What Is an Axe?

An axe (or “axe to grind”) is the interest that a trader shows in buying or selling a security that is typically already on the books. If a trader holds a long position but has short-term concerns, that trader’s axe toward short-term put options may be significant. Likewise, if a trader has risk exposure to an increase in interest rates, they may have an axe to hedge against that risk.

Many times, a trader with an axe will keep that information private. That is because if other market participants become aware of one’s motivations, they can take advantage of that information by offering unfavorable prices or withholding certain trades in order to exploit the situation.

Understanding an Axe

The term “axe” is derived from the phrase “axe to grind,” which means to possess an ulterior motive or selfish aim. The phrase has historically meant to have a grievance with someone, especially where one feels the need to seek retribution. The phrase probably originates from the act of sharpening an axe with a grinding wheel, with the intent (in this definition) to get revenge on someone by maiming or killing them.

Traders often use the term “axe” to represent someone’s particular interest in buying or selling a security that is already in their inventory, or hedging against it. The term was historically used to reference bond holdings, but traders have expanded the use to include all securities. In conversation, the term is often used to speculate about a trader’s plan with regard to a security that they hold.

Axe should not be confused with “ax,” which is a market maker central to the price action of a specific security.

How an Axe is Used in Practice

The term “axe” can be used in many different ways, which makes the context of the conversation important to consider.

Suppose that a trader has a large position in a given security. If that trader shops around for quotes with the intent of selling the stake, the trader who provides the quote may be at a disadvantage if they are unaware that the first trader has an axe with regard to the security. The second trader may ask, “Do they have an axe on this security?” which means “Do they have plans to sell this security?”

Traders may also use the term to represent securities related to the securities that they hold. For instance, a trader may hold a long position and have an axe toward put options if nervous about the stock’s short-term prospects.

Having an axe is often kept secret because knowledge of that information can be used by other market participants to exploit the situation for their own gain, and at the expense of the axe holder. That said, traders with good rapport may ask each other outright if they have a particular axe in the hopes that the other trader’s axe(s) will be opposite from their own—this way they can affect a trade or trades with each other in a mutually beneficial manner.

What Is Asset/Liability Management?

Asset/liability management is the process of managing the use of assets and cash flows to reduce the firm’s risk of loss from not paying a liability on time. Well-managed assets and liabilities increase business profits. The asset/liability management process is typically applied to bank loan portfolios and pension plans. It also involves the economic value of equity.

Understanding Asset/Liability Management

The concept of asset/liability management focuses on the timing of cash flows because company managers must plan for the payment of liabilities. The process must ensure that assets are available to pay debts as they come due and that assets or earnings can be converted into cash. The asset/liability management process applies to different categories of assets on the balance sheet.

[Important: A company can face a mismatch between assets and liabilities because of illiquidity or changes in interest rates; asset/liability management reduces the likelihood of a mismatch.]

Factoring in Defined Benefit Pension Plans

A defined benefit pension plan provides a fixed, pre-established pension benefit for employees upon retirement, and the employer carries the risk that assets invested in the pension plan may not be sufficient to pay all benefits. Companies must forecast the dollar amount of assets available to pay benefits required by a defined benefit plan.

Assume, for example, that a group of employees must receive a total of $1.5 million in pension payments starting in 10 years. The company must estimate a rate of return on the dollars invested in the pension plan and determine how much the firm must contribute each year before the first payments begin in 10 years.

Examples of Interest Rate Risk

Asset/liability management is also used in banking. A bank must pay interest on deposits and also charge a rate of interest on loans. To manage these two variables, bankers track the net interest margin or the difference between the interest paid on deposits and interest earned on loans.

Assume, for example, that a bank earns an average rate of 6% on three-year loans and pays a 4% rate on three-year certificates of deposit. The interest rate margin the bank generates is 6% – 4% = 2%. Since banks are subject to interest rate risk, or the risk that interest rates increase, clients demand higher interest rates on their deposits to keep assets at the bank.

The Asset Coverage Ratio

An important ratio used in managing assets and liabilities is the asset coverage ratio which computes the value of assets available to pay a firm’s debts. The ratio is calculated as follows:


$\begin{aligned} &\text{Asset Coverage Ratio} = \frac{ ( \text{BVTA} – \text{IA} ) – ( \text{CL} – \text{STDO}) }{ \text{Total Debt Outstanding} } \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &\text{BVTA} = \text{book value of total assets} \\ &\text{IA} = \text{intangible assets} \\ &\text{CL} = \text{current liabilities} \\ &\text{STDO} = \text{short term debt obligations} \\ \end{aligned}$​Asset Coverage Ratio=Total Debt Outstanding(BVTA−IA)−(CL−STDO)​where:BVTA=book value of total assetsIA=intangible assetsCL=current liabilitiesSTDO=short term debt obligations​

Tangible assets, such as equipment and machinery, are stated at their book value, which is the cost of the asset less accumulated depreciation. Intangible assets, such as patents, are subtracted from the formula because these assets are more difficult to value and sell. Debts payable in less than 12 months are considered short-term debt, and those liabilities are also subtracted from the formula.

The coverage ratio computes the assets available to pay debt obligations, although the liquidation value of some assets, such as real estate, may be difficult to calculate. There is no rule of thumb as to what constitutes a good or poor ratio since calculations vary by industry.

Key Takeaways

• Asset/liability management reduces the risk that a company may not meet its obligations in the future.
• The success of bank loan portfolios and pension plans depend on asset/liability management processes.
• Banks track the difference between the interest paid on deposits and interest earned on loans to ensure that they can pay interest on deposits and to determine what a rate of interest to charge on loans.

[Fast Fact: Asset/liability management is a long-term strategy to manage risks. For example, a home-owner must ensure that they have enough money to pay their mortgage each month by managing their income and expenses for the duration of the loan.]

What Is an Automatic Stabilizer?

Automatic stabilizers are a type of fiscal policy designed to offset fluctuations in a nation’s economic activity through their normal operation without additional, timely authorization by the government or policymakers.

The best-known automatic stabilizers are progressively graduated corporate and personal income taxes, and transfer systems such as unemployment insurance and welfare. Automatic stabilizers are called this because they act to stabilize economic cycles and are automatically triggered without additional government action.

Understanding Automatic Stabilizers

Automatic stabilizers are primarily designed to counter negative economic shocks or recessions, though they can also be intended to “cool off” an expanding economy or to combat inflation. By their normal operation, these policies take more money out of the economy as taxes during periods of rapid growth and higher incomes. They put more money back into the economy in the form of government spending or tax refunds when economic activity slows or incomes fall. This has the intended purpose of cushioning the economy from changes in the business cycle. 

Automatic stabilizers can include the use of a progressive taxation structure under which the share of income that is taken in taxes is higher when incomes are high. The amount then falls when incomes fall due to a recession, job losses, or failing investments. For example, as an individual taxpayer earns higher wages, their additional income may be subjected to higher tax rates based on the current tiered structure. If wages fall, the individual will remain in the lower tax tiers as dictated by their earned income.

Similarly, unemployment insurance transfer payments decline when the economy is in an expansionary phase since there are fewer unemployed people filing claims. Unemployment payments rise when the economy is mired in recession and unemployment is high. When a person becomes unemployed in a manner that makes them eligible for unemployment insurance, they need only file to claim the benefit. The amount of benefit offered is governed by various state and national regulations and standards, requiring no intervention by larger government entities beyond application processing.

Automatic Stabilizers and Fiscal Policy

When an economy is in a recession, automatic stabilizers may by design result in higher budget deficits. This aspect of fiscal policy is a tool of Keynesian economics that uses government spending and taxes to support aggregate demand in the economy during economic downturns.

By taking less money out of private businesses and households in taxes and giving them more in the form of payments and tax refunds, fiscal policy is supposed to encourage them to increase, or at least not decrease, their consumption and investment spending. In this case, the goal of fiscal policy is to help prevent an economic setback from deepening.

Real-World Examples of Automatic Stabilizers

Automatic stabilizers can also be used in conjunction with other forms of fiscal policy that may require specific legislative authorization. Examples of this include one-time tax cuts or refunds, government investment spending, or direct government subsidy payments to businesses or households.

Some examples of these in the United States were the 2008 one-time tax rebates under the Economic Stimulus Act and the $831 billion in federal direct subsidies, tax breaks, and infrastructure spending under the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

In 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act became the largest stimulus package in U.S. history. It provided over $2 trillion in government relief in the form of expanded unemployment benefits, direct payments to families and adults, loans and grants to small businesses, loans to corporate America, and billions of dollars to state and local governments.

Special Considerations

Since they almost immediately respond to changes in income and unemployment, automatic stabilizers are intended to be the first line of defense to turn mild negative economic trends around. However, governments often turn to other types of larger fiscal policy programs to address more severe or lasting recessions or to target specific regions, industries, or politically favored groups in society for extra-economic relief.  

What Is an Asset Swap?

An asset swap is similar in structure to a plain vanilla swap with the key difference being the underlying of the swap contract. Rather than regular fixed and floating loan interest rates being swapped, fixed and floating assets are being exchanged.

All swaps are derivative contracts through which two parties exchange financial instruments. These instruments can be almost anything, but most swaps involve cash flows based on a notional principal amount agreed upon by both parties. As the name suggests, asset swaps involve an actual asset exchange instead of just cash flows.

Swaps do not trade on exchanges, and retail investors do not generally engage in swaps. Rather, swaps are over-the-counter (OTC) contracts between businesses or financial institutions.

Understanding an Asset Swap

Asset swaps can be used to overlay the fixed interest rates of bond coupons with floating rates. In that sense, they are used to transform cash flow characteristics of underlying assets and transforming them to hedge the asset’s risks, whether related to currency, credit, and/or interest rates.

Typically, an asset swap involves transactions in which the investor acquires a bond position and then enters into an interest rate swap with the bank that sold them the bond. The investor pays fixed and receives floating. This transforms the fixed coupon of the bond into a LIBOR-based floating coupon.

It is widely used by banks to convert their long-term fixed rate assets to a floating rate in order to match their short-term liabilities (depositor accounts).

Another use is to insure against loss due to credit risk, such as default or bankruptcy, of the bond’s issuer. Here, the swap buyer is also buying protection.

The Process of an Asset Swap 

Whether the swap is to hedge interest rate risk or default risk, there are two separate trades that occur.

First, the swap buyer purchases a bond from the swap seller in return for a full price of par plus accrued interest (called the dirty price).

Next, the two parties create a contract where the buyer agrees to pay fixed coupons to the swap seller equal to the fixed rate coupons received from the bond. In return, the swap buyer receives variable rate payments of LIBOR plus (or minus) an agreed-upon fixed spread. The maturity of this swap is the same as the maturity of the asset.

The mechanics are the same for the swap buyer wishing to hedge default or some other event risk. Here, the swap buyer is essentially buying protection and the swap seller is also selling that protection.

As before, the swap seller (protection seller) will agree to pay the swap buyer (protection buyer) LIBOR plus (or minus) a spread in return for the cash flows of the risky bond (the bond itself does not change hands). In the event of default, the swap buyer will continue to receive LIBOR plus (or minus) the spread from the swap seller. In this way, the swap buyer has transformed its original risk profile by changing both its interest rate and credit risk exposure.

How Is the Spread of an Asset Swap Calculated?

There are two components used in calculating the spread for an asset swap. The first one is the value of coupons of underlying assets minus par swap rates. The second component is a comparison between bond prices and par values to determine the price that the investor has to pay over the lifetime of the swap. The difference between these two components is the asset swap spread paid by the protection seller to the swap buyer.

Example of an Asset Swap

Suppose an investor buys a bond at a dirty price of 110% and wants to hedge the risk of a default by the bond issuer. She contacts a bank for an asset swap. The bond’s fixed coupons are 6% of par value. The swap rate is 5%. Assume that the investor has to pay 0.5% price premium during the swap’s lifetime. Then the asset swap spread is 0.5% (6 – 5 – 0.5). Hence the bank pays the investor LIBOR rates plus 0.5% during the swap’s lifetime.

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