In other words, buying and selling goods at an agreed price on an agreed date is called futures.

So maybe you still don't understand. Let me give you an example to understand the role of futures.

For example, if you are a landlord and have a thousand acres of fertile land, you grow soybeans. The price of soybean on the market now is 3800 yuan a ton. The soybeans planted in your field will be harvested in three months, so you are worried that if everyone's soybeans are mature in three months, this year is a bumper harvest year, then the price may fall. ...

And I'm a businessman, and my opinion is different from yours. I think there may be a flood next month, because if there is a flood, soybean production will be reduced, so of course, the supply is in short supply and soybean prices will rise. ...

Ok, so we hit it off, and we agreed that after three months, when the soybeans in your field are harvested, you still have to pay the current price.

Sell it to me at 3800 yuan a ton.

This is called futures, and this agreement is futures, with a term of three months, and commodities, namely soybeans.

Then three months later, no matter what the market price of soybeans is, you have to sell them to me at the price of 3800 yuan.

Suppose, during this period, there really was a flood, soybean production was reduced, and the price soared to 5000 a ton. Then three months later, you gave me your soybean at the price of 3800 a ton as agreed, but now the market is 5000 a ton, and I sold it backwards, and I earned 1200.

On the other hand, if this year is a bumper harvest, the soybean yield is large, and the price drops to 3,000 yuan, I'm sorry, but I still have to buy it from you at the agreed price of 3,800 yuan, and the market price is only 3,000 yuan, then I will lose 800 yuan.

This is the reason and purpose of futures. There are two people, you and me. Your role is the landlord. You are neither an economist nor a businessman. You just want to make sure that your soybean price is stable.

3800, so you have a contract with me, so three months later, no matter what the world is like, your soybean sold to me for 3800, and your behavior is called hedging, which is also considered hedging risk.

As a businessman, my goal is to get the difference through the rise and fall of prices. I'm a speculator, so I'll marry me the risk you don't want to take. Then, in the same way, after three months, I may gain or lose from these risks.