The original futures trading developed from spot forward trading. The initial spot forward transaction is a verbal commitment by both parties to deliver a certain amount of goods at a certain time. Later, with the expansion of the scope of transactions, oral promises were gradually replaced by sales contracts. This kind of contract behavior is becoming more and more complicated, and it needs intermediary guarantee to supervise the timely delivery and payment of goods, so the Royal Exchange, the world's first commodity forward contract exchange opened by 1570 in London, appeared. In order to adapt to the continuous development of commodity economy, Chicago Grain Exchange introduced a standardized agreement called "futures contract" at 1985, which replaced the old forward contract. The use of this standardized contract allows the contract to change hands and gradually improve the deposit system, so it is a special kind.
The futures market for buying and selling standardized contracts has been formed, and futures have become financial instruments for investors. (Source: www. 1 188.net)
The characteristics of futures are small and wide, short-selling, two-way money-making, and high risk. Therefore, China is very cautious about the opening of futures trading. Futures speculation is very similar to the stock market, but there are also obvious differences.
First, fight big with small ones.
Stocks are completely traded, that is, you can only buy as many stocks as you have money, while futures is a margin system, that is, you only need to pay 5% to 10% of the turnover to trade 100%. For example, if an investor has 1 10,000 yuan, he can buy 1000 shares if he buys1000 yuan, and he can clinch a commodity futures contract with110,000 yuan by investing in futures, that is, taking small bets and making big ones.
Second, two-way transactions.
Stocks are one-way transactions, and only stocks can be bought and sold; Futures can be bought or sold first, which is a two-way transaction.
Third, the time limit.
There is no time limit for stock trading. If the quilt cover can be closed for a long time, and the futures must be delivered at maturity, otherwise the exchange will force the liquidation or physical delivery.
Fourth, the actual profit and loss.
The income from stock investment has two parts, one is the market price difference, the other is the dividend distribution, and the profit and loss of futures investment is the actual profit and loss in market transactions.
Fifth, the risks are enormous.
Due to the restrictions of margin system, additional margin system and forced liquidation at maturity, futures have the characteristics of high returns and high risks. In a sense, futures can make you rich overnight, and it can also make you poor instantly. Investors should invest carefully.