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This technical note addresses the basics of risk measure for options. It introduces the different risk measures for options: Delta, Gamma, Vega, Rho, and Theta. Although the note focuses primarily on price risk (Delta) and the Delta risk (Gamma), it does address volatility risk (Vega), interest-rate risk (Rho), and time decay (Theta). In addition to providing derivations and basic calculations, the note provides a full description of Delta hedging.

Options on stock indexes, currencies, and futures all have something in common. In each of those cases, the holder of the option does not get the same things that the holder of the underlying asset gets. This affects the value of the option. In this note, we cover the valuation implications of this for options on stock indexes, currencies, and futures.

This technical note accompanies the case titled "Suntrust Acquisition of National Commerce" and describes the various capital ratios that are commonly used in the banking sector as well as gives an example of those ratios using a hypothetical bank. It also discusses briefly Basel I and Basel II which shaped capital regulations and ratios in the Banking sector.

This note provides an overview of interest rate parity and the hedged cost of international borrowings. The note describes the essential steps to hedge international borrowings with forward contracts and describes in detail the link between forward rates and interest rates and what drives that relationship.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 209029

At the start of August 2008, Dell Inc. (Dell) seems to be at a critical juncture. Michael Dell's return a year and a half ago has brought significant change to the company, including a focus on growing market segments, a shift in the company's distribution strategy, and an emphasis on design in Dell's product lineup. Despite these changes, Dell's stock price has lost value since Michael's return. A portfolio manager is trying to assess if Michael Dell's return to the helm of Dell Inc. and the company's shift in distribution strategy will turn around the company's stock price. To support his analysis, the portfolio manager has asked his team to assemble comparative financial data on Dell and its key competitors. The portfolio manager wants to know if he should buy, hold or sell Dell's shares. There are three teaching objectives for this case: assess financial performance using financial statements and financial ratios; identify cash flow and profit drivers; and identify the determinants of value and stock price.

PlanetTran is an environmentally-friendly car service that utilizes a fleet of hybrid cars in providing livery service to corporations and individuals. The founder, Seth Riney, is evaluating outside funding options in order to expand the company, and has met several local venture capital (VC) firms, Riney must decide if the dilution he would have to undergo in order to accept a substantial capital investment was worth the added upside to the company that both he and the VCs envisioned.

The carbon market has emerged in response to concerns about global climate change. This note characterizes the market in 2008, describing each segment and how it operates.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 209064

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 286130

When Robert A. "Bob" Eckert was named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mattel Toys in May 2000, he found a company which many considered lost. Its former CEO, Jill Barad, who had brought Barbie back from the toy-dead in the 1990s and CEO since 1997, had been forced out months before as the company's earnings had plummeted. The company was now losing roughly $1 million per day, and Barbie, the cornerstone of the company's sales and profits for a decade, was aging. Mattel's share price had plummeted from $46 per share in 1998 to a current low of $10. Bob Eckert and his team had moved quickly to slash operating costs, divest massive money losers, refocus on core products and brands, all in the hope of reviving profitability. The financial and operational measures taken had been rapid and, in some cases, brutal. The market had been patient with Bob Eckert, but now, in the summer of 2004, four years after his entrance, it was time to review accomplishments and renew and revise expectations. The toy industry was infamously short-cycled, and many worried that Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fischer Price, and American Girl would no longer provide the growth Mattel needed. The business mantra of profitable growth was very real to Bob Eckert and Mattel.

This technical note introduces the basic structure of the IS\LM and AS\AD models for a closed economy (i.e., one that does not engage in international trade). It is a useful complement for the more in-depth presentation of these models commonly found in an economics textbook.

This case examines currency risks faced by Microfinance Institutions, and evaluates strategies to hedge them in countries with pegged currency regimes and no derivatives markets. An MFI based in Western Samoa borrows in different currencies like the US dollar and the New Zealand dollar is worried about the additional variability in its cash flows due to unexpected currency fluctuations, and wants to explore strategies to hedge this risk in the absence of a derivatives market for the Samoan Tala. It seems to the president of the company that borrowing in different currencies, in proportions equal to the weights of the currencies in the basket peg, would reduce the currency risk. He wants to estimate the exact weights of the currencies in the basket peg and measure the reduction of currency risk using this strategy.

In November 2003, John Fruehwirth, a principal at Allied Capital, was considering a $20 million mezzanine investment in growth capital for Elephant Bar, a California restaurant chain. Elephant Bar had had some initial success in California but now Allied's investment committee had to wrestle with the question of whether the restaurant concept was strong enough to travel and become a national brand or whether it was mainly a "California Concept." And if the concept was strong enough to travel, would Allied Capital be able to meet its underwriting standards? Because Elephant Bar is a company with aggressive growth plans, it is significantly riskier than traditional mezzanine investments. The case can be used in courses on venture investing to illustrate another funding source available to young companies. Traditional mezzanine financing is often used to provide a portion of the funding for late-stage investments, such as leveraged buyouts. The case can also be used in courses on private equity to illustrate the perspective, risk mitigation strategies, and return expectations of mezzanine investors. This case has a teaching note and a spreadsheet, which are available to registered faculty members.

This case presents an interesting acquisition opportunity that SunTrust considered in 2004: National Commerce Financial, a large commercial bank, based in Memphis, Tennessee, with a strong footprint in North and South Carolina. The case shows how capital ratios are often a key component in the bank-merger process, and it allows for the evaluation of whether Phil Humann (SunTrust's CEO) could justify a multi-billion-dollar acquisition that had the potential to deplete capital, even if the deal were accretive to earnings.

The "TRX, Inc.: Initial Public Offering" case provides comprehensive coverage of a firm's decision to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) and the process of going public. The case follows the sequence of events from the company's incorporation in 1999 through the completion of an IPO in September 2005. In addition to raising capital, the TRX IPO case also includes consideration of another motivation for going public. At the time of its incorporation in November 1999, TRX attempted to go public but in the ensuing dot-com collapse, the IPO was never completed. In response to the failed IPO, TRX president and CEO, Trip Davis, turned to strategic investors to raise $20 million in a note convertible into equity at $11 per share. Although Davis had hoped the strategic investors would provide guidance and business opportunities for TRX, they never materialized. By 2004, he had come to believe that the largest strategic investor, Sabre, Inc. was not working in TRX's best interest. Thus, the IPO is motivated by a twofold purpose: to raise money and to provide for a strategic reorganization of the firm's ownership structure.

The "TRX, Inc.: Initial Public Offering" case provides comprehensive coverage of a firm's decision to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) and the process of going public. The case follows the sequence of events from the company's incorporation in 1999 through the completion of an IPO in September 2005. In addition to raising capital, the TRX IPO case also includes consideration of another motivation for going public. At the time of its incorporation in November 1999, TRX attempted to go public but in the ensuing dot-com collapse, the IPO was never completed. In response to the failed IPO, TRX president and CEO, Trip Davis, turned to strategic investors to raise $20 million in a note convertible into equity at $11 per share. Although Davis had hoped the strategic investors would provide guidance and business opportunities for TRX, they never materialized. By 2004, he had come to believe that the largest strategic investor, Sabre, Inc. was not working in TRX's best interest. Thus, the IPO is motivated by a twofold purpose: to raise money and to provide for a strategic reorganization of the firm's ownership structure.

Student spreadsheet for case UV1191.

Technical stock analysis uses past prices and trading volume or both to predict future prices. A broad range of techniques such as chart analysis, moving averages, and other filters and oscillators can be used to identify predictable patterns in stock prices. The conventional wisdom is that stock-price patterns emerge from systematic psychological behavior of market participants. This note provides an overview of some common analytical tools for identifying trading opportunities.

The president of Industrial Accessories Ltd. (IAL) was preparing for a meeting to consider a management buyout of IAL. IAL was a privately owned maker of attachments for construction vehicles based in British Columbia, Canada. IAL was founded in 1970 by Gerald Stone, now chairman and CEO of IAL. Stone had decided to sell IAL because of health problems. Because he had no suitable heirs to take on leadership of the company, the president and three other senior managers were considering a buyout strategy. Students must size up the acquisition, a place value on the company and propose a financing plan for the acquisition.