ABSTRACT
Many people begin their day seeing or hearing overnight news through television, radio or the web. Whenever finance is mentioned the narrative will focus on home or foreign stock markets: ‘How did the Dow close?’; ‘Where is the Nikkei?’ Equity markets and prominent share prices form the universe of finance for many observers, at least outside personal concerns of consumer credit, pensions or bank deposits. Chapter 9 deals with this area of popular attention. Here we look at markets and instruments that are mysteries to many outside the financial sector, despite being subtly influential in their lives to a greater extent than equities or stock markets, and explain the operation of generic examples of these important transactions.
