The future in English is the future, which evolved from the word "future". It means that both parties to the transaction don't have to deliver the physical object at the initial stage of buying and selling, but agree to deliver the physical object at some time in the future, so China people call it "futures". The original futures trading developed from spot forward trading. The initial spot forward transaction is a verbal commitment by both parties to deliver a certain amount of goods at a certain time. Later, with the expansion of the scope of transactions, oral promises were gradually replaced by sales contracts. This kind of contract behavior is becoming more and more complicated, and it needs intermediary guarantee to supervise the timely delivery and payment of goods, so the Royal Exchange, the world's first commodity forward contract exchange opened by 1570 in London, appeared. In order to adapt to the continuous development of commodity economy, Chicago Grain Exchange introduced a standardized agreement called "futures contract" at 1985, which replaced the old forward contract. With this standardized contract, manual trading can be carried out, and the margin system is gradually improved, so a futures market specializing in standardized contract trading has been formed, and futures has become an investment and financial management tool for investors. The characteristics of futures are small and wide, short-selling, making money in both directions and high risk, so China is very cautious about the opening of futures trading. Futures speculation is very similar to the stock market, but there are also obvious differences. First, large-cap stocks are traded in full, that is, you can only buy as many shares as you have, while the futures system is a margin system, that is, you only need to pay 5% to 10% of the turnover to trade 100%. For example, if an investor has 1 10,000 yuan, he can buy 1000 shares if he buys1000 yuan, and he can clinch a commodity futures contract with110,000 yuan by investing in futures, that is, taking small bets and making big ones. Second, the two-way trading of stocks is one-way. Only by buying stocks first can you sell them. Futures can be bought or sold first, which is a two-way transaction. Third, time limit There is no time limit for stock trading. If the quilt cover can be closed for a long time, and the futures must be delivered at maturity, otherwise the exchange will force the liquidation or physical delivery. 4. Profit and loss The actual income of stock investment has two parts, one is the market price difference, the other is the dividend, and the profit and loss of futures investment is the actual profit and loss in market transactions. 5. The futures with huge risks are characterized by high returns and high risks due to the implementation of the margin system, the additional margin system and the restriction of compulsory liquidation at maturity. In a sense, futures can make you rich overnight, or you may be penniless in an instant, so investors should invest carefully. Money Fund-New Product of Financial Investment Recently, the Southern Cash Increase Fund began to be issued in Mianyang. What is a money fund? Many citizens are still at a loss. Money market investment funds are called "financial products that can replace savings". Up to now, 10 money market funds have been issued in the market, and their annual after-tax rate of return is stable between 2.34% and 3.5%, which is much higher than 1.98% of one-year time deposits of banks. At the same time, from the perspective of profitability, liquidity, risk and risk, money market fund is an open-end fund, which only invests in money market instruments, including: cash, bank time deposits within one year (including one year), large deposit certificates, bonds with a remaining maturity of 397 days (including 397 days), bond repurchase with a maturity of one year (including one year), and bonds with a maturity of one year (including one year) Therefore, it is almost equivalent to national credit, basically making a steady profit without loss, and there is no interest tax. In addition, money market funds have five advantages: first, the starting point is low, and you can buy them at 1000 yuan. 2. There is no transaction cost. Subscription and redemption transaction fees are free. Third, high liquidity. You can purchase and redeem at any time, and you can get the money by redeeming the next day. Fourth, pay dividends every day and compound interest income. Investment income is distributed daily, and the monthly cash income of 15 is automatically converted into fund shares, which is actually compound interest income. Fifth, information transparency. Announce the income status daily, intuitive and timely. At the same time, its income increases with the increase of central bank interest. Therefore, the money fund with the characteristics of "worry-free principal, convenient demand and regular income" is very suitable for units and individuals pursuing low risk, high liquidity and stable income. Investors can hold their valid certificates (ID card, military officer's card, passport) to buy and redeem at a bank or securities company with agency qualification.
The concept of option
An option is the right to buy or sell a certain number of specific assets at a certain price at a certain time in the future.
Option trading is a kind of right trading. In futures option trading, the option buyer obtains the right to buy or sell a certain number of futures contracts from the option seller at a predetermined price (exercise price) within the time stipulated in the contract after paying a fee (royalty). After receiving the option fee paid by the option buyer, the option seller must unconditionally perform the obligations stipulated by option contracts as long as the option buyer requests to exercise his rights. In futures trading, buyers and sellers have equal rights and obligations. In contrast, the rights and obligations of buyers and sellers in option trading are not equal. After paying the patent fee, the buyer has the right to execute and not to execute, but has no obligation; When the seller receives the royalty, no matter how unfavorable the market situation is, once the buyer proposes to implement it, he is obliged to perform the option contracts, but has no right.
Options are also contracts. The terms in the contract have been standardized. Take wheat futures options as an example. For option buyers, the right to buy primary wheat futures usually represents the right to buy primary wheat futures contracts in the future. The right to sell primary wheat futures usually represents the right to sell primary wheat futures contracts in the future; The seller of the option is obliged to sell a certain number of wheat futures contracts to the buyer of the option at the exercise price at some future time according to the terms of the option contract. The seller of the put option has the obligation to buy a certain number of wheat futures contracts from the option buyer at the exercise price at some future time according to the terms of the option contract.
The price of an option is called a premium. Option fee refers to the fee paid by the option buyer to the option seller in order to obtain the rights conferred by the option contract. For option buyers, no matter where the price of wheat futures changes in the future, the biggest loss they may face is only royalties. This feature of options gives traders the ability to control investment risks. The option seller collects the option fee from the buyer in return for taking the market risk.