Stock index futures trading has the characteristics of T+0 and margin leverage trading, so it is more risky than ordinary stock trading. It is suggested that novices can have an ideal return on investment by trading under the guidance of professional analysts. This is particularly important for stock investors, specifically:
(1) Futures contracts have an expiration date and cannot be held indefinitely.
Stocks can be held all the time after buying, and the number of stocks will not decrease under normal circumstances. However, stock index futures have a fixed maturity date and must be closed or delivered at maturity. Therefore, trading stock index futures cannot be the same as buying and selling stocks. We must pay attention to the expiration date of the contract to decide whether to close the position or wait for the expiration of the contract for cash settlement and delivery.
(2) Futures contracts are margin transactions and must be settled daily.
Stock index futures contracts use margin trading. Generally, a contract can be bought and sold only by paying about 10- 15% of the contract face value. On the one hand, it improves the profit space, but on the other hand, it also brings risks, which requires daily settlement of profits and losses. After buying a stock, the book profit and loss are not settled before selling. However, stock index futures are different. After the transaction, the contract held in hand should be settled at the settlement price every day, and the book profit can be withdrawn, but the book loss (that is, additional margin) must be made up before the opening of the next day. And because it is a margin transaction, the loss may even exceed your investment principal, which is different from stock trading.
(3) Futures contracts can be sold short.
Stock index futures contracts can be easily sold short and then repurchased after the price falls. It is ok to short stocks, but it is relatively difficult. Of course, once the price rises instead of falling after short selling, investors will face losses.
(4) The liquidity of the market is relatively high.
Research shows that the liquidity of stock index futures market is obviously higher than that of stock spot market. For example, in 20 13, the trading volume of Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock index futures of China Financial Futures Exchange reached 140.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 85% year-on-year, 2.5 times the GDP of the same period, while the trading volume of Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stocks of 20 16.6 trillion yuan,
(5) Stock index futures shall be delivered in cash.
Although the futures market is a derivative market based on the stock market, it is delivered in cash, that is, only the profit and loss are calculated at the time of delivery, and the physical object is not transferred. During the delivery of futures contracts, investors do not have to buy or sell the corresponding stocks to fulfill their contractual obligations, thus avoiding the phenomenon of "crowding" in the stock market during the delivery period.
(6) Stock index futures focus on macroeconomics.
Generally speaking, the stock index futures market focuses on buying and selling according to macroeconomic data, while the spot market focuses on buying and selling according to the situation of individual companies.
(7) T+0 trading of stock index futures and T+ 1 trading of stocks.
T+0 means buying on the same day and selling on the same day, without time and frequency restrictions, and T+ 1 means buying on the same day and selling on the next day. At present, all futures trading is T+0, and stock trading in most countries is T+0. Due to historical reasons, China's stock market implements the T+ 1 trading system.