Futures, whose English name is futures, is completely different from spot. Spot is actually a tradable commodity. Futures are mainly not commodities, but standardized tradable contracts based on some popular products such as cotton, soybeans and oil and financial assets such as stocks and bonds. 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.
The main characteristics of futures contracts:
1. The terms and conditions of a futures contract, such as commodity variety, trading unit, contract month, margin, quantity, quality, grade, delivery time and delivery place, are established and standardized, and the only variable is price. The standards of futures contracts are usually designed by futures exchanges and listed by national regulatory agencies.
2. The futures contract is concluded under the organization of the futures exchange and has legal effect, and the price is generated by public bidding in the trading hall of the exchange; Most foreign countries adopt public bidding, while our country adopts computer trading.
3. The performance of futures contracts is guaranteed by the exchange, and private transactions are not allowed.
4. Futures contracts can fulfill or terminate their contractual obligations through the settlement of spot or hedging transactions.
Futures is a zero-sum market, and the futures market itself does not create profits. In a certain period of time, regardless of the transaction costs of capital entry and exit, the total amount of funds in the futures market remains unchanged, and the profits of market participants come from the losses of another trader. The stock market has entered a bear market, the market price has shrunk dramatically, the dividends are meager, the state and enterprises absorb funds, and there is no short-selling mechanism. The total amount of funds in the stock market will show negative growth for a period of time, and the total profit is less than the loss. (Zero is always greater than a negative number)