An Intraday Analysis of the Effectiveness of Foreign Exchange Intervention Staff Working Paper 1999-4 Neil Beattie, Jean-François Fillion This paper assesses the effectiveness of Canada's official foreign exchange intervention in moderating intraday volatility of the Can$/US$ exchange rate, using a 2-1/2-year sample of 10-minute exchange rate data. The use of high frequency data (higher than daily frequency) should help in assessing the impact of intervention since the foreign exchange market is efficient and […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial markets JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31, G, G1, G15
Buying Back Government Bonds: Mechanics and Other Considerations Staff Working Paper 1998-9 Toni Gravelle With the elimination of the federal deficit, the Bank of Canada, the Department of Finance, and financial market participants are examining ways to manage the reduction in the stock of marketable debt. This paper summarizes three different methods—reverse auction, over-the-counter purchases, and conversions—that could be used to buy back Government of Canada bonds before they […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Debt management, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1
Easing Restrictions on the Stripping and Reconstitution of Government of Canada Bonds Staff Working Paper 1998-8 David Bolder, Serge Boisvert The Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, as its fiscal agent, work closely with financial market participants in the management of the federal government's debt program. From the government's perspective, maintaining a liquid well-functioning market in Government of Canada securities is a key factor in ensuring that debt-service costs are minimized. It is […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Debt management JEL Code(s): G, G1
Fads or Bubbles? Staff Working Paper 1997-2 Huntley Schaller, Simon van Norden This paper tests between fads and bubbles using a new empirical strategy (based on switching-regression econometrics) for distinguishing between competing asset-pricing models. By extending the Blanchard and Watson (1982) model, we show how stochastic bubbles can lead to regime-switching in stock market returns. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C4, C40, G, G1, G12
Speculative Behaviour, Regime-Switching and Stock Market Crashes Staff Working Paper 1996-13 Simon van Norden, Huntley Schaller This paper uses regime-switching econometrics to study stock market crashes and to explore the ability of two very different economic explanations to account for historical crashes. The first explanation is based on historical accounts of "manias and panics." Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C4, C40, E, E4, E44, G, G1, G12
Switching Between Chartists and Fundamentalists: A Markov Regime-Switching Approach Staff Working Paper 1996-1 Robert Vigfusson Since the early 1980s, models based on economic fundamentals have been poor at explaining the movements in the exchange rate (Messe 1990). In response to this problem, Frankel and Froot (1988) developed a model that uses two approaches to forecast the exchange rate: the fundamentalist approach, which bases the forecast on economic fundamentals, and the chartist approach, which bases the forecast on the past behaviour of the exchange rate. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C4, C40, G, G1, G12
The Microstructure of Financial Derivatives Markets: Exchange-Traded versus Over-the-Counter Technical Report No. 68 Brenda González-Hermosillo In this report the author focusses on the microstructure of derivatives markets. While the primary objective is to examine derivatives markets in Canada, the author also discusses certain developments in global derivatives markets that are bound to influence the functioning and development of financial markets in a small, open economy such as Canada's. It is […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10
Optimum Currency Areas and Shock Asymmetry: A Comparison of Europe and the United States Staff Working Paper 1994-1 Nick Chamie, Alain DeSerres, René Lalonde Since the early 1980s, models based on economic fundamentals have been poor at explaining the movements in the exchange rate (Messe 1990). In response to this problem, Frankel and Froot (1988) developed a model that uses two approaches to forecast the exchange rate: the fundamentalist approach, which bases the forecast on economic fundamentals, and the chartist approach, which bases the forecast on the past behaviour of the exchange rate. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C4, C40, G, G1, G12
Tests of Market Efficiency in the One-Week When-Issued Market for Government of Canada Treasury Bills Technical Report No. 65 D. Graham Pugh This report presents different tests of market efficiency in the when- issued market for Government of Canada treasury bills and examines the effectiveness, in this market, of Bank operations over the 1986 to mid- 1992 period. The when-issued market, which is a combination of a forward and futures market, enables market participants to buy or […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G14
The Development of Financial Derivatives Markets: The Canadian Experience Technical Report No. 62 Sean O'Connor In response to an intense demand for risk management services since the early 1980s, the over-the-counter (OTC) markets for financial derivatives in Canada have developed more vigorously than those for exchange-traded (EXT) derivative securities. This is particularly evident for interest rate derivatives. The objectives of this paper are to examine why Canadian interest rate derivatives […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10