I. Definition and function
Since Kansas City Futures Exchange launched the value line composite index futures contract 1982 in February, stock index futures have become an important investment product in the global financial market.
Stock index futures is a kind of financial futures. Futures trading refers to a trading contract in which both parties agree to buy and sell a certain quantity and quality of the subject matter at a certain price by buying and selling futures contracts at a certain time and place in the future. The ultimate goal of futures trading is often not to transfer the ownership of the subject matter, but to avoid the spot price risk by buying and selling futures contracts. As the name implies, stock index futures are futures contracts with monetized stock indexes as the subject matter. The most important function of stock index futures is that investors can use it to hedge stock spot investment and avoid systemic risks. Investors here are relative to speculators. The purpose of investors' investment in stocks is to obtain long-term capital gains through the increase of the stock price with the substantial growth of listed companies, and to obtain investment gains through the distribution of listed companies over the years. They hope to avoid the losses caused by stock market fluctuations, especially the violent fluctuations caused by unexpected events. If there is no short selling mechanism, once the stock market fluctuates violently, there may be a chain reaction of investors selling stocks one after another, adding fuel to the fire and further aggravating the stock price decline. Stock index futures trading provides investors with a mechanism to avoid systemic risks in the market. The principle is that according to the same trend of stock index and stock price changes, the spot market and futures market of stock index do opposite operations to offset the risk of stock price changes. In this way, when the market may fluctuate, investors can preserve the value of their investment without selling the stock itself, thus stabilizing the market, protecting the interests of investors and maintaining the healthy development of the securities market.
In addition, stock index futures have some other functions: 1. Stock index futures enable investors to invest in the stock market without directly buying stocks, which reduces the troubles and expenses brought by buying stocks. 2. Stock index futures trading, like other futures trading, implements the margin system. Investors can participate in market investment without investing a lot of money, and the leverage ratio is generally 10 to 40 times. 3. The transaction cost is usually much smaller than that of stock trading.
Equity funds: Most funds in the market are equity funds, which take stocks as their main investment targets. Generally speaking, the rate of return of equity funds is the highest, but relatively speaking, the risk of investment is also greater. Therefore, it is more suitable for stable or active investors.
How to choose stock funds?
Look at investment orientation
First of all, it depends on whether the investment orientation of the fund is suitable for you, especially the products issued by new fund companies with no operating history. The different investment orientations of the fund represent the future risk and return degree of the fund, so you should choose a stock fund that suits your risk and return preference.
Second, look at the brand of the fund company.
Buying a fund is a professional financial service, so the quality of the company providing the service is very important. However, due to various reasons, it is impossible for ordinary residents to fully understand every fund company and fund. So the brand of the fund company is very important.
At present, many domestic rating agencies will publish the fund rating results on a monthly basis. Morningstar Consulting, an international fund rating agency in China, recently released the first rating results for domestic funds. Although these results have not been widely recognized, the evaluation results of many institutions can also be used as a reference for investors to invest.
Judging from the rating results of various rating agencies at present, the market has basically formed a * * * understanding of a number of fund companies such as Boss, E Fund, Huaxia, Harvest and Cathay Pacific. Almost all of these companies have operated open-end funds for more than two years, that is, they have experienced a depressed bear market and an investment bull market. Their fund net value has increased steadily, basically outperforming the broader market, which is higher than the average level of similar funds.
There is basically no essential difference between index futures and ordinary commodity futures except for due delivery. Take a stock market as an example. Suppose it is 1 000 points at present, that is to say, the current "price" of this market index is 1 000 points, and there is now a "futures contract of this market index that expires at the end of February". If most investors in the market are bullish, the price of this index futures may have reached 65438+ at present. If you think the price of this index will exceed 1 100 at the end of 65438+February, maybe you will buy this stock index futures, that is, you promise to buy this market index at the price of 1 100 at the end of 65438+February. The index futures continued to rise to 1 150. At this time, you have two choices, either continue to hold your futures contract or sell the futures at the current new "price", namely 1 150. By this time, you have closed your position and gained 50 points. Of course, before the expiration of this index futures, its "price" may also fall, and you can continue to hold or close your position and cut your meat. However, when the index futures expire, no one can continue to hold them, because the futures at this time have become "spot" and you must buy or sell the index at the promised "price". According to the difference between the "price" of your futures contract and the current actual "price", refund more and make up less. For example, if the market index is actually 1 130 points when it expires at the end of February, you can get the price difference compensation of 30 points, which means you earn 30 points. On the contrary, if the index is 1050 points, you must take out 50 points to subsidize it, which means you lose 50 points. Of course, the so-called "points" of earning or losing are meaningless, and these points must be converted into meaningful monetary units. The specific conversion amount must be agreed in the index futures contract in advance, which is called the contract scale. If the scale of market index futures is 100 yuan, taking 1000 points as an example, the value of a contract is 100000 yuan. The difference between stock index futures trading and stock trading
1. Stock index futures can be sold short. A prerequisite for short selling is that you must borrow a certain number of shares from others first. Foreign countries have strict conditions for stock short selling, but not for index futures trading. In fact, more than half of index futures trading includes short selling positions. For investors, the most attractive part of the short-selling mechanism is that when the overall trend of the stock market is expected to decline in the future, investors can take the initiative instead of passively waiting for the stock market to bottom out, so that investors can also make a difference in the falling market. 2. The transaction cost is low. Compared with spot trading, the transaction cost of stock index futures is quite low, which is only about one tenth of that of foreign stocks. The cost of index futures trading includes: trading commission, bid-ask spread, opportunity cost of paying margin (also called margin) and possible taxes. A futures transaction in the United States (including the complete transaction of opening and closing positions) only charges about $30. 3. The leverage ratio is higher. The higher the leverage ratio, the lower the profit margin. In Britain, a futures trading account with an initial margin of only 2,500 pounds, the trading volume of FTSE- 100 index futures can reach 70,000 pounds, and the leverage ratio is 28: 1. This market is highly liquid. Research shows that the liquidity of stock index futures market is obviously higher than that of stock spot market. For example, 199 1, the trading volume of FTSE-100 index futures has reached 85 billion pounds. 5. Stock index futures shall be delivered in cash. 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 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. Generally speaking, the stock index futures market focuses on buying and selling according to macroeconomic data, while the spot market focuses on buying and selling according to the situation of individual companies. Structure and function of stock index futures market