Everything has two sides, and arbitrage trading is no exception. In addition to the above advantages, there are also the following shortcomings:

1. Potential benefits are limited.

In the eyes of many investors, the biggest disadvantage of arbitrage is the limitation of potential returns. This is normal, when you limit the risk in a trade, you usually also limit your potential profit. However, the final choice of arbitrage trading must be weighed against the many advantages of arbitrage and the limited potential returns.

2. Excellent arbitrage opportunities appear rarely and frequently.

The number of arbitrage opportunities is closely related to the efficiency of the market. The lower the market efficiency, the more arbitrage opportunities; the higher the market efficiency, the fewer arbitrage opportunities. As far as the current domestic futures market is concerned, the effectiveness is not high, and there are several good arbitrage opportunities for various futures varieties every year. However, compared with the unilateral trend, there are many arbitrage opportunities every year.

3. Arbitrage also has risks.

Although arbitrage has the advantages of limited risk and lower risk, it is still risky after all. This risk comes from: the price deviation continues to be wrong. The strength relationship between contracts often maintains the trend of "the strong will always be strong and the weak will always be weak" in the short term. Assuming that this price deviation is eventually corrected, arbitrageurs will have to suffer temporary losses in such transactions. If investors can withstand such losses, they will eventually turn a profit, but sometimes investors cannot survive the loss period. Moreover, if the short contract encounters a short squeeze and continues until the contract is delivered, the price deviation will not be corrected and the arbitrage transaction will definitely end in failure.

The corresponding trading objects and trading strategies of arbitrage trading are different from price unilateral trading. There is no absolute advantage or disadvantage between the two. It is an investment and trading channel independent of unilateral trading. The choice between the two depends largely on the investor's risk preference, investment risk and capital size.

Generally, the change in the price difference between contracts involved in arbitrage trading is much smaller than the price change of a single contract, and it is a trading method with low risk and stable returns. Therefore, arbitrage trading is mainly an investment choice for traders with large amounts of capital or a stable style.