Financial instruments can be either cash instruments or derivative instruments:
Some instruments defy categorization into the above matrix, for example repurchase agreements.
The gain or loss on a financial instrument is as follows:
International Accounting Standard (IAS) 32.11 ↩
Understanding Derivatives Archived 2013-08-12 at the Wayback Machine. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Accessed August 2, 2015. http://chicagofed.org/webpages/publications/understanding_derivatives/index.cfm ↩