of monetary system --Balance of payments and exchange rates --The foreign exchange markets --Exchange rate determination and forecasting --Exchange rates and international parity conditions --Foreign currency derivatives --Foreign exchange exposure and its management --Multinational corporations and international cost of capital --Multinational capital budgeting --Foreign direct investment and portfolio theory --International trade finance --Political risk and its management.




Exchange Rate Economics


Book Description

''In summary, the book is valuable as a textbook both at the advanced undergraduate level and at the graduate level. It is also very useful for the economist who wants to be brought up-to-date on theoretical and empirical research on exchange rate behaviour.'' ""Journal of International Economics""