Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

In the normal course of business, we are exposed to foreign currency exchange rate and interest rate risks that could impact our financial position and results of operations. Our risk management strategy with respect to these market risks may include the use of derivative instruments. We use derivative contracts only to manage existing underlying exposures. Accordingly, we do not use derivative contracts for speculative purposes. Our risks, risk management strategy and a sensitivity analysis estimating the effects of changes in fair value for each of these exposures are outlined below.

Actual gains and losses in the future may differ materially from the sensitivity analyses based on changes in the timing and amount of foreign currency exchange rate and interest rate movements and our actual exposures and derivatives in place at the time of the change, as well as the effectiveness of the derivative to hedge the related exposure.

Foreign currency exchange rate risk

We are exposed to foreign currency exchange rate risk inherent in our sales commitments, anticipated sales, anticipated purchases and assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. We transact business in over 40 currencies worldwide, of which the most significant foreign currencies to our operations for fiscal year 2021 were the Euro, Chinese yuan renminbi, the Japanese yen and the British pound. For most currencies, we are a net receiver of the foreign currency and therefore benefit from a weaker U.S. dollar and are adversely affected by a stronger U.S. dollar relative to the foreign currency. Even where we are a net receiver of the foreign currency, a weaker U.S. dollar may adversely affect certain expense figures, if taken alone.

We use a combination of forward contracts and at times, options designated as cash flow hedges to protect against the foreign currency exchange rate risks inherent in our forecasted net revenue and, to a lesser extent in cost of sales. In addition, when debt is denominated in a foreign currency, we may use swaps to exchange the foreign currency principal and interest obligations for U.S. dollar-denominated amounts to manage the exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We also use other derivatives not designated as hedging instruments consisting primarily of forward contracts to hedge foreign currency balance sheet exposures. Alternatively, we may choose not to hedge the risk associated with our foreign currency exposures, primarily if such exposure acts as a natural hedge for offsetting amounts denominated in the same currency or if the currency is too difficult or too expensive to hedge.

We have performed sensitivity analyses as of October 31, 2021 and 2020, using a modeling technique that measures the change in the fair values arising from a hypothetical 10% adverse movement in the levels of foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar, with all other variables held constant. The analyses cover all of our foreign currency derivative contracts offset by underlying exposures. The foreign currency exchange rates we used in performing the sensitivity analysis were based on market rates in effect at October 31, 2021 and 2020. The sensitivity analyses indicated that a hypothetical 10% adverse movement in foreign currency exchange rates would result in a foreign exchange loss of $168 million and $77 million at October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2020, respectively.

Interest rate risk

We also are exposed to interest rate risk related to debt we have issued and our investment portfolio.

We issue long-term debt in either U.S. dollars or foreign currencies based on market conditions at the time of financing. We may use interest rate and/or currency swaps to modify the market risk exposures in connection with the debt to achieve a floating interest expense. The swap transactions generally involve the exchange of fixed for floating interest payments. However, we may choose not to swap fixed for floating interest payments or may terminate a previously executed swap if we believe a larger proportion of fixed-rate debt would be beneficial.

In order to hedge the fair value of certain fixed-rate investments, we may enter into interest rate swaps that convert fixed interest returns into variable interest returns. We may use cash flow hedges to hedge the variability in interest income received on certain variable-rate investments. We may also enter into interest rate swaps that convert variable rate interest returns into fixed-rate interest returns.

We have performed sensitivity analyses as of October 31, 2021 and 2020, using a modeling technique that measures the change in the fair values arising from a hypothetical 10% adverse movement in the levels of interest rates across the entire yield curve, with all other variables held constant. The analyses cover our debt, investments and interest rate swaps. The analyses use actual or approximate maturities for the debt, investments and interest rate swaps. The discount rates used were based on the market interest rates in effect at October 31, 2021 and 2020. The sensitivity analyses indicated that a hypothetical 10% adverse movement in interest rates would have resulted in a loss in the fair values of our debt and investments, net of interest rate swaps, of $73 million at October 31, 2021 and $36 million at October 31, 2020.