Just like we used to buy and sell things I usually give you money. You give me the goods directly. Now our agreement is to give the money to the intermediary as a guarantee. Then we will discuss the delivery in a few months or even years. So we in China call him futures.
Let me give you a popular example. Your family sells cakes. I ran to your store and took money directly to buy cakes. You collect money. Give me the cake. This is the most basic spot transaction. Cash on delivery. Later, I will celebrate my birthday. It will be next month. I will book a birthday cake for you one month in advance. Not all the money is for you. Check out on your birthday. This is called spot trading in the form of forward contracts. Then you found out that my method was bullshit. Because I ordered your cake one month in advance. The price you gave is the price at that time. But a month later, when you sold it to me, some raw materials you needed to make a cake, such as cream, cheese and bread, all went up in price. But the price you sold me didn't go up. You will lose money in this way. You feel very uneasy. Tell me about it. But the price you gave is too high. I can't accept it. After a long discussion, we made a decision. We need to find a middleman. The middleman made an offer. Let's see. I thought the price was right, so I bought it. You can sell it if you think the price is right. Then it's time for the middleman to deliver the goods. You deliver the goods, I pay. In this way, with the passage of time, futures are formed. The latter question, futures index, is a relatively advanced question. Think of it as an operational indicator of a market.
Characteristics of futures trading
1, bidirectional
One of the biggest differences between futures trading and stock market is that futures can be traded in both directions, and futures can be long or short. When the price rises, you can buy low and sell high, and when the price falls, you can sell high and buy low. Going long can make money, and shorting can also make money, so there is no bear market in futures. In a bear market, the stock market will be suppressed, while the futures market will remain unchanged and opportunities will still exist. )
2, the cost is low
Futures trading countries do not levy stamp duty and other taxes, and the only cost is the transaction fee. The procedures of the three domestic exchanges are about two ten thousandths or three ten thousandths, plus the additional fees of brokers, and the unilateral handling fee is less than one thousandth of the transaction amount. (