The futures contract of each commodity stipulates a unified and standardized quantity and unit of quantity, which are collectively called "trading units". For example, the Chicago Board of Trade stipulates that the trading unit of wheat futures contracts is 5000 bushels (about 27.24 kilograms of wheat per bushel), and each wheat futures contract is the same.
If traders buy wheat futures contracts on the exchange, it means that they need to buy 5000 bushels of wheat on the contract expiration date.
2, quality and grade terms
Commodity futures contracts stipulate unified and standardized quality grades, and generally adopt internationally recognized commodity quality grade standards. For example, because soybeans from China account for a large proportion in international trade, Japanese Nagoya Grain Exchange takes soybeans made in China as the standard of soybean quality grade.
3. Terms of trading time
The trading time of futures contracts is fixed. Every exchange has strict rules on trading hours. Generally, it is open for 5 days every week, and it is closed on Saturday, Sunday and national holidays. Generally, each trading day is divided into two periods, namely morning period and afternoon period. The morning session is 9:00- 1 1:30, and the afternoon session is 1:30-3:00.
4. Quotation unit clause
Quotation unit refers to the unit used in the open bidding process of futures contracts, that is, the monetary price of each unit of measurement. Domestic cathode copper, sugar, soybean and other futures contracts are all quoted at RMB/ton.
5. Terms and conditions of contract name
The name of the contract shall indicate the variety name of the contract and the name of the listed exchange. Take the sugar contract of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange as an example. The name of the contract is "Sugar Futures Contract of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange". The contract name should be concise and clear, and at the same time avoid confusion.
6. Place of delivery clause
Futures contracts specify a standardized and unified delivery warehouse for the physical delivery of futures transactions to ensure the normal delivery of physical objects.
7. Term of delivery clause
Commodity futures contracts stipulate the physical delivery month, and generally stipulate several delivery months, which are chosen by traders themselves. For example. The delivery months stipulated by the Chicago Board of Trade for wheat futures contracts are July, September, 65438+February, March and May of the following year. Traders can choose their own trading month to trade.
If traders buy contracts in July, they will either close their positions before July or make physical delivery in July.
8. Minimum price change clause
Refers to the minimum allowable variation range of the quotation of buyers and sellers in futures trading, and the price variation range at each quotation must be an integer multiple of this minimum variation price.
9, the daily maximum price fluctuation limit clause
The transaction price of a futures contract on a certain trading day cannot be higher or lower than the settlement price of the previous trading day. If this range is reached, the transaction of the contract will be suspended. For example, the maximum daily price fluctuation of a wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade is 20 cents per bushel ($65,438+0,000 per contract).
10, terms of the last trading day
Refers to the deadline for futures contracts to stop trading. Every futures contract has a certain month limit. On a certain day in the contract month, the trading of the contract will be stopped and the physical delivery will be prepared. For example, the Chicago Board of Trade stipulates that the last trading day of corn, soybean, soybean meal, soybean oil and wheat futures is the seventh trading day from the last trading day of the delivery month.
Extended data:
trait
1. The commodity variety, quantity, quality, grade, delivery time, delivery place and other terms of the futures contract are established and standardized, and the only variable is the price. The standards of futures contracts are usually designed by futures exchanges and listed by national regulatory agencies.
2. Futures contracts are concluded under the organization of futures exchanges and have legal effect. Futures prices are generated by public bidding in the trading hall of the exchange. Most foreign countries adopt public bidding, while our country adopts computer trading.
3. The performance of futures contracts is guaranteed by the exchange, and private transactions are not allowed.
4. Futures contracts can fulfill or terminate their contractual obligations through the settlement of spot or hedging transactions.
kind
goods
Agricultural futures: The first futures product after CBOT (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) was born in 1848. Mainly including wheat, soybeans, corn and other grains; Cash crops such as cotton, coffee and cocoa, and forest products such as wood and natural rubber.
Metal futures: copper, which first appeared on the London Metal Exchange (LME), has developed into two categories: nonferrous metals represented by copper, aluminum, lead, zinc and nickel, and precious metals such as gold and silver.
Energy futures: The oil crisis in 1970s directly led to the emergence of energy futures such as oil. The main energy sources in the market are crude oil, gasoline, heating oil and propane.
finance
Financial futures contract: a futures contract with financial instruments as the subject matter.
Foreign exchange futures: After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s, the fluctuation of the foreign exchange market caused by the floating exchange rate system prompted people to look for tools to avoid risks. On May 1972, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange took the lead in launching foreign exchange futures contracts. In the international foreign exchange market, there are seven currencies with the largest trading volume, namely US dollar, German mark, Japanese yen, British pound, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and French franc.
Interest rate futures: 1975 10 The National Mortgage Association bond futures contract is listed on the Chicago Board of Trade. There are two main types of interest rate futures-short-term interest rate futures contracts and long-term interest rate futures contracts, and the latter has a larger trading volume.
Stock index futures: With the ups and downs of the securities market, investors urgently need a tool for hedging and preserving value. Under this background, Kansas Futures Exchange launched the value line composite index futures, 1982, on February 24th. At present, the largest stock index contract in the world is S&; P500 index contract.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Futures Contract