Equinor's Corporate Arbitrage. Equinor, the national oil company of Norway, is a large, sophisticated, and active participant in both the currency and petrochemical markets. Although it is a Norwegian company, because it operates within the global oil market, it considers the U.S. dollar, rather than the Norwegian krone (Nok), as its functional currency. Ari Karlsen is a currency trader for Equinor and has immediate use of either $2.9 million (or the Norwegian krone equivalent). He is faced with the following market rates, , and wonders whether he can make some arbitrage profits in the coming 90 days.
The CIA profit potential is ______%, which tells Ari Karlsen he should borrow invest in the yielding currency, the ______, selling the dollars forward 90 days.
Arbitrage funds available $3,000,000
Spot exchange rate (Nok/$) 6.0312
3-month forward rate (Nok/$) 6.0186
U.S. dollar 3-month interest rate 5.000%
Norwegian krone 3-month interest rate 4.450%