Compared with spot contracts and forward contracts, futures contracts have the following characteristics: (1) Futures contracts are standardized contracts. The standardized terms of futures contracts generally include: transaction quantity and unit terms; Quality and grade clauses; Place of delivery clause; Time limit for delivery; Minimum variable price clause; Limit range clause; Last trading day clause. In contrast, spot contracts and forward contracts are negotiated by both parties, and the specific terms are much simpler, just indicating the name, quantity, price and delivery time of the traded products. (2) Physical delivery of futures contracts may not necessarily happen. Spot contracts aim to transfer the ownership of goods and require physical delivery. Forward contracts should also be delivered in kind when they expire. Futures contracts are mainly for transferring risks or obtaining speculative gains. Most futures investors don't want to get the real thing, but do the opposite transaction before the contract expires and implement "hedging". Therefore, most futures contracts usually do not implement physical delivery; For most futures investors, what they get or hand over is not the real thing, but the price difference. Especially in stock index futures trading, because the stock index is not in kind, buyers and sellers can only settle by the price difference.