Spread trading, also known as arbitrage trading, is a trading method to obtain profits through the fluctuation of spread between related futures contracts or futures products, financial products and their derivatives. It is called arbitrage, but it is still speculation in essence, but most textbooks and works call it low-risk stable income.

Spread trading also refers to spread trading by using the unreasonable relationship between futures contract prices.

In futures contracts, the prices of agricultural products, metals, energy and chemical products or financial products always fluctuate within a range due to different delivery methods, which is consistent with the spot price trend. However, due to the uneven distribution of short-term funds between long and short sides, prices will occasionally deviate, and then there will be opportunities for arbitrage.