The futures market is a market for buying and selling futures contracts. This kind of transaction involves producers and operators who transfer the risk of price fluctuation and venture capitalists who bear the price risk and make profits. Fair competition shall be conducted in the exchange according to law and guaranteed by the margin system. A notable feature of the margin system is that it uses less money to make larger transactions, and the margin is generally 5- 15% of the contract value. Compared with spot trading and stock investment, investors put much less money into the futures market than other investments, commonly known as "taking small bets and making big ones". The purpose of futures trading is not to obtain physical objects, but to avoid price risks or arbitrage, and generally does not realize the transfer of commodity ownership. The basic function of the futures market is to provide producers and operators with a means of hedging and avoiding price risks, and to form a fair price through fair and open competition.

2. What is a futures contract?

Futures contract is a standardized and legally binding contract reached in the exchange, which stipulates the delivery of a specific commodity at a specific place and time in the future. This contract stipulates the specifications, varieties, quality, weight, delivery month, delivery mode and transaction mode. There are similarities and essential differences between it and the contract, and the fundamental difference lies in whether it is standardized or not. We call the standardized "contract" "contract". The only variable of a contract is the price, which is generated by bidding in an organized futures exchange.

3. Two basic economic functions of the futures market.

After more than 100 years of development and improvement, futures trading has become a quite mature and high-level trading method. This is inseparable from the two basic economic functions of the futures market itself:

(1) The function of avoiding market risk (transferring price risk).

In every link of today's economy, it is impossible to avoid price fluctuations in different degrees, that is, price risk, so people want to transfer this price risk, and the futures market is an ideal place to avoid business risks. Futures traders can transfer the risk of price fluctuation by "hedging" in the futures market.

(2) Find a reasonable price.

Futures market exchange is an open, fair, just and competitive trading place, which concentrates many factors affecting the relationship between supply and demand in the exchange and forms a fair trading price through open bidding. It reflects the influence of various factors on a specific commodity in a certain period in the future. As the benchmark price of commodity value, this transaction price is quickly transmitted to all parts of the country through modern information transmission means. People all over the country use this important price information to make their own production, management and consumption decisions.

4. What is hedging? How to hedge?

Hedging means spot hedging. Simply put, it is to buy (or sell) goods in the spot market and sell (or buy) similar goods in the futures market at the same time, so that when the market price fluctuates, the losses in one market can be made up by the profits in another market.

Example: A grain and oil company pre-sold soybeans 10000 tons in the spot market in June 1996 65438+ 10, and delivered them in May/996. The pre-sale price is 2800 yuan/ton. The company is worried that the price of soybean will rise when it is delivered, so it can't guarantee the actual profit or even loss, so it buys 10000 ton soybean futures contract in the futures market, and the price is 2850 yuan/ton. By the time of delivery in May, the price of soybean really rose to 3,200 yuan/ton, which was higher than the pre-sale price by 400 yuan per ton, which was bound to cause losses. Because spot and futures are affected by the same economic factor, their prices converge, and the futures price also rises to 3250 yuan/ton. The company sold all the original contracts at the price of 3250 yuan/ton. After hedging, the futures made a profit of 400 yuan per ton, which made the profit and loss of spot and futures balance, ensured the realization of marginal profit and avoided the risks brought by price fluctuations.

There are many methods of hedging, such as selling hedging and comprehensive hedging.

5. What is futures speculation? How to speculate in futures?

Using the fluctuation of futures price to predict that buying or selling a commodity futures will make a profit at a certain time in the future, and now engaging in the trading of this commodity futures is called futures speculation. It is completely different from the speculation that the society uses policy and management loopholes. Speculation is a basic part of promoting the market and plays several important economic roles in the futures market.

There are many speculative ways in the futures market, which are more complicated than hedging. Some people take advantage of the fluctuation of commodity prices to speculate. Use the price difference (basis) between spot and futures for speculative arbitrage; There are many kinds of hype methods such as cross-exchange, cross-variety and cross-month. Because spot trading not only has a backlog of funds, but also pays storage fees, freight, insurance fees and other expenses, and the procedures are cumbersome, speculative trading does not need to deliver physical objects, as long as the position is closed before the contract expires and the profit and loss are settled, the transaction is completed.

Example:1In May, 1998, a businessman comprehensively analyzed national policies, climate and other factors to judge the futures market, and thought that soybean prices would increase greatly in the short term, so on May 65, 438+09, he bought 65,438+000 September soybean contracts (65,438+00 tons each) at the Dalian Commodity Exchange. In July, with the national grain policy and the flood, the soybean price really rose, and the futures price rose to 2700 yuan/ton. The businessman sold all futures contracts one after another, with an average selling price of 2690 yuan/ton. Merchant's profit: (2690-2440) ×100×10 = 250000 yuan. Commission deduction: 100×30=3000 yuan. Profits of businessmen: 250,000-3,000 yuan = 247,000 yuan. According to the regulations of Dalian Commodity Exchange, merchants only need1600×100 =160000 yuan. Profit rate = 247000/160000×100% =154%.