Futures is a standardized tradable contract with certain mass products and financial assets as the subject matter. The popular understanding is the contract to buy and sell future products. Futures and spot are completely different. Spot is a real 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 subject matter. Therefore, the subject matter can be a commodity or a financial instrument.

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.

Main features:

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.