First of all, understand the essential difference between the two:
Stock index futures trading is a futures contract, which is directly related to the forward position of the index. At the beginning of the transaction, the initial value of the futures contract is zero, and neither party needs to pay the fee. If the futures contract is held to maturity, it will be delivered at the index point at the time of initial trading.
For example, each unit of Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock index futures is 300 yuan RMB.
Stock index options do not directly involve index points, but have determined the index points to be delivered for a long time, and then trade the spot value (royalty) of this contract. Therefore, the stock index option contract itself is valuable, the buyer needs to pay the commission fee when opening the position, and the seller collects the commission fee when selling the right. If the option contract is held to maturity, it will be delivered at the strike price.
For example, each unit of the CSI 300 stock index option is 100 RMB.
Second, the play of stock index futures and options:
1, stock index futures have two trading directions.
For stock index futures, investors choose bulls when they are bullish and bears when they are bearish. They can only choose two trading directions: long and short.
Investors can use stock index futures to hedge the stock risks in their portfolios. By establishing a future positions in the opposite direction to the stock market, the portfolio can be protected from market fluctuations.
Stock index futures margin rules:
In stock index futures trading, both buyers and sellers need to pay a certain amount of deposit to the exchange to ensure the performance at maturity. In futures contracts, the trading margin is determined by a certain proportion of the contract value. In the case of holding the same position, with the change of the underlying asset price, the corresponding trading margin will also change in proportion.
Stock index futures profit and loss settlement:
After the buyers and sellers of stock index futures establish positions, their profits and losses need to be settled and transferred daily.
Stock index futures closed:
The execution link of stock index futures contract is to buy or sell the underlying assets at a pre-agreed price. Because the rights and obligations of buyers and sellers are equal, all open contracts after the stock index futures are traded on the maturity date must be delivered, and the profit and loss transfer between buyers and sellers must be completed according to the delivery settlement price.
2. Stock index options have four trading directions.
l？ The strategy of buying call options is suitable for multi-target market, and it is expected that the price increase will exceed a certain range in the future. You need to pay a premium to buy a call option.
l？ The strategy of buying put options is suitable for the market with bearish targets, and it is expected that the price will fall more than a certain extent in the future. You need to pay royalties to buy put options.
l？ The strategy of selling call options is suitable for the situation that the underlying asset price is not expected to rise sharply in the future. Collect a premium and pay a deposit when selling a call option.
l？ Put option strategy is suitable for the situation that the underlying asset price is not expected to fall sharply in the future. Sell put options, collect royalties and pay margin.
l？ Investors can also combine different option contracts and implement more complex portfolio strategies, such as butterfly, iron butterfly and protective investment strategy, so as to realize more flexible risk management and income expectation.
l？ Option margin rules:
In stock index option trading, because the option buyer has already paid the deposit, there is no need to pay the deposit, but for the seller, in order to ensure that the buyer can have enough funds to prepare when he chooses to exercise his rights and the seller has to passively perform the contract, the seller must pay the deposit.
Stock index option margin considers many factors such as contract value and imaginary value, and cannot be expressed by simple linear relationship.
Option profit and loss settlement:
According to the trading practice of various exchanges, the profit and loss of stock index options do not need to be settled and transferred after daily trading, but are settled in one lump sum at the end of trading or when the contract expires. This function is similar to stock trading.
Of course, for sellers who need to undertake performance obligations, although the gains and losses do not need to be transferred, the floating gains and losses of their stock index option positions will be reflected in the form of margin freezing.
End of option liquidation:
Because the rights and obligations of the buyers and sellers of stock index options are not equal, the buyer of the option has the right to choose whether to ask for the exercise of its open position on the expiration date and enter the delivery link, that is, when the delivery is beneficial to the buyer, the buyer will choose to exercise and enter the delivery link. On the contrary, when the delivery is unfavorable to the buyer, the buyer will give up the exercise.
Therefore, when the options expire, virtual options, flat options and real options whose actual value is less than or equal to the delivery fee are generally not delivered, and only real options whose actual value is greater than the delivery fee can enter the delivery link. That is to say, when the stock index option contract expires, only a part of the real options are executed and enter the final delivery link, and cash settlement is made according to the difference between the execution price and the delivery settlement price.
Three. Trading targets of stock index futures and options:
Stock index futures: Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock index futures, CSI 500 stock index futures, SSE 50 stock index futures and CSI 1000 stock index futures;
Options: There are many types of options, including ETF options, stock index options and commodity options. You can choose the option varieties in the sectors you are familiar with. For example, those who have certain views on the index can trade through stock index options and ETF options, and those who have certain views on futures and commodities can trade through commodity options and futures options.
As far as the threshold is concerned, ETF options can be traded through sub-accounts, and the threshold will be lower than other varieties, but you need to have a certain understanding of ETF options. Other options can only be opened in the sales department after reaching a certain threshold of funds and audit.