Futures and spot are completely different. Spot is actually a tradable commodity. Futures are mainly not commodities, but standardized tradable contracts with some bulk products such as cotton, soybeans and oil and financial assets such as stocks and bonds as the targets. Therefore, the subject matter can be commodities (such as gold, crude oil and agricultural products) or financial instruments.

The delivery date of futures can be one week later, one month later, three months later or even one year later.

A contract or agreement to buy or sell futures is called a futures contract.

The place where futures are bought and sold is called the futures market.

Investors can invest or speculate in futures. Most people think that improper speculation in futures, such as short selling without goods, will lead to financial market turmoil, which is not correct. Going long and shorting at the same time is a healthy and normal trading market.

Futures come from forward contracts, and the earliest forward is for Chicago grain merchants to avoid risks. The first modern futures exchange 1848 was established in Chicago, USA, and 1865 established a standard contract model.