Here is Why New York Times Columnists should not Talk about Financial Matters

I think this is case-in-point why op-ed writers for the New York Times should not be writing anything at all about financial matters.

Americans are certainly in the market for some leadership on the subject of derivatives. It’s hard to even figure out how to worry about them, since we have no clue exactly what they are, beyond bets on whether prices will go up or down.

In case she was unable to Google this here is the definition of a derivative:

A security whose price is dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.

In other words they are a separate bet on the price of an asset be it gold, silver, or pork bellies. They are either used to hedge prices or bet on them. Maybe Ms. Collins needs to watch Trading Places so she can bone up on derivatives a little better. The scene where Duke and Duke describe derivatives trading to Eddie Murphy could be pretty enlightening to Ms. Collins.