DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Derivative Financial Instruments [Abstract]

NOTE 4. DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Derivative Assets (Liabilities), at Fair Value

The table below summarizes fair value information about our derivative assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2019 and 2018.

(in thousands)
Derivative Instruments and Related Accounts	Balance Sheet Location	December 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Assets
Interest rate swaps	Derivative assets, at fair value	$	-	$	16,762
Payer swaptions	Derivative assets, at fair value		-		123
Total derivative assets, at fair value		$	-	$	16,885

Liabilities
Interest rate swaps	Derivative liabilities, at fair value	$	20,146	$	2,205
TBA securities	Derivative liabilities, at fair value		512		3,742
Total derivative liabilities, at fair value		$	20,658	$	5,947

Margin Balances Posted to (from) Counterparties
Futures contracts	Restricted cash	$	1,338	$	4,711
TBA securities	Restricted cash		246		6,236
Interest rate swaption contracts	Other liabilities		-		(268)
Interest rate swap contracts	Restricted cash		17,450		-
Interest rate swap contracts	Other liabilities		-		(14,308)
Total margin balances on derivative contracts		$	19,034	$	(3,629)

Eurodollar, Fed Funds and T-Note futures are cash settled futures contracts on an interest rate, with gains and losses credited or charged to the Company’s cash accounts on a daily basis. A minimum balance, or “margin”, is required to be maintained in the account on a daily basis. The tables below present information related to the Company’s Eurodollar and T-Note futures positions at December 31, 2019 and 2018.

($ in thousands)
			December 31, 2019
			Average	Weighted	Weighted
			Contract	Average	Average
			Notional	Entry	Effective		Open
Expiration Year			Amount	Rate	Rate		Equity⁽¹⁾
Eurodollar Futures Contracts (Short Positions)
2020		$	500,000	2.97%	1.67%	$	(6,505)
Total / Weighted Average		$	500,000	2.97%	1.67%	$	(6,505)

Treasury Note Futures Contracts (Short Position)⁽²⁾
March 2020 5-year T-Note futures
	(Mar 2020 - Mar 2025 Hedge Period)	$	69,000	1.96%	2.06%	$	302

($ in thousands)
			December 31, 2018
			Average	Weighted	Weighted
			Contract	Average	Average
			Notional	Entry	Effective		Open
Expiration Year			Amount	Rate	Rate		Equity⁽¹⁾
Eurodollar Futures Contracts (Short Positions)
2019		$	1,650,000	2.25%	2.64%	$	7,036
2020			1,800,000	2.74%	2.45%		(4,503)
Total / Weighted Average		$	1,725,000	2.51%	2.54%	$	2,533

Treasury Note Futures Contracts (Short Position)⁽²⁾
March 2019 5 year T-Note futures
	(Mar 2019 - Mar 2024 Hedge Period)	$	165,000	3.22%	2.83%	$	(3,185)

Under our interest rate swap agreements, we typically pay a fixed rate and receive a floating rate based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) ("payer swaps"). The floating rate we receive under our swap agreements has the effect of offsetting the repricing characteristics of our repurchase agreements and cash flows on such liabilities. We are typically required to post collateral on our interest rate swap agreements. The table below presents information related to the Company’s interest rate swap positions at December 31, 2019 and 2018.

($ in thousands)
			Average			Net
			Fixed	Average		Estimated	Average
		Notional	Pay	Receive		Fair	Maturity
		Amount	Rate	Rate		Value	(Years)
December 31, 2019
Expiration > 1 to ≤ 3 years	$	360,000	2.05%	1.90%	$	(3,680)	2.3
Expiration > 3 to ≤ 5 years		910,000	2.03%	1.93%		(16,466)	4.4
	$	1,270,000	2.03%	1.92%	$	(20,146)	3.8
December 31, 2018
Expiration > 1 to ≤ 3 years	$	1,000,000	1.62%	2.63%	$	10,365	1.4
Expiration > 3 to ≤ 5 years		260,000	2.01%	2.68%		4,192	3.4
	$	1,260,000	1.70%	2.64%	$	14,557	1.8

The table below presents information related to the Company’s interest rate swaption positions at December 31, 2018. There were no open swaption positions at December 31, 2019.

($ in thousands)

Option

Underlying Swap

Weighted

Average

Weighted

Average

Adjustable

Average

Fair

Months to

Notional

Fixed

Rate

Term

Expiration

Cost

Value

Expiration

Amount

Rate

(LIBOR)

(Years)

December 31, 2018

≤ 1 year

Payer Swaptions

7,805

123

1.4

700,000

3.20%

3 Month

9.0

The following table summarizes our contracts to purchase and sell TBA securities as of December 31, 2019 and 2018.

($ in thousands)
			Notional						Net
			Amount		Cost		Market		Carrying
			Long (Short)⁽¹⁾		Basis⁽²⁾		Value⁽³⁾		Value⁽⁴⁾
December 31, 2019
30-Year TBA securities:
	4.5%	$	(300,000)	$	(315,426)	$	(315,938)	$	(512)
Total		$	(300,000)	$	(315,426)	$	(315,938)	$	(512)
December 31, 2018
30-Year TBA securities:
	3.0%	$	(250,000)	$	(240,164)	$	(243,906)	$	(3,742)
Total		$	(250,000)	$	(240,164)	$	(243,906)	$	(3,742)

Gain (Loss) From Derivative Instruments, Net

The table below presents the effect of the Company’s derivative financial instruments on the statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

(in thousands)
		2019		2018		2017
Eurodollar futures contracts (short positions)	$	(13,860)	$	7,170	$	1,257
T-Note futures contracts (short position)		(5,175)		5,507		(14,922)
Fed Funds futures contracts (short positions)		177		-		-
Interest rate swaps		(26,582)		8,609		3,216
Receiver swaptions		-		105		-
Payer swaptions		(1,379)		(1,607)		1,038
Net TBA securities		(4,357)		4,527		(5,938)
Total	$	(51,176)	$	24,311	$	(15,349)

Credit Risk-Related Contingent Features

The use of derivatives creates exposure to credit risk relating to potential losses that could be recognized in the event that the counterparties to these instruments fail to perform their obligations under the contracts. We minimize this risk by limiting our counterparties for instruments which are not centrally cleared on a registered exchange to major financial institutions with acceptable credit ratings and monitoring positions with individual counterparties. In addition, we may be required to pledge assets as collateral for our derivatives, whose amounts vary over time based on the market value, notional amount and remaining term of the derivative contract. In the event of a default by a counterparty, we may not receive payments provided for under the terms of our derivative agreements, and may have difficulty obtaining our assets pledged as collateral for our derivatives. The cash and cash equivalents pledged as collateral for our derivative instruments are included in restricted cash on our balance sheets. It is the Company's policy not to offset assets and liabilities associated with open derivative contracts. However, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) rules characterize variation margin transfers as settlement payments, as opposed to adjustments to collateral. As a result, derivative assets and liabilities associated with centrally cleared derivatives for which the CME serves as the central clearing party are presented as if these derivatives had been settled as of the reporting date.

^{[1],[2],[3],[4],[5],[6]}

[1]	Market value represents the current market value of the TBA securities (or of the underlying Agency RMBS ) as of period-end
[2]	Market value represents the current market value of the TBA securities (or of the underlying Agency RMBS ) as of period-end
[3]	Net carrying value represents the diff erence between the market value and the cost basis of the TBA securities as of period-end and is reported in derivative assets (liabilities) , at fair value in our balance sheets
[4]	Notional amount represents the par value (or principal balance) of the underlying Agency RMBS
[5]	Open equity represents the cumulative gains (losses) recorded on open futures positions from inception
[6]	T -Note f utures c ontracts were valued at a price of $ 118.61 at December 31, 2019 and $ 114.69 at December 31, 2018 . The contract values of the short positions were $ 81.8 million and $ 189.2 million at December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 , respectively