Basket options

Basket options

Packages that involve the exchange of more than two currencies against a base currency at expiration. The basket option buyer purchases the right, but not the obligation, to receive designated currencies in exchange for a base currency, either at the prevailing foreign exchange market rate or at a prearranged rate of exchange. Multinational corporations with multicurrency cash flows frequently use basket options because it is generally cheaper to buy an option on a basket of currencies than to buy individual options on each of the currencies that make up the basket.

Basket Option

An option contract in which the underlying asset consists of several different assets. For example, a basket call may give one the right, but not the obligation, to buy more than one currency at the strike price (which is denominated in a currency other than any in the underlying). A basket option provides a way for a corporation to hedge against several different risks at the same time and to do so more cheaply. However, a rainbow option is exposed to the risk that only some, rather than all, of the underlying assets will move in the direction benefiting the holder. A basket option is also called a rainbow option.