Futures are financial contracts that include the sale of financial instruments or physical commodities for future delivery (generally conducted on commodity exchanges). A futures contract represents the value of an index or commodity at a future date.

Futures are a way of trading across time. By signing a standardized contract (futures contract), buyers and sellers agree to deliver a specified quantity of spot goods at a specified time, price and other trading conditions. Futures are usually traded on futures exchanges, but some futures contracts can also be traded over the counter (OTC, Over the Counter).