Although the futures market is a derivative market based on the stock market, it is delivered in cash, that is, only the profit and loss are calculated at the time of delivery, and the physical object is not transferred. During the delivery period of futures contracts, investors do not have to buy or sell the corresponding stocks to fulfill their contractual obligations, thus avoiding the phenomenon of "crowding" in the stock market during the delivery period.

When a futures account opens a position, the position held after buying a futures contract is called a long position, referred to as a long position; The positions held after selling futures contracts are called short positions, referred to as short positions. The difference between open long contracts and open short contracts is called net position. Only in futures trading will this be done.