Pricing an Instrument in the Shortcut Field

In the Single Option page you can price supported instruments in a quick and easy way using the Shortcut field at the top of the page.

Working With the Shortcut Field

In the Shortcut field you define the required instrument using intuitive syntax, i.e., regular trader conventions and logical shortcuts, in any order you like. For example, you can enter “collar gold 1k atm” or “sh-au collar atm 1k”.

This flexibility means that you can even copy and paste a received quote into the Shortcut field.

Although the syntax is designed to use intuitive syntax, for an in-depth look at what you can enter see Supported Syntax for the Shortcut Field.

Once you have defined the instrument in the Shortcut field, when you then click the Calculate button next to the Shortcut field or press the <Enter> key on the keyboard the system checks your syntax and presents its interpretation of it.

If:

You have omitted an obligatory parameter the system simply uses the default value for this parameter. See the Supported Syntax for the Shortcut Field section for the defaults.

You enter a parameter that the system cannot identify, it simply ignores it. This enables it to relate to the rest of your definition.

You have defined more than one value for the same parameter, the system uses the first value and discards the rest. For example, you enter “1y lco st v” the system takes the “st” value for the instrument's class (i.e., vanilla strip) and ignores the “v” value (i.e., vanilla).

You have entered syntax that can be used for more than one parameter, then the system uses it for the first logical parameter according to the order in which they appear in the pricing window. For example, “3m” can be taken to mean the contract in 3 months or the volume set to 3 million. In the pricing window you define an expiry date before the volume, so in this example the system will take the “3m” value for the expiry. Similarly, if you write “3m 1m”, it will take the 3m value for the expiry date and the 1m for the volume.

You can then do either of the following:

Amend your instrument definition by continuing to type in the Shortcut field.

Accept the system’s interpretation by again clicking the Calculate button or pressing the <Enter> key on the keyboard. This tells the system to enter the instrument's definition into the pricing page and calculate it.

You can then manually edit the option's parameters in the Single Option page (for example, the market data) and re-calculate it if necessary.

Accessing Saved Shortcut Definitions

Once you have actually entered a shortcut definition into the pricing page the system then saves this definition.

Subsequently, when you next start typing in the Shortcut field the system automatically displays any saved definitions (from both this current session and any previous sessions) that match the text you have entered.

This lets you easily access instrument definitions you have already entered, whether to price them again or to display them so you can edit them as required.

So, if you have a number of saved scenarios starting with “van”, when you type “v” it displays all saved definitions that match that letter.

If you then continue typing “van 1y”, it will further filter the displayed scenarios.

The system saves up to 10 definitions for each set. So it will save up to 10 definitions that begin with “van” and 10 definitions that begin with “st”, etc.

In addition, clicking the Recent button will display the last ten deals defined using the Shortcut field.

Supported Syntax for the Shortcut Field

To use the one-line feature in SDX Commodities & Energy, you can use the syntax listed below:

Commodity

For the commodity you must can enter its name or its ticker code—for example, for Aluminium Alloy this is MAA, for Tin this is MSN; for Gold this is XAU.

In SDX Commodities & Energy you can see these codes in brackets after the commodity's name in the Commodity dropdown list.

Instrument

For each supported option class you can enter its name or its SDX Commodities & Energy shortcut, as follows:

For Vanilla, “v” or “van”

For Vanilla Strip, “st” or “strip”

For Asian, “a”

For Asian Strip, “as”

For a Swap, “sw”

For a Swap Strip, “sws”

Call/put

You define whether the instrument is a call or a put using “c” or “p” as relevant.

Strike

You can enter any of the following:

Actual rate

For an ATMS (where the strike is the same as the current underlying), enter either of the following: s , atms

For an ATMF option (where the strike is the same as the current forward rate) enter either of the following: atm , f

Expiry/Swap term

You can enter the expiry date or swap term (as relevant) as follows:

Entering a combination of day, month and year using the European format dd/mm/yy or the American format mm/dd/yy.

Entering a shortcut code: “d” or “w” or “m” or “y”

For example, 4d is four days, 4w is four weeks, 4m is four months, 4y is four years. If you enter a number without a modifying letter, by default it is assumed to be a number of days.

Using the contract shortcut.

For example, “m” or “m09”. For a full list of the contract shortcuts, see Using Contract Shortcuts for an Instrument’s Expiry Dates.

Using the shortcut convention for a strip's duration.

These shortcuts are as follows: calyy, xqyy, xhyy, wyy, syy, ayy-bzz

For a full explanation of these shortcuts, in the SDX Commodities & Energy online help see the topic called What Does SDX Commodities & Energy Calculate?.

Notional

You can enter the total amount, or an integer with “k” (for 1000s) or “m” (for millions) or “b” (for billions). For example, you can enter “1000” or “1,000” or “1k”. The unit used is the default unit defined for the selected commodity in the system.

By default, the instrument is Buy. However, you can instruct the system to make it a Sell by entering the “-” sign before the volume parameter. For example, Buy 1 thousand is “1k,” Sell 1 million is “-1k.”