The physical market of a commodity is the set of contracts for the delivery of a specified quantity and quality of the commodity at a specified place and time. Its paper market is the set of contracts on the commodity’s price that are normally settled in cash or closed out before delivery: futures, swaps and options.
Voorbeelden
Example 1.3 (A monthly crude swap)
An airline buys a swap on 100 000 barrels a month for the next quarter at a fixed against the monthly average of a crude benchmark. If the benchmark averages in the first month, the airline receives ; if it averages in the second, it pays . Whatever it pays for its fuel in the physical market, its net cost per barrel is fixed near $82, up to the difference between the fuel it burns and the benchmark it hedged, which is the subject of the last section.