Futures, whose English name is futures, is completely different from spot. Spot is actually a tradable commodity. Futures are mainly not commodities, but standardized tradable contracts based on some popular products such as cotton, soybeans and oil and financial assets such as stocks and bonds. Therefore, the subject matter can be commodities (such as gold, crude oil and agricultural products) or financial instruments.

The delivery date of futures can be one week later, one month later, three months later or even one year later.

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.

Futures market first appeared in Europe. As early as ancient Greece and Rome, there were central trading places, bulk barter transactions, and trading activities with the nature of futures trade.

The original futures trading was developed from spot forward trading. The first modern futures exchange 1848 was established in Chicago, USA, and 1865 established a standard contract model.

In 1990s, China Modern Futures Exchange came into being. There are four futures exchanges in China: Shanghai Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and China Financial Futures Exchange. The price changes of its listed futures products have a far-reaching impact on related industries at home and abroad.