A warrant is a security issued by the issuer of the target securities or a third party other than the issuer, and the agreed holder has the right to buy or sell the target securities from the issuer at an agreed price within a specific period or a specific maturity date, or to collect the settlement difference by cash settlement.

The full name of stock index futures (SPIF) is stock index futures, which can also be called stock index futures and futures index. It refers to the standardized futures contract with the stock price index as the subject matter. The two parties agree to buy and sell the underlying index according to the size of the stock price index determined in advance at a future date, and settle the difference in cash after the expiration. As a type of futures trading, stock index futures trading has basically the same characteristics and processes as ordinary commodity futures trading. Stock index futures are a kind of futures, which can be roughly divided into two categories, commodity futures and financial futures.

The difference between stock index futures and warrants is mainly reflected in seven aspects:

(1) In terms of basic assets, the basic asset of stock index futures is the stock price index, and the price changes of stock index futures are mainly influenced by macroeconomic factors and major constituent stocks. The underlying asset of the warrant is a single stock, and its price changes are mainly affected by factors such as asset price, time value and stock volatility.

(2) From the functional point of view, the basic function of stock index futures is to avoid the systemic risk of the stock market, while warrants are to lock the price fluctuation risk of a single stock.

(3) In terms of trading mechanism, the futures trading mechanism adopted by stock index futures and the spot trading mechanism adopted by warrants. Stock index futures can be bought long or sold short. Shorting warrants is actually buying put warrants, and warrants trading is still buying warrants first and then selling warrants. Only when the price of warrants rises can the warrants be sold for profit, which is consistent with stock trading.

(4) In terms of delivery mechanism, stock index futures are delivered in cash when they expire. After the closing of the stock index futures contract on the last trading day, based on the settlement price calculated by the exchange, the profit and loss of both positions will be paid and all open contracts will be settled. The exercise price of the warrants has been determined when the warrants are issued. If the investor fails to exercise his rights when the warrant expires, the warrant itself has no value.

(5) In the setting of price limit, stock index futures generally adopt the same price limit ratio as the stock market. Warrants are limited by price rather than percentage, and sometimes they may far exceed 10% of the stock market.

(6) In terms of capital requirements, stock index futures are much higher than warrants. For example, according to the 3000-point stock price index, the trading of the first-hand stock index futures contract needs about 500,000 yuan. The capital requirement of warrants is low, as long as the capital account is full of funds that can buy 1 lot (100 warrants).

(7) From the perspective of market size, as long as there are counterparties and the market liquidity is sufficient, the positions of stock index futures can theoretically reach infinity. The circulation of warrant transactions is limited by the number of issues. Warrant issuers often issue a fixed number of warrants, so the number of warrants that can be circulated in the market is also fixed.