I was never much good at forecasting financial markets. So several months before delivery of my ASW 24 in late 1991, I began worrying that the exchange rate (D-mark) would move against me. So I bought a DM call option. I forget the amount but the contract almost covered what I owed Schleicher. It was slightly out of the money with a short-term expiration date so it seemed like cheap insurance. If the exchange rate remained the same or the DM weakened, I would lose only the small amount invested. But when the day arrived, the DM had appreciated a bit and my option was now slightly in the money. So I had a modest gain to offset the higher amount of US$ I would have to pay for my DMs. I was about to close out my position when I discovered that the type of option I had bought (European style?) allowed me to exercise through my brokerage account and actually take delivery of the underlying currency in any bank account I wished, in this case Schleicher's bank. Wow! I avoided various wire transfer fees plus currency conversion costs and got the "big bank" exchange rate. OK, the savings weren't huge: IIRC, on the order of $500 in total. But I was pretty pleased with myself. That was my last new glider.

Chip Bearden