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What is futures?
Futures history: Futures is English, which evolved from the word "future". It means that both parties to the transaction don't have to deliver the physical object at the initial stage of buying and selling, but agree to deliver the physical object at some time in the future, so China people call it "futures".

The original futures trading developed from spot forward trading. The initial spot forward transaction is a verbal commitment by both parties to deliver a certain amount of goods at a certain time. Later, with the expansion of the scope of transactions, oral promises were gradually replaced by sales contracts. This kind of contract behavior is becoming more and more complicated, and it needs intermediary guarantee to supervise the timely delivery and payment of goods, so the Royal Exchange, the world's first commodity forward contract exchange opened by 1570 in London, appeared. In order to adapt to the continuous development of commodity economy, Chicago Grain Exchange introduced a standardized agreement called "futures contract" at 1985, which replaced the old forward contract. With this standardized contract, manual trading can be carried out, and the margin system is gradually improved, so a futures market specializing in standardized contract trading has been formed, and futures has become an investment and financial management tool for investors.

The basic concept of futures: futures is a standardized contract, a unified and long-term "commodity" contract. Buying and selling futures contracts is actually a promise to buy or sell a certain number of "commodities" in the future ("commodities" can be physical commodities such as soybeans and copper, as well as financial products such as stock indexes and foreign exchange).

The main features of futures contracts are:

A. The commodity variety, quantity, quality, grade, delivery time and delivery place of a futures contract are established and standardized, and the only variable is the price. The standards of futures contracts are usually designed by futures exchanges and listed by national regulatory agencies.

B. Futures contracts are concluded under the organization of the futures exchange and have legal effect, and prices are generated through public bidding in the trading hall of the exchange; Most foreign countries adopt public bidding, while our country adopts computer trading.

C the performance of futures contracts is guaranteed by the exchange, and private transactions are not allowed.

D futures contracts can fulfill or cancel their contractual obligations through settlement of spot or hedging transactions.

The components of a futures contract include:

A. Various transactions

B. Number and unit of transactions

C the lowest change price, and the quotation must be an integer multiple of the lowest change price.

D. daily maximum price fluctuation limit, that is, price fluctuation limit. When the market price rises to the maximum increase, we call it "daily limit", on the contrary, we call it "daily limit".

E. Contract month

F. Transaction time

G. Last trading day: The last trading day refers to the last trading day when futures contracts are traded in the contract delivery month;

H delivery time: refers to the actual delivery time stipulated in this contract;

I. Delivery standards and levels

J. place of delivery

K. security deposit

Length transaction cost

The role of futures contracts is:

One is to attract hedgers to use the futures market to buy and sell contracts, lock in costs and avoid the possible losses caused by the risk of commodity price fluctuations in the spot market.

The second is to attract speculators to conduct venture capital transactions and increase market liquidity.

Characteristics of futures trading

1. Two-way futures trading: One of the biggest differences between futures trading and the stock market is that futures can be traded in two directions, and futures can be sold short or short. When the price rises, you can buy low and sell high, and when the price falls, you can sell high and make up 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 depressed, while the futures market will remain unchanged and opportunities will still exist.

2. The cost of futures trading is low: countries that trade futures do not collect stamp duty and other taxes, and the only cost is the transaction fee. At present, 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.

Low cost is the guarantee of success.

3, the leverage of futures trading:

Leverage principle is the charm of futures investment. You don't need to pay all the money to trade in the futures market. At present, domestic futures trading only needs to pay a deposit of 5% to obtain future trading rights.

Due to the use of margin, the original market has been enlarged ten times. We assume that the daily limit of copper price closes on a certain day (the daily limit in futures is only 3% of the last trading day), and the operation is correct. Our capital profit rate is as high as 60%(3%÷5%), which is six times the daily limit of the stock market.

You can only make money if you have a chance.

4. Double the trading opportunities of "T+0": Futures is a "T+0" transaction, which makes your capital use to the extreme. After grasping the trend, you can close your position at any time.

Convenient access can increase the safety of investment.

5. Futures is a zero-sum market but greater than a negative market: futures is a zero-sum market, and the futures market itself does not create profits. In a certain period of time, regardless of the transaction costs of capital entry and exit, the total amount of funds in the futures market remains unchanged, and the profits of market participants come from the losses of another trader.

The stock market has entered a bear market, the market price has shrunk dramatically, the dividends are meager, the state and enterprises absorb funds, and there is no short-selling mechanism. The total amount of funds in the stock market will show negative growth for a period of time, and the total profit is less than the loss.

Zero is always greater than a negative number.

The comprehensive policy of the country, the needs of economic development and the characteristics of futures all determine that futures have huge development space.

The difference between futures and stocks: the return on investment is different: futures trading can amplify the income by four or two thousand pounds because of the leverage principle of its margin. Futures only need to pay within 10% of the total contract value; For stocks, 65,438+0,000% of capital must be invested, and interest costs must be paid for financing;

Trading methods are different: domestic stocks can only be long, futures can be long or short;

Futures speculation is very similar to the stock market, but there are also obvious differences.

1. Take small shares as an example: shares are fully traded, that is, you can only buy as many shares as you have, while futures is a margin system, that is, you only need to pay 5% to 10% to trade 100%. For example, if an investor has 1 10,000 yuan, he can buy 1000 shares if he buys1000 yuan, and he can clinch a commodity futures contract with110,000 yuan by investing in futures, that is, taking small bets and making big ones.

Second, two-way trading: stocks are one-way trading, and you can only buy stocks first before you can sell them; Futures can be bought or sold first, which is a two-way transaction.

3. Time limit: There is no time limit for stock trading. If the quilt can be closed for a long time, the futures must be delivered at maturity, otherwise the exchange will force the liquidation or physical delivery.

4. Actual gains and losses: The gains from stock investment are divided into two parts, one is the market price difference, and the other is dividends. The gains and losses from futures investment are the actual gains and losses in market transactions.

5. Huge risks: futures are characterized by high returns and high risks due to the restrictions of margin system, additional margin system and forced liquidation at maturity. In a sense, futures can make you rich overnight, or you may be penniless in an instant, so investors should invest carefully.

1. The concept of futures: The so-called futures generally refers to futures contracts, which are standardized contracts made by futures exchanges and agreed to deliver a certain amount of subject matter at a specific time and place in the future. This subject matter, also called the underlying asset, is the spot corresponding to the futures contract. This spot can be a commodity, such as copper or crude oil, a financial instrument, such as foreign exchange and bonds, or a financial indicator, such as three-month interbank offered rate or stock index.

The broad concept of futures also includes option contracts traded on exchanges. Most futures exchanges list both futures and options.

The contents of a futures contract include: contract name, trading unit, quotation unit and minimum.

Price change, daily maximum price fluctuation limit, delivery month, trading time, last trading day, delivery date, delivery level, delivery place, minimum trading margin, transaction cost, delivery method, transaction code, etc. Attachments to futures contracts have the same legal effect as futures contracts.

Standard contract style: Dalian Commodity Exchange soybean futures contract 1.

Trading variety-soybean

Trading unit-10 ton/lot

Quotation unit-RMB

Lowest price change-1 yuan/ton

Price limit range-3% of the settlement price of the previous trading day

Contract delivery month-1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 1 1.

Trading hours-every Monday to Friday from 9: 00 am to 165438+ 0: 00 pm to 15: 00 pm.

Last trading day-the tenth trading day of the contract month.

Final delivery date-the seventh day after the last trading day (postponed in case of legal holidays).

Delivery level-see the attachment for details.

Delivery place-delivery warehouse designated by Dalian Commodity Exchange

Trading margin-5% of the contract value

Transaction fee -4 yuan/hand

Delivery method-centralized delivery

Transaction code -a

Listed Exchange-Dalian Commodity Exchange

Delivery Grade-Minimum target of pure grain rate%

Seed coat, impurity%, moisture%, smell and color

Premium-(RMB/ton)

Discount-(RMB/ton)

……

(2) Characteristics of futures contracts: commodity variety, quantity, quality, grade, delivery time,

Terms such as delivery place are established and standardized, and the only variable is price. The first standardized futures contract was introduced by CBOT in 1865.

Futures contracts are concluded under the organization of futures exchanges and have legal effect.

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.

The performance of futures contracts is guaranteed by the exchange, and private transactions are not allowed.

Is the buyer's seller, the seller's buyer.

Futures contracts can fulfill their obligations through hedging, liquidation and delivery.

(3) Terms and conditions of futures contracts: minimum change price: refers to the minimum change in the unit price of futures contracts.

Maximum fluctuation limit of daily price: (also known as price limit) means that the trading price of futures contracts shall not be higher or lower than the prescribed price limit within a trading day, and the quotation exceeding this price limit will be deemed invalid and cannot be traded.

Delivery month of futures contract: refers to the delivery month stipulated in the contract.

Last trading day: refers to the last trading day when a futures contract is traded in the contract delivery month.

Futures contract trading unit "hand": Futures trading must be carried out in an integer multiple of "hand", and the number of commodities in each contract of different trading varieties should be specified in the futures contract of that variety.

Transaction price of futures contract: it is the value-added tax price of benchmark delivery goods of futures contract delivered in benchmark delivery warehouse. Contract transaction prices include opening price, closing price and settlement price.

If the buyer of a futures contract holds the contract until the expiration date, he is obliged to purchase the subject matter corresponding to the futures contract; If the seller of a futures contract holds the contract until it expires, he is obliged to sell the subject matter corresponding to the futures contract (some futures contracts do not make physical delivery when they expire, but settle the difference, for example, the expiration of stock index futures means that the open futures contract is finally settled according to a certain average value of the spot index. Of course, traders of futures contracts can also choose to reverse the transaction before the contract expires to offset this obligation.

(4) The emergence of futures trading: The futures market in the modern sense originated in the United States. 1848, 82 businessmen initiated and organized Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) to improve transportation and storage conditions and provide information for members; 185 1 Chicago Board of Trade launches forward contracts; 1865 launched the first standardized contract, and at the same time implemented the deposit system (not exceeding 10% of the contract amount), which was a historic institutional innovation; 1882 exchange allows hedging to be exempted from performance obligations, which increases the liquidity of futures trading.

The background of China futures market is the reform of grain circulation system. With the cancellation of the policy of unified purchase and marketing of agricultural products and the liberalization of most agricultural products prices, the market is playing an increasingly important role in regulating the production, circulation and consumption of agricultural products. The ups and downs of agricultural products prices, the undisclosed and distorted spot prices, the ups and downs of agricultural production, and the lack of value-preserving mechanism of grain enterprises have attracted the attention of leaders and scholars. Whether a mechanism can provide price signals to guide future production and operation activities and prevent market risks caused by price fluctuations has become the focus of attention. 1February, 988, the leaders of the State Council instructed relevant departments to study the foreign futures market system and solve the problem of domestic agricultural product price fluctuation. 1In March, 1988, the government work report of the First Session of the Seventh National People's Congress proposed: actively develop various wholesale trade markets and explore futures trading. It started the research and construction of China futures market.

19901kloc-0/2 Zhengzhou grain wholesale market was established with the approval of the State Council. Based on spot trading, it introduced the futures trading mechanism and took the first step in the development of China futures market.

1991June 10, Shenzhen Nonferrous Metals Exchange was established;

199 1 Shanghai Metal Commodity Exchange opened on May 28th;

The first futures brokerage company, Guangdong Wantong Futures Brokerage Company, was established in September 1992, marking the resumption of China futures market after more than 40 years of interruption in China.

(5) Terms related to futures trading: opening position, holding position and closing position: The buying and selling behavior in futures trading, as long as it is a newly established position, is called opening position. A position held by a trader is called a position. Closing a position refers to the trading behavior of a trader, and the way to close a position is to hedge the position in the opposite direction.

Because of the different meanings of opening position and closing position, traders must specify whether to open position or close position when buying and selling futures contracts.

Example: An investor bought March Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 index futures 10 lots (sheets) and 1450 points on February 30th. At this time, he has 10 bulls. By 65438+ 10/0 next year, investors saw that the futures price rose to 1500, so they sold five closed March stock index futures at this price. After the transaction, the investor actually holds more than 5 orders. If an investor sells five open positions of March stock index futures at the time of declaration, after the transaction, the actual position of the investor should be 15 lots, 10 long positions and 5 short positions.

Short position: indicates that the investor's account equity is negative. It shows that investors not only lost all the margin, but also owed debts to futures brokerage companies. Due to the daily liquidation system and the compulsory liquidation system in futures trading, there will be no short positions in general. However, in some special circumstances, such as the gap change in the market, accounts with heavy positions and opposite directions may explode.

When there is a short position, investors must make up the deficit in time, otherwise they will face legal recourse. In order to avoid this situation, it is necessary to control positions specially and avoid Man Cang operation like stock trading. And track the market in time, and you can't buy it like a stock market.

Long position and short position: futures trading adopts a two-way trading mechanism, and both buyers and sellers have it. In futures trading, buyers are called bulls and sellers are called bears. Although buyers are also called bulls in stock market transactions, sellers are called bears. But the seller in stock trading must be the person who holds the stock, and the person who does not have the stock cannot sell it.

Settlement price: refers to the weighted average price of the transaction price of the futures contract on the same day according to the volume. If there is no transaction on that day, the settlement price of the previous trading day is the settlement price of that day. The settlement price is the basis for the profit and loss settlement of the open contract on that day and the establishment of the price limit board on the next trading day.

Volume: refers to the bilateral quantity of all contracts traded in a futures contract on the same day.

Open position: refers to the bilateral number of open positions held by futures traders.

Total open position: refers to the total number of "open positions" of all investors in futures contracts. In the market information released by the exchange, there is a special "total position" column.

The change of total positions reflects investors' interest in contracts and is an important indicator for investors to participate in contract transactions. If the total positions keep increasing, it shows that both sides are building positions, investors' interest in contracts is increasing, and OTC funds are pouring into contract transactions; On the contrary, when the total position decreases, it shows that both parties are closing their positions and traders' interest in the contract is declining. On the other hand, when the trading volume increases, the total position changes little, indicating that the market is dominated by changing hands.

Hand-changing transactions: Hand-changing transactions include "multi-position hand-changing" and "short-position hand-changing". When a trader who originally held a long position sells and closes his position, but a new long position opens his position and buys it, it is called "multi-position hand-changing"; And "short change hands" means that the trader who originally held a short position is buying and closing the position, but the new short position is selling.

Trading orders: There are three orders for stock index futures trading: market order, limit orders and cancellation order. The trading order is valid on the same day. Before the order is closed, the customer can propose changes or cancel the order.

1. Market order: refers to an order that is declared to be sold at an unlimited price and is closed at the best market price as far as possible.

2. Limit order: refers to an order that must be executed at a limited price or better. Its characteristic is that if a deal is made, it must be the customer's expectation or a better price.

3. Revocation instruction: refers to the instruction of the customer to revoke the previous instruction. If the previous order has been closed before the cancellation order takes effect, it is called cancellation and the customer must accept the closing result. If a part of the transaction has been completed, you can cancel the remaining unfinished part.

Hedging: buying (selling) corresponding futures contracts with the same quantity as the spot market, with similar term but opposite direction, so as to offset the actual price risk of the commodity or financial instrument due to market price changes by selling (buying) the same futures contract at some future time.

Margin: Margin is the money that the exchange requires investors to provide to guarantee performance.

Compulsory guarantee is a sum of money deposited in an investor's account, which means that the investor is responsible for his trading position. According to the nature, margin can be divided into three types: trading margin, settlement margin and additional margin. Trading margin refers to the funds guaranteed by investors in the special settlement account of the exchange, which has been occupied by the contract; The settlement margin is the remaining part of the investor's special settlement account in the exchange after removing the trading margin already occupied in the exchange. Additional margin means that if the equity in the investor's account on that day is less than the position margin, it means that the fund balance is negative and the margin is insufficient. According to the regulations, the futures brokerage company will notify the account owner to make up the deposit before the market opens on the next trading day. This is called margin call.

Forced liquidation: If the account owner fails to make up the margin before the market opens on the next trading day, according to the regulations, the futures brokerage company may force partial or full liquidation of the account owner's position until the retained margin meets the specified requirements.

Position limit: namely trading position limit. Refers to the maximum number of futures contracts that an exchange can hold for investors, and manages market risks in terms of market share allocation.

Bidding method: computer matching transaction. Computer matchmaking transaction is an automatic transaction method designed according to the principle of open bidding, which has the advantages of accuracy, continuity, high speed and large capacity.

In the early days of futures trading, because there was no computer, public bidding was adopted in trading. There are usually two forms of public bidding: one is continuous bidding system (moving disk), that is, floor traders openly bid face to face in the trading pool of the exchange to express their requirements for buying or selling contracts. This bidding method is the mainstream of futures trading, which is adopted by European and American futures markets. The advantage of this method is that the atmosphere of the venue is active, but the disadvantage is that the scale of personnel is limited by the venue. Many traders are crowded in the trading pool, so noisy that traders have to use gestures to help convey trading information. Another disadvantage of this method is that floor traders have more information and time advantages than OTC traders. Hat-grabbing transactions often become the patent of floor traders.

Another form of public bidding is the one-price system in Japan. The one-price system divides each trading day into several intervals, and each interval has only one price for a contract. First of all, the host bids for each transaction, and the floor traders declare the buying and selling quantity according to their own bidding. If you buy more than you sell, the owner will quote a higher price. On the other hand, quote a lower price until the number of transactions between buyers and sellers is equal at a certain price. After the popularization of computer technology, exchanges all over the world use computers to replace the original open bidding method.

2. Basic characteristics of futures trading: the object of futures trading is standardized contracts. Futures contract refers to the standardized contract concluded by the futures exchange for trading in the exchange, which is bound by law and stipulates to deliver a commodity or financial asset at a specific time and place in the future.

Futures trading is a standardized transaction. Standardization means that in the process of futures trading, all terms of futures contracts are predetermined except the contract price.

Futures trading implements a long-short two-way trading system.

Futures trading implements the T+0 trading system.

Futures trading is a kind of margin trading.

Futures trading should be marked to the market day by day and settled without debt every day. Refers to daily life.

After the transaction is completed, the Exchange will settle the profit and loss, trading margin, handling fees, taxes and other expenses of all contracts according to the settlement price of the day, transfer the net accounts receivable and payable at one time, and increase or decrease the settlement reserve of members accordingly. A futures brokerage company shall settle accounts with customers according to the settlement results of the futures exchange, and notify customers of the settlement results in time.

It is a unique system to control market risk to implement the margin system, daily mark-to-market and daily debt-free settlement system in the futures market.

3, the connection and difference between futures trading and stock trading:

Contact: They are all capital investments, which belong to the category of financial markets, so they are investments.

There are similarities in the application of concepts, methods and technical indicators. People who invest in stocks and foreign exchange are more likely to enter the futures market and master the skills of futures investment.

Difference:

(1) Different investment objects: stocks are spot transactions with clear investment objects, while futures investment is futures trading, which is a kind of futures trading. The object of the transaction is the contract. If delivery is made in a certain period in the future, then the current transaction is a kind of buying and selling of future goods. If there is no delivery, what is being traded now is only an expectation, an expectation of the future price trend.

(2) Different efficiency in the use of funds: stock trading is conducted in full cash, and the amount of funds of investors determines the trading volume. In the face of sudden market, the scheduling of funds has become the main problem restricting investors' transactions. Futures trading shall implement the margin system. The general margin ratio is about 5%-8%, and the fund amplification effect is obvious. Under the premise of controlling risks, investors can have enough time and funds to operate in the face of sudden market conditions.

(3) The trading mechanism is different: stock trading is a kind of cash (physical) commodity trading. At present, there is no short-selling mechanism in the stock market, and the stock adopts T+ 1 transaction settlement system. Futures trading is largely a virtual transaction, with two trading mechanisms, long and short, and T+0 trading settlement system.

(4) Different means of risk control: Although there are risk control systems in stock and futures trading, such as the price limit system, due to the design of the system itself, it is difficult for investors to avoid systemic risks in the stock market at present, and there is no short-selling mechanism. The only choice for investors to avoid market risks is to sell stocks. Because there are two forms of futures trading, the means to control market risk can be used to avoid market risk in addition to the common general forms. The system of limiting positions and forcibly closing positions in futures trading is also the main risk control system different from stock trading.

(5) Different analysis methods: technical analysis methods are common; However, from the perspective of fundamental analysis method, because the object of futures investment is mainly commodity futures, it is very important to analyze the price trend characteristics of commodities themselves, mainly reflected in the supply and demand of commodities, and the basic factors affecting commodity prices are relatively clear and fixed. The analysis of stock fundamentals is mainly about the operating conditions of specific listed companies.

(6) The transparency of information is different: the futures market is more transparent than the stock market, and the information dissemination channels are clearer.

(7) It should be emphasized that the social and economic functions of futures trading and stock trading are also inconsistent. Stocks provide the functions of raising funds and redistributing social resources, while futures trading provides the functions of risk avoidance and price discovery.

4, the function of futures trading:

Discovered price: As futures trading is open to the public, commodities are delivered forward.

In this market, a lot of market supply and demand information is concentrated, and different people, from different places, have different understandings of all kinds of information, which leads to different views on forward prices through open bidding. In fact, the process of futures trading is a comprehensive reflection of the change of supply and demand relationship and the expectation of price trend in a certain period of time in the future. This kind of price information has the characteristics of continuity, openness and anticipation, which is conducive to increasing market transparency and improving resource allocation efficiency.

Example: Changde Grain and Oil Corporation of Hunan Province uses the japonica rice futures price of Shanghai Grain and Oil Commodity Exchange to guide farmers to generate income. Before 1994, farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain declined in Changde area, and the land was seriously abandoned. At the beginning of 1994, Changde municipal government grasped the expected price of japonica rice in September and June from Shanghai Grain and Oil Commodity Exchange (at that time, the local spot price was below 2,000 yuan/ton, while the contract price of japonica rice in the Grain Exchange 10 was around 2,400 yuan/ton), which led farmers to expand their planting area by 7. 20,000 mu, rice production increased by 250,000 tons, and the spot price rose to more than 2,350 yuan/ton in June of that year.

Risk aversion: the emergence of futures trading provides a place and means to avoid price risk for the spot market. Its main principle is to use futures and spot markets for hedging transactions. In the actual production and operation process, in order to avoid rising costs or falling profits caused by changing commodity prices, futures trading can be used for hedging, that is, buying or selling futures contracts with the same quantity but opposite trading directions in the futures market, so that the gains and losses of futures and spot market transactions can offset each other. Lock in the production cost or commodity sales price of the enterprise, maintain the established profit and avoid the price risk.

Hedging: When buying or selling a certain amount of spot commodities in the spot market, selling or buying futures commodities (futures contracts) with the same variety and the same quantity in the opposite direction in the futures market, so as to make up for the losses in another market with the profits in one market and achieve the purpose of avoiding price risks.

Futures trading can preserve the value because the spot price of a specific commodity is influenced and restricted by common economic factors, and the price changes of the two are generally in the same direction. Due to the existence of the delivery mechanism, the spot price of futures contracts converges near the delivery period.

Delivery: there are generally two ways to close futures trading (that is, close futures), one is to hedge against closing futures; The second is physical delivery. Physical delivery is to fulfill the responsibility of futures trading through physical delivery. Therefore, futures delivery refers to the behavior of buyers and sellers of futures trading to make physical delivery of their respective expired open contracts in accordance with the provisions of the exchange when the contracts expire and end their futures trading. Physical delivery accounts for a small proportion of the total futures contracts. However, it is the existence of the physical delivery mechanism that makes the futures price change synchronous with the related spot price change, and gradually approaches with the approaching of the contract expiration date. As far as its nature is concerned, physical delivery is a kind of spot trading behavior, but physical delivery in futures trading is the continuation of futures trading, which is at the junction of futures market and spot market and is the bridge and link between futures market and spot market. Therefore, the physical delivery in futures trading is the basis of the existence of the futures market and the fundamental premise for the two major economic functions of the futures market to play.

The two functions of futures trading provide a stage and foundation for the application of the two trading modes in the futures market. The function of price discovery requires the participation of many speculators, which concentrates a lot of market information and abundant liquidity. The existence of hedging transactions provides tools and means for avoiding risks. At the same time, futures is also an investment tool. Due to the fluctuation of futures contract prices, traders can make use of arbitrage to earn risk profits through contract spreads.

The role of the futures market: the macro-control of the national economy and the operation of enterprises in the market economy can provide reference for the government's macro-control, help to establish and improve the market economic system, improve the allocation of resources, regulate market supply and demand, slow down price fluctuations, form a fair and open price signal, avoid market risks caused by price fluctuations, reduce circulation costs, stabilize the relationship between production and marketing, lock in production costs and stabilize the operating profits of enterprises.

5, the classification of futures trading:

Commodity futures and financial futures. Commodity futures are divided into industrial products (which can be subdivided into metal commodities (precious metals and non-precious metals) and energy commodities), agricultural products and other commodities. Financial futures are mainly traditional financial commodities (tools) such as stock index, interest rate and exchange rate. All kinds of futures trading include options trading.

Futures are relative to spot. They are delivered in different ways. Spot is cash spot, and futures are contract transactions, that is, mutual transfer of contracts. There is a time limit for futures delivery. Before the expiration, it is a contract transaction, but the expiration date is to cash the contract for spot delivery. Therefore, large futures institutions often do both spot and futures, which can be used for hedging and speculation. Ordinary investors often can't deliver in time, so they have to speculate purely, and the speculative value of commodities is often related to factors such as spot trend and duration of commodities.

Opening an account is very simple. You can open an account with a futures company, sign a contract and pay a certain deposit.

Futures trading is a kind of contract trading, and you only need to pay the deposit corresponding to the actual price of goods for each transaction. The specific margin ratio is determined by the futures exchange according to market conditions, and the futures company will also make adjustments.

For example, if you buy the futures of commodity A, his margin ratio is 1: 10, and his trading price is 10000 yuan per unit. Then you only need to pay 1000 yuan to buy a unit of goods. If the price of commodity A goes up by 10%, then you double it, and your 1000 becomes 2000. If the price of commodity A drops by 65,438+00%, you will lose everything. If you close your position at this time, your 1000 will become zero. If you want to continue holding positions, you must add margin. Many people often add margin because they refuse to accept the market, and finally their families are ruined.