In the long-term stock trading practice, it is found that a perfect stock price index can basically represent the trend and range of all stock price changes in the whole stock market. For example, the domestic Shanghai Composite Index, CSI 500 Index and CSI 300 Index, and the foreign Dow Jones Industrial Index and Nikkei 225 Index are all stock indexes. As an indicator of market price changes, the stock index reflects the average price level of the overall changes in the stock market. If the stock index is transformed into a tradable "commodity", the price or trend of the whole stock market can be grasped by buying and selling the stock index, then trading the stock index has great practical significance.
In people's daily life, buying and selling commodities is the most normal activity, and "commodities" are usually divided into spot and futures. Buying and selling the spot is "one hand to pay, one hand to deliver"; Futures trading is based on credibility. When signing a sales contract or contract, both the buyer and the seller must pay a certain "credit" deposit (deposit). This kind of contract can also be sold and transferred halfway. For example, the "auction house" we often buy is to buy and sell futures.
The "period" in stock index futures represents the future period or period, while the "goods" in stock index futures certainly represent the stock index objects that traders choose to trade. So "stock index futures" and "stock index spot" are two completely different concepts. The former predicts and trades the future price of the stock index on the basis of the latter market.
situation
At 9: 25 a.m. on August 8, a certain year, after the completion of the call auction in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock indexes were displayed as 27 19.40 points from the stock market system, indicating that the current "spot" trading price of the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock indexes was 27 19.40 points.
If an investor now wants to know the expected degree of all traders in the market for the stock market ups and downs at a certain time in the future, such as September, or the end of 65438+February, or even March next year, that is, he wants to know the future price of the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock indexes at a certain point in the future, and then he will pay attention to the maturity of different months in the futures market system of China Financial Futures Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "CICC"). For example, when he saw that the price of "Shanghai-Shenzhen 300 stock index futures contract expired at 65438+ in February" had reached 3085.0 points, it showed that market traders had the upper hand in the bullish view of Shanghai-Shenzhen 300 stock index at 65438+ in February, because the market expected the price of Shanghai-Shenzhen 300 stock index to reach 3085.
If an investor thinks that the "price" of this index will not only rise to 3,085.0 points between now and February, but may also exceed 3,085.0 points, maybe he will buy the futures contract of this stock index. If his judgment is correct, the index futures price will rise to 32 15.0 at some time in the future. At this time, he has two choices:
First, continue to hold the futures contract and wait for the index to continue to rise;
The second is to sell the original futures contract at this new "price", that is, 32 15.0, and settle the account. So far, he has earned a profit of 3215.0-3085.0 =+130.
Of course, if he misjudges the market trend and the futures price drops to 30 15.0 at some point after buying stock index futures, he also has two options:
First, continue to hold futures contracts and wait for the index to rebound;
The second is to sell the futures contract at a new "price", that is, 30 15.0, and then the actual loss he gets is 30 15.0-3085.0 =-70, which is often called "cutting meat" in the stock market.
However, when the stock index futures expire, that is, the third Friday of June 5438+February, this day is the delivery date of the futures contract stipulated by CICC, that is, the first-hand futures contract he holds expires and becomes "spot", so he can no longer hold it. At this time, all investors who own the futures contract must buy or sell the CSI 300 Index at the promised "price".
According to the difference between the "price" of the futures originally bought and sold by investors and the "spot price" of the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index at the time of delivery, CICC will automatically transfer money by withdrawing too much and making up too little. This shows how close the relationship between the stock market and the stock index futures market is. If the delivery price is higher than the investor's original purchase price of 3085.0, he still earns; If the delivery price is lower than 3085.0, investors will lose money. This delivery price is set by CICC, based on the arithmetic average price of the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 spot index trading in the last two hours of the day, and is calculated by the computer of the exchange after the closing of the day. If the price is 3066.66 points, the original 1 hand of the investor will automatically close the position at this point after the market closes. Obviously, he lost 18_34 (3066.66-3085.0).
Please note: on the last trading day, that is, at 3 pm on the delivery date, the closing price of the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock index futures 65438+February contract held by investors was 3058.4, while the closing price of the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 spot index at this time was 3052.0, but neither of them can be used as the delivery price of the futures contract 65438+February. Ask the reader to think about why.
Of course, it is meaningless to earn or lose "points". "Points" must be converted into meaningful monetary units. The specific conversion amount shall be specified in advance by the exchange in the trading rules. According to the trading rules of CICC, each "point" of the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock index futures represents 300 yuan RMB, so the above-mentioned investor multiplies the points he earned and lost by 300 yuan, and then times the number of hands he bought and sold is the total amount of money he earned or lost. Under the above circumstances, if the investor holds it until the final delivery date, its * * * loss is-18.34 points ×300 yuan/point × 1 hand =-5502.00 yuan.
It can be concluded from this case that the so-called stock index futures are financial futures contracts with the stock price index as the subject matter. The so-called subject matter is the "object" to be traded in the futures market, which is embodied by contract symbols. For example, IF 18 12 is the symbol of stock index futures contract, indicating that the subject matter is the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 stock indexes, and IF is used to indicate that it is a futures contract due for delivery in February of 20 18. This kind of contract is a standardized contract formulated by the exchange. After the contract expires, the stock index futures will be delivered in the form of cash settlement.