1. What is futures?

The so-called futures, as the name implies, are commodities to be delivered in a certain period in the future, but in fact they are standardized contracts that can be repeatedly transferred and bought and sold.

Second, what is futures trading?

Futures trading is a standardized contract trading method for buying and selling various commodities on the futures exchange based on margin.

Third, the economic function of futures trading.

Discover prices, avoid risks, and invest in tools.

Fourth, the purpose of futures trading.

Hedging or speculating for profit.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) the characteristics of futures trading

1. Commodity contractualization: Futures trading is the buying and selling of contracts. The two sides of the transaction do not rely on the spot, but through the established standardized contract, the physical goods do not directly enter and exit the futures market.

2. Contract standardization: Futures contracts are standardized contracts, and the only variable is price. Other factors such as quantity, quality, delivery time and place shall be uniformly stipulated by the exchange.

3. Capital leverage: Futures trading is conducted with a margin of 5- 10% as a guarantee, so it has a small and wide leverage.

4. Open trading: Futures trading is conducted publicly (on the exchange) by free bidding, not privately.

5. Documented delivery: Futures delivery is a process in which the seller delivers warehouse receipts and the buyer delivers payment vouchers, both of which are commercial bills recognized and protected by law.

Six, the operation mechanism of futures trading

1. Bidding system: The futures market is a standardized market, and transactions are conducted through open bidding according to the principle of "price first, time first and quantity first".

2. Margin system: Margin is a kind of financial guarantee for the settlement department of the futures exchange, which is divided into initial margin and additional margin. The initial deposit generally only accounts for 5- 10% of the total amount, which is generally consistent with the transaction risk to ensure the performance of the contract. The customer has a virtual loss and needs to pay an extra deposit.

3. Daily settlement system: futures trading should be made daily, and there is no debt system. That is, according to the daily transactions, liquidation, positions, profits and losses, the deposit is recovered in accordance with the regulations, thus ensuring the contract performance rate of 100%.

4. Hedging system: Hedging refers to trading in the same variety and quantity as the original transaction but in the opposite direction, thus ending the performance responsibility of the original contract. The process of hedging is essentially the process of changing hands.

5. Delivery system: The essence of delivery is to combine the futures market with the spot market. If the original contract is not hedged before the last trading day, the physical object must be delivered. The settlement system is adopted for delivery, and the delivery procedures are stipulated. The seller provides warehouse receipts and the buyer provides payment vouchers. Seller members can obtain warehouse receipts in the following ways: first, buy warehouse receipts at the designated warehouse designated by the exchange; The second is to send their own goods to the designated warehouse in advance, and issue warehouse receipts after acceptance; The third is to buy warehouse receipts at the exchange warehouse receipt auction.

6. Position restriction: refers to the restriction on the number of futures contracts bought and sold. In short, it is stipulated that "you can buy and sell as much money as you have."

7. Price range limit: that is, on the basis of the settlement price of the previous trading day, traders can only trade in this price range on that day.

7. Who can conduct futures trading?

Participants in futures trading can be divided into two categories, one is called hedgers and the other is called venture capitalists. Hedgers mainly use futures trading to transfer the risk of spot trading, thus achieving the purpose of reducing costs and stabilizing profits. When the time is good, they will also take physical commodity trading as the "backing" to make speculative profits. Venture capitalists mainly use futures trading, which is similar to stock and real estate investment, to pursue high profits.

The participants in hedging can be commodity producers, sellers, processors, importers and exporters, creditors and debtors from all walks of life.

Producer: Commodity production needs a cycle, during which price changes will affect the profits of producers. If you participate in futures trading during the production cycle, you can set the profit in advance. If you choose the right time, you can not only stabilize your profits, but also get an extra income.

Marketer: It takes a while for goods to be purchased and sold. Futures trading can not only choose the buying and selling opportunity flexibly, but also reduce the storage cost and preserve the value of inventory goods.

Processor: It takes time from the purchase of raw materials to actual use, and it takes time from the input of raw materials to the sales of finished products. No matter the adverse changes in the prices of raw materials or finished products, it will bring unnecessary losses. Therefore, wise processors need to participate in two types of hedging, namely, short-selling hedging of raw materials and short-selling hedging of finished products, which can not only hedge the purchased raw materials and finished products to be sold in the future, but also flexibly choose the timing of purchasing raw materials or selling finished products to reduce their inventory costs.

Importer and exporter: It takes some time from delivery to delivery. Generally, there will be currency exchange problems in payment, and adverse changes in price or exchange rate will bring unnecessary losses. Although many measures to avoid risks have been formulated in international trade, such as FOB and CIF. However, it is difficult for them to fully achieve their goals, and it takes time and energy to negotiate repeatedly. At the same time, participating in the hedging of commodities and foreign exchange can not only stabilize profits, but also save a lot of trouble.

Debtor and Debtor: Either creditor or debtor will suffer certain losses if the interest rate fluctuates during the period from lending to repayment. If there is currency exchange between borrowing and debt repayment, exchange rate fluctuations will also cause additional losses to one of them. In order to avoid these risks, the best choice is to participate in financial hedging.

There are many participants in venture capital. Anyone who has capital and wants to pursue a high rate of return can participate in the venture capital of futures trading, but those with strong strength can participate directly, and those with insufficient funds need to participate indirectly in a fund.

Participate in futures trading, you will find it more attractive than investing in real estate and stock industry, but at the same time remind you to be risk-conscious and make necessary preparations.

Basic concepts of futures trading

-Commission The handling fee charged by the exchange to the trader. In the United States, the commission is calculated according to one round of a contract, from the establishment of the transaction to the settlement of the transaction, which is called one round. The commission amount is generally 0-2% of the turnover of 65438+.

-the standard commodity quantity of a contract specified in the futures contract of the contract unit. Traders only buy and sell according to the number of contracts. Generally, a unit's contract is called first-hand. The contract unit of each commodity exchange is different. For example, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange stipulates that every 10 ton is a contract unit.

-Performance bond A performance bond is a kind of financial guarantee for both buyers and sellers to guarantee performance. Traders in the futures market must deposit a certain amount of performance bond when trading. The amount of the bond is set by the exchange that provides contract transactions, and its amount is usually 5- 18% of the total contract value. Of course, magic dealers or entrusted brokers will also choose to set additional margin. The amount of this extra margin will not be lower than the level stipulated by the exchange. In addition, the level of margin is also affected by the size of market transaction risk, and more margin is usually paid in volatile markets. At the same time, the margin of hedging and speculative trading is different, and the margin charged by the former is generally low. Margin is divided into initial margin and additional margin. The initial margin is the margin paid by the trader before the transaction according to the regulations. Due to price changes, the book losses suffered by traders are deducted from the margin, resulting in a decline in the margin. When the margin is reduced to a lower level (generally stipulated by the exchange), the broker will ask the trader to pay a part of the margin to make the account reach the initial margin level. This extra part is called extra margin.

-Long position, short position Those who buy futures contracts are called long positions, and those who sell futures contracts are called short positions.

-Companies or individuals whose brokers execute trading orders for futures traders usually receive commissions from traders.

Settlement margin The settlement margin is the necessary financial guarantee for a settlement member company to fulfill its customers' unsettled contracts. The level of the settlement bond is determined by the board of directors of the exchange clearing house according to the suggestions made by the committee of the guarantee committee of the exchange clearing house. Unlike the performance bond, the performance bond is deposited in the broker and also in the clearing house.

-The lowest price fluctuation allowed in the lowest price contract transaction, also known as the lowest price fluctuation.

-Buy (sell) order at market price This is a trading order sent by the customer to the broker. When the broker receives this order, it will immediately buy or sell it at a market price level favorable to the customer. This order sent by the customer only specifies the number of contracts to be bought (sold) and the delivery month, and does not specify the price level. Brokers will buy or sell at the market price at the most favorable price for customers.

-after the customer gives this instruction, the broker must buy and sell for the customer at a limited price.

-Execute or void instruction means that the instruction must be executed immediately, otherwise it is invalid.

A stop-loss order is an order executed when the market price reaches a certain level. Stop loss orders are generally used to hedge contracts in hand to reduce losses or guarantee vested interests. For example, if a customer buys a long-term treasury bond futures contract of 654.38+10,000 yuan, the customer can issue a stop-loss order of 96,000 yuan to prevent losses caused by falling bond prices. If the market price falls to 96,000 yuan, the broker will.

-After the order of stop-loss limit order is issued, the broker must execute it immediately at a specific price or when the price reappears. If the market price fails to return to the stop-loss level, the order will not be executed.

-Time-limited instructions are instructions that must be executed within a specified time. There are several forms of time-limited orders, such as "day-limited orders", which means that they must be executed at a set price during the opening period of a trading day. According to the regulations, if it is not executed within this time limit, the instruction will automatically become invalid. The other instruction is "open" or "valid instruction until revoked". This order can be executed within any trading day before the customer cancels this order or the contract expires. Some time-limited orders can only be executed at the opening or closing time. In addition, some time-limited orders are executed at a certain time on a certain day, otherwise they are invalid.

Futures trading rules

As one of the operating modes of developed credit economy, futures market must have a set of standardized systems. This is the premise of the normal operation of futures trading.

There are broad and narrow futures trading rules, and the broad futures trading rules include all laws, regulations, articles of association and rules of futures market management. Narrow futures trading rules only refer to the futures trading rules formulated by the futures exchange and approved by the state regulatory authorities, as well as various detailed rules, measures and regulations based on them. Each futures exchange shall formulate its own futures trading rules according to the relevant laws and regulations of the state. Trading rules should be based on the exchange, which is actually a contract signed between the exchange and its member units (customers) and exchange member units (customers).

Futures trading rules should include opening, closing, quotation, closing, recording, closing, settlement and guarantee, delivery, dispute settlement and penalty for breach of contract. Futures trading rules or general principles. According to the needs of business management, the exchange has formulated various detailed rules and management measures, such as delivery rules, hedging management regulations, fixed-point warehouse management regulations, warehouse receipt management measures, etc. It is worth mentioning that futures contracts are also an integral part of the rules. The purpose of formulating futures trading rules is to maintain normal trading order, protect equal competition, punish breach of contract, and stop unfair trading behaviors such as monopoly and market manipulation.

Futures settlement

The organizational structure of futures market is composed of exchanges, members and customers step by step, which is a hierarchical market structure. Only members can enter the market for trading, and the exchange must be responsible for the credit status of members; Non-member customers must trade through member agents. Members are the main body of trading agents and take full responsibility for the transactions they represent. Therefore, members must control the financial risks of all customers. If the customer fails to perform the liability for compensation due to breach of contract, the member must perform the liability for compensation on his behalf and reserve the right of recourse. Corresponding to the multi-level organizational structure of the futures market, the settlement management system is also hierarchical. The first is the settlement of member companies by the clearing house of the exchange, which is the first-level settlement; Secondly, member brokerage companies settle accounts with customers, which is called secondary settlement. Finally, the risk classification of transaction by transaction corresponds to each market participant.

First, the concept of futures settlement

Generally speaking, futures trading is settled by the settlement department of the exchange or an independent settlement institution. The transaction reached in the exchange can only be finally reached after being handled by the settlement institution, and the fund guarantee can also be obtained. Therefore, futures settlement is one of the most basic characteristics of futures trading.

(A) the concept of futures trading settlement

Settlement refers to the calculation of the trading gains and losses of members and customers by the clearing institution or clearing company of the exchange, and takes the calculation result as the basis for collecting trading margin or additional margin. Therefore, settlement refers to the settlement of all links in the futures trading market, including both the settlement of members by the exchange and the calculation of trading profits and losses by member brokerage companies on their behalf, and the calculation results will be recorded in the customer's margin account.

(2) the settlement method of futures trading

In the futures market, there are three ways to complete futures trading: hedging liquidation, physical delivery and cash delivery. Accordingly, there are three settlement methods.

1. Hedging liquidation.

Hedging liquidation refers to the most important settlement method of futures trading, and most contracts in futures trading are settled in this way.

Settlement result: profit and loss = (selling price-buying price) * contract number * contract unit-handling fee.

Or = (buying price-selling price) * contract quantity * contract unit-handling fee

2. Actual delivery

In futures trading, although few transactions are made by physical delivery, accounting for only 1-3% of the total contract, it is precisely because the buyers and sellers of futures trading can make physical delivery that the futures price truly reflects the actual spot price of the traded goods, which makes it possible for hedgers to participate in futures trading. Therefore, physical delivery is very important.

Settlement result: the seller will hand over the bill of lading and sales invoice to the buyer through the settlement department or settlement company of the exchange, and collect all the payment at the same time.

3. Cash settlement.

Only a small number of futures contracts are settled in cash at maturity, rather than in kind.

Second, the settlement system of the futures market.

(1) hierarchical settlement management system

1. Settlement between the Exchange and its members. 2. Settlement between member brokerage companies and non-member brokerage companies. 3. Settlement between brokerage company and customers.

(B) Futures trading settlement process

Matching with the settlement system, the settlement process of futures trading is divided into the first-level settlement between the clearing institution of the exchange and the members and the second-level settlement between the member brokerage company and the customer (or non-member brokerage company).

Three. Settlement of futures exchange

The clearing institution of the futures exchange is an important part of the futures market. It exists in two ways, namely, an independent clearing house and the settlement department of the exchange. Its main function is to ensure the normal operation of the futures market and the perfection of the market. The settlement department of the exchange is a subsidiary of the commodity futures exchange and the executive body of the exchange settlement system. Responsible for clearing the trading accounts of all member units, clearing daily transactions, collecting trading deposits (performance bonds) and additional deposits, managing and supervising delivery, and reporting trading data.

The role of the clearing department of the futures exchange:

1. Calculate the profit and loss of futures trading.

After the futures trader completes the transaction, he will summarize all the transaction information to the settlement department of the exchange. The settlement department makes settlement on the basis of verification, calculates the profit and loss of each member, and reflects it to the member's margin account. The daily debt-free settlement system is adopted for transaction settlement, and the settlement of the transaction results on the same day is completed.

2. Act as a counterparty to ensure the performance of the transaction.

The settlement department of the exchange plays the role of a third party for all futures contract traders, that is, the settlement department is a buyer for every seller member and a seller for every buyer member. As far as the settlement department of the exchange itself is concerned, the daily profit and loss are balanced. In this way, traders only have business relations with the settlement department of the exchange, and the buyers and sellers of futures trading are not responsible for each other, but only responsible for the settlement department of the exchange. Because futures buyers and sellers can buy and sell contracts at will regardless of whether the counterparty performs the contract or not, the clearing institution of the exchange, as the third party of the counterparty, undertakes all the responsibilities of ensuring the timely performance of each transaction, thus simplifying the settlement procedures, promoting the transaction and improving the transaction efficiency.

3. Manage member funds and control market risks.

The clearing institution of the exchange manages the basic margin and trading margin of all members to ensure that all futures trading can be carried out and ensure the stability and financial integrity of the futures market. The settlement institutions of various exchanges shall implement strict settlement margin and daily debt-free settlement system. The Exchange has established the minimum deposit standard, and member companies or their customers must pay the minimum deposit to the clearing institution of the Exchange when settling the contract. At the same time, in order to ensure the interests of member brokerage companies, the margin charged by brokerage companies to customers is generally higher than that charged by exchanges to members. In this way, a series of strict systems and procedures have been established to ensure the normal operation of the futures market and prevent huge losses and liquidation confusion. After several big storms in China futures market, all the exchanges have realized that strengthening the settlement system and management monitoring are the key to controlling futures trading risks.

4. Supervise the physical delivery of futures trading.

Generally speaking, the exchange is not responsible for the whole process of actual commodity delivery, only for buyers and sellers who need spot delivery, and for the corresponding account transfer. In futures trading, all contracts must be settled by hedging or physical delivery.

futures delivery

(A) the concept of delivery

There are generally two ways to close positions in commodity futures trading (namely, closing positions). One is hedging liquidation; The second is physical delivery. Physical delivery is to fulfill the responsibility of futures trading through physical delivery. Therefore, futures delivery refers to the behavior of buyers and sellers of futures trading to make physical delivery of their respective expired open contracts in accordance with the provisions of the exchange when the contracts expire and end their futures trading.

(B) the role of delivery

Although physical delivery accounts for a small proportion in the whole futures contract, it is physical delivery and this potential that make the changes of futures prices synchronized with the changes of related spot prices, and gradually approach with the approach of contract expiration date. As far as its nature is concerned, physical delivery is a kind of spot trading behavior, but physical delivery in futures trading is the continuation of futures trading, which is at the junction of futures market and spot market and is the bridge and link between futures market and spot market. Therefore, the physical delivery in futures trading is the basis of the existence of the futures market and the fundamental premise for the two major economic functions of the futures market to play.