Passage 2 A financial future is a contract to buy or sell certain forms of money at a specified future date, with the price agreed at the time of the deal. Under such a contract, if the market price of the financial instrument concerned should be higher on the delivery date than the price specified in the contract or if its yield should be lower, the seller undertakes to meet the different and, by collecting this, the buyer can obtain a price or yield which is settled at the time the contract is agreed. Conversely, if the market price of the financial instrument should be lower or its yield higher than is specified in the contract, the seller will gain and the buyer will lose the difference: but at least the buyer still has the comfort of knowing the price or yield in advance, as it was fixed at the date the contract was entered into. The London International Financial Futures Exchange brings together those buyers and sellers who wish to hedge against interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations. On the exchange, "standard" agreements ( or contracts ), are available for : 1 ) interest rate movements--by trading interest bearing securities, such as bank deposit certificates, in sterling or Eurodollars, gilt-edged stocks and United States Treasury Bonds ; 2) exchange rate fluctuations--by trading a range of currencies, for example the United States dollar against the pound sterling, the United States dollar against the Swiss franc and so on. On LIFFE, in order to make the contracts more tradable and to enable keener prices to be quoted, a limited range of standard contracts is available with fixed settlement dates. For example, the contract size for sterling bank deposit certificates is GBP 500 000 with delivery on the second Wednesday of the delivery month which could be March, June, September or December. With a contract covering the movement of interest rates, the market brings together those who wish to take delivery of specific financial instruments, with those who are prepared to supply the same financial instrument on the same terms. Similarly, with a contract coveting exchange rate fluctuations, the market brings together those who wish to sell a stated amount of a certain foreign currency at an agreed future date, and those who wish to buy on the same terms. A financial future is a contract to buy or sell certain forms of money at a specified date ______.
A. with spot rate
B. with forward rate
C. at the market price
D. at the price fixed at the time of the deal
Passage Two Apart from borrowing from hanks, a firm or an individual can obtain funds in a financial market in two ways. The most common method is to issue a (61) , such as a bond or a mortgage, which is a (62) by the borrower to pay the holder of it at (63) until a specified date, when a final payment is made. The (64) of it is the time of expiration date. The second method of raising funds is by issuing (65) , such as common stock, which are claims to share in the net income and the assets of a business.
A. debt instrument
B. letter of credit
C. letter of guarantee
D. certificate of deposit