Corporate Quantitative Research New York, London December, 2006 Credit Derivatives Handbook Detailing credit default swap products, markets and trading strategies About this handbook This handbook reviews both the basic concepts and more advanced Corporate Quantitative Research trading strategies made possible by the credit derivatives market. Readers AC seeking an overview should consider Sections 1.1 - 1.3, and 8.1. Eric Beinstein (1-212) 834-4211 There are four parts to this handbook:
[email protected] Andrew Scott, CFA Part I: Credit default swap fundamentals 5 (1-212) 834-3843
[email protected] Part I introduces the CDS market, its participants, and the mechanics of the credit default swap. This section provides intuition about the CDS Ben Graves, CFA valuation theory and reviews how CDS is valued in practice. Nuances of (1-212) 622-4195
[email protected] the standard ISDA documentation are discussed, as are developments in documentation to facilitate settlement following credit events. Alex Sbityakov (1-212) 834-3896 Part II: Valuation and trading strategies 43
[email protected] Katy Le Part II provides a comparison of bonds and credit default swaps and (1-212) 834-4276 discusses why CDS to bond basis exists. The theory behind CDS curve
[email protected] trading is analyzed, and equal-notional, duration-weighted, and carry- neutral trading strategies are reviewed. Credit versus equity trading European Credit Derivatives Research strategies, including stock and CDS, and equity derivatives and CDS, are analyzed. Jonny Goulden (44-20) 7325-9582 Part III: Index products 111
[email protected] The CDX and iTraxx products are introduced, valued and analyzed.