Which futures are more profitable to trade. How and where to trade futures? RTS index futures: how to trade? How to trade futures on Forts? Commodity futures contract

The article is not mine, but it will be very useful for those who want to understand the basics of futures trading. I made only minor edits and a comment at the end.

What you need to know

What do you need to know before you start trading futures so that you don’t foolishly lose money, not bring the transaction to real delivery and not ruin your relationship with the broker? Where to start if you want to work in the international derivatives market? Where can I find the information I need?

Let's look at the entire process that begins with an uncontrollable desire to invest in a specific commodity asset and ends with a transaction, using the example of one of the actively traded futures contracts. For the sake of example, we will assume that a beginner has decided to invest in gold, but all the arguments and algorithms given below will be relevant for other derivatives market instruments, be it oil, platinum, beef, wheat, timber, coffee, and so on.

So, first of all, we find out the ticker of the instrument. To do this, we go to the exchange website - with 99% probability, the required instrument will be found either on CME (www.cmegroup.com) or on ICE (www.theice.com), these are the two largest exchange holdings. Look at the “Products” section or menu item. On the CME website in the menu we find the desired subsection “Metals”, where in the “Precious” column we see the gold futures “GC Gold”. On the page dedicated to gold futures that opens, we find a link to the contract specification - “Contract Specifications”, which we will need more than once. This table summarizes all the basic universal data on the futures, including the ticker, it is in the “Product Symbol” line - GC.

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Next, we need to find out which futures with delivery in what month is now the most liquid - after all, as you can see in the “Listed Contracts” specification line, more than 20 gold contracts with different delivery dates are traded in parallel. In order to find the most actively traded one, go to the “futures” section on the BarChart website. This site is good because, in addition to the months, it immediately shows their stock symbol. On the left we find the “Metals” section we need, select the first line “Gold” in the table that opens.

After this, we will see all 20 “gold” contracts quoted for 5 years in advance. We need the “Volume” column, where we find the largest volume. If the volumes of two neighboring months are almost equal, then we choose the distant one, since this means that the process of transition from the nearby month to the next is underway. Typically, the most liquid futures are traded for delivery 1-2 months from the current date. In our case, the most active is June 2012. Its full ticker, as can be seen in the first column, is GCM12. That is, M12 is added to the GC stock ticker found in the previous paragraph - the month and year code. The month is always indicated by one letter ( full list of 12 characters in calendar order: F,G,H – J,K,M – N,Q,U – V,X,Z). The year in the code is indicated by the last two digits.

Last day of trading and start day of deliveries

The next thing you need to know is the last day of trading and the day the futures deliveries begin. Especially if the delivery will not be in 2-3 months, but already in the current one. Knowing these dates is necessary in order not to be left with a contract in your hands in the last hours of its existence. With this development of events, at best, you will have to close it on an illiquid market with huge spreads, and at worst, you will run into a supply and wonder how to pay for a box of gold bars and where to sell them later.

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It is recommended to switch from one contract to another at least several business days before the start of delivery if futures are traded monthly, and one and a half to two weeks if they are traded quarterly. In order to see the dates for the end of trading and the start of delivery requirements (LTD, Last Trading Day and FND, First Notice day), we return to the exchange website, to the specifications page. We find there the “Product Calendar” link, which gives us another table. In it we look at the line corresponding to our financial instrument - JUN 2012 GCM12 - and see that the last day of trading for it is 06/27/11, and the start of requests for delivery is already 05/31/11. Thus, it is necessary to close this contract and open the next one a couple of days before the end of May.

Financial issues

Let's move on to financial issues. We need to determine how many contracts we can purchase based on the amount of funds in our trading account, and whether there will be enough money left there in case the market suddenly goes against us after the transaction. Such settlements in the derivatives market are carried out on the basis of margin collateral.

When opening a position on any contract, an amount is fixed in the account, the size of which is determined by the exchange and changes quite rarely. This amount will become unavailable for use for the entire time we are the owner of the fixed-term contract and will be released immediately after its closure. On the exchange website, huge tables of margins are not very pleasant to read, so we go to the R.J.O’Brien website, where a convenient summary table of margin margins for the most popular contracts is stored (in pdf format). Our GC gold futures are listed in the CMX - COMEX section (this is the part of the CME that historically deals with precious metals). We look at the “Spec Init” column, this is Initial Margin - the initial margin. In gold it is now $10.125. This means that with an account of $15,000 we can operate with only one contract, with an account of $35,000 - no more than three. The next column “Spec Mnt” is the Maintenance Margin, in our case $7,500. If the account falls below this amount (multiplied by the number of available contracts), an angry broker will call (“Hello, Margin Call!”), and you will have to either close the position (i.e., record losses) or promptly deposit additional money into the account ( to a level not lower than the initial margin).

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Break from work

Despite the fact that electronic trading in futures takes place almost around the clock, they have a break in their work. In addition, they are not active at any time of the day. In the specifications on the exchange website, you need to look at the trading hours (line “Hours”), not forgetting to convert them to local time. The GC gold contract is traded with a 45-minute break (16:15 - 17:00 in Chicago; for Moscow the difference is -9 hours).

The most active electronic trading practically coincides in time with classic trading on the exchange floor, which is conducted in the form of an open auction. For gold, trading “on the floor” of the Chicago Exchange takes place on weekdays from 7:20 to 12:30, or from 16:20 to 21:30 Moscow time.

What else might you need?

From the data published in the specification, you can calculate the cost of the minimum price step, full cost contracts and trading leverage. To do this, we will use the lines “Contract Size” and “Minimum Fluctuation”. The volume of 1 contract for GC gold is 100 troy ounces (approximately 3.1 kg). The minimum price movement is $0.10 per ounce. This means that with a minimal movement in the price of gold in any direction, our account will “quantum” change by $10 (100 ounces * 10 cents). From personal experience, most financial instruments on the derivatives market trade at $5 - $15 per tick. Next, let's look at the dimension of the quote - in the line “Price Quotation” we see that the quote published on the exchange is the price of one ounce of gold in dollars and cents. Currently, one ounce, based on the last exchange transaction on GCM12, is valued at $1672.9 - we can see this and other quotes on the “Quotes” page. The total value of the contract is equal to its volume multiplied by the quotation. This means that the total value of one gold futures in your account is $167,290 - more than 167 thousand dollars! By comparing the margin required to trade this contract and its full value, we calculate the leverage - $10,125 to $167,290 - it is approximately 1: 17. For comparison, in the US stock market, leverage is at best 1: 4.

So, now we know how futures are designated, for which delivery month the most active trading is conducted and when it ends, what time of day is best to participate in exchange trading and how much money you need to keep in your account for this. Using the example of a transaction with gold futures, we analyzed almost the entire algorithm for starting trading. In principle, this knowledge is enough to buy and sell any futures contracts for electronic trading in the USA.

To the questions “So, after all, should I buy or sell? and when exactly?” answer fundamental and technical analysis, which is the main topic of hundreds of books on trading. And the last piece of advice for beginners - don’t forget to get an “emergency” telephone number from your broker for the Trading Desk department, which will allow you to urgently place an order or close a deal if Internet access suddenly disappears or the computer with the trading platform fails.
Happy trading!

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My comment

Everything in the article is written in sufficient detail and clearly, but I would like to focus on some issues.

Futures trading is very similar to Forex trading with some differences. There are 4 main features:

1) Futures have an expiration date (delivery date of the commodity). If a transaction on Forex can be held indefinitely, then on the futures market, in a month (or quarter) the trading position will be automatically closed.

2) Swaps are not charged on futures. They are already included in the price of the futures contract itself.

3) Instead of leverage, “collateral margin” is used (this is an analogue of leverage). The collateral may be different for different contracts! Keep this in mind.

4) The cost of a point (tick) in futures can also vary greatly between different contracts.

In all other respects, futures are similar to Forex. Profitable strategies, training, videos - all this is equally applicable in both places.

One of the most common trading platforms for futures trading is quik. Simple - no frills, but suitable for dummies.

By the way, be prepared to pay for the trading platform! Yes, yes! This Forex trading terminal is provided for free...

One of the most popular trading instruments among Russian traders is RTS index futures. There are also currency futures (analogous to FOREX currency pairs).

I also recommend that you familiarize yourself with the specifications (codes) of futures!
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Video on this issue:

And the current reality of trading these instruments.

What is a futures in simple words

is a contract to purchase or sell an underlying asset within a predetermined time frame and at an agreed price, which is fixed in the contract. Futures are approved on the basis of standard conditions that are formed by the exchange itself where they are traded.

For each underlying asset, all conditions (delivery time, place, method, etc.) are set separately, which helps to quickly sell the assets at a price close to the market.

Thus, secondary market participants have no problem finding a buyer or seller.

In order to avoid refusal of the buyer or seller to fulfill obligations under the contract, a condition is established for the provision of collateral by both parties.

Now it is not the economic situation that dictates the price of futures contracts, but they, by forming the future price of supply and demand, set the pace of the economy.

What is a Futures or Futures Contract?

(from English word future - future), is a contract between a seller and a buyer providing for the delivery of a specific good, stock or service in the future at a price fixed at the time the futures contract is entered into. The main goal of such instruments is to reduce risks, secure profits and guarantee delivery “here and now.”

Today, almost all futures contracts are settled, i.e. without obligation to supply actual goods. More on this below.

First appeared on commodity market. Their essence lies in the fact that the parties agree on a deferred payment for the goods. At the same time, when concluding such an agreement, the price is agreed upon in advance. This type of contract is very convenient for both parties, as it allows you to avoid situations where sharp fluctuations in quotes in the future will provoke additional problems in setting prices.

• , as financial instruments, are popular not only among those who trade various assets, but also among speculators. The thing is that one of the varieties of this contract does not imply actual delivery. That is, a contract is concluded for a product, but at the time of its execution, this product is not delivered to the buyer. In this respect, futures are similar to other financial market instruments that can be used for speculative purposes.

What is a futures contract and for what purposes is it used? Now we will reveal this aspect in more detail.

“For example, I want futures for some shares that are not on the broker’s list,” this is the classic understanding from the Forex market.

Everything is a little different. It is not the broker who decides which futures to trade and which not. It's up to her to decide trading platform on which trading is carried out. That is, the stock exchange. SberBank shares are traded on the MB - a very liquid chip, so the exchange provides the opportunity to buy and sell futures on Sberbank. Again, let's start with the fact that all futures are actually are divided into two types:

• Calculated.
• Delivery.

A settled future is a future that does not have delivery. For example Si(dollar-ruble futures) and RTS(futures on our market index) are settlement futures, there is no delivery for them, only settlement in cash equivalent. At the same time SBRF(futures on Sberbank shares) - delivery futures. It will supply shares. On Chicago Exchange(CME), for example, there are deliverable futures for grain, oil and rice.

That is, if you buy oil futures there, they can actually bring you barrels of oil.

We just don’t have such needs in the Russian Federation. To be honest, we have a whole sea of ​​“dead” futures, for which there is no turnover at all.

As soon as there is a demand for delivery of oil futures on the MB - and people are ready to transport barrels with Kamaz trucks - they will appear.

Their fundamental difference is that when the expiration date arrives (the last day of the futures circulation), no delivery occurs under settlement contracts, and the futures holder simply remains “in the money.” In the second case, the actual delivery of the basic tool occurs. There are only a few delivery contracts in the FORTS market, and they all provide delivery of shares. As a rule, these are the most liquid shares of the domestic stock market, such as: , and others. Their number does not exceed 10 items. Deliveries for oil, gold and other raw materials contracts do not occur, that is, they are calculated.

There are minor exceptions

but they relate to purely professional instruments, such as options and low-liquid currency pairs (currencies of the CIS countries, except for the hryvnia and tenge). As mentioned above, the availability of deliverable futures depends on the demand for their supply. Sberbank shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and this is a liquid chip, so the exchange provides the opportunity to buy and sell futures for this share with delivery. It’s just that we, in Russia, do not have the needs for such a prompt supply of gold, oil and other raw materials. Moreover, on our exchange there is huge amount“dead” futures for which there is no turnover at all (futures for copper, grain and energy). This is due to banal demand. Traders do not see any interest in trading such instruments and, in turn, choose assets that are more familiar to them (dollar and shares).

Who issues futures

The next question that a trader may have is: who is the issuer, that is, puts futures into circulation.

With shares, everything is extremely simple, because they are issued by the company itself that originally owned them. At the initial offering, they are bought by investors, and then they begin circulation on the familiar secondary market, that is, on the stock exchange.

In the derivatives market everything is even simpler, but it is not entirely obvious.

A futures is essentially a contract that is entered into by two parties to a transaction: buyer and seller. After a certain period of time, the first undertakes to buy from the second a certain amount of the underlying product, be it shares or raw materials.

Thus, traders themselves are the issuers of futures; the exchange simply standardizes the contract they enter into and strictly monitors the fulfillment of duties - this is called.

• This begs the next question.

If everything is clear with shares: one delivers shares, and the other acquires them, then how should things stand with indices in theory? After all, a trader cannot transfer the index to another trader, since it is not material.

This reveals another subtlety of futures. On current moment for all futures, , which represents the trader’s income or loss, is calculated relative to the price at which the transaction was concluded. That is, if after the sale transaction the price began to rise, then the trader who opened this short position will begin to suffer losses, and his counterparty, who bought this futures from him, on the contrary, will receive a profitable difference.

A fixed-term contract is actually a dispute, the subject of which can be anything. For indexes, hypothetically, the seller should simply provide an index quote. Thus, you can create a future for any amount.

In the USA, for example, weather futures are traded.

The subject of the dispute is limited only by the common sense of the exchange organizers.

Do such contracts make any financial sense?

Of course they do. The same American weather futures depends on the number of days in heating season, which directly affects other sectors of the economy. One way or another, the market continues to perform one of its main tasks: the accumulation and redistribution of funds. This factor plays a huge role in the fight against inflation.

The history of futures

The futures contract market has two legends or two sources.

• Some believe that futures originated in the former capital Japan city Osaka. Then the main traded “instrument” was rice. Naturally, sellers and buyers wanted to insure themselves against price fluctuations and this was the reason for the emergence of this type of contract.
• The second story says, like most other financial instruments, the history of futures began in the 17th century in Holland when Europe was overwhelmed " tulip mania" The onion cost so much money that the buyer simply could not buy it, although some part of the savings was present. The seller could wait for the harvest, but no one knew what it would be like, how much he would have to sell and what to do in case of a crop failure? This is how deferred contracts arose.

Let's give a simple example . Suppose the owner of a farm is growing wheat. In the process of work, he invests money in the purchase of fertilizers, seeds, and also pays employees. Naturally, in order to continue, the farmer must be confident that all his costs will be recouped. But how can you get such confidence if you cannot know in advance what the prices for the crop will be? After all, the year may be fruitful and the supply of wheat on the market will exceed demand.

You can insure your risks using futures. The farm owner can conclude in 6 or 9 months at a certain price. Thus, he will already know how much his investment will pay off.

This is the most the best way out for insurance of price risks. Of course, this does not mean that the farmer unconditionally benefits from such contracts. After all, situations are possible when, due to severe drought, the year will be lean and the price of wheat will rise significantly above the price at which the contract was concluded. In this case, the farmer will not be able to raise the price, since it is already fixed under the contract. But it is still profitable, since the farmer has already included his expenses and a certain amount in the price established under the contract. profit.

This is also beneficial for the buying side. After all, if the year is bad, the buyer of the futures contract will save significantly, since the spot price for raw materials (in this case, wheat) can be significantly higher than the price under the futures contract.

A futures contract is an extremely significant financial instrument that is used by the majority of traders in the world.

Translating the situation into today's terms and taking as an example Urals or Brent , a potential buyer approaches the seller with a request to sell him a barrel with delivery in a month. He agrees, but not knowing how much he can earn in the future (quotes may fall, as in 2015-2016), he offers to pay now.

The modern history of futures dates back to 19th century Chicago. The first product for which such a contract was concluded was grain. Initially, farm owners brought grain or livestock to Chicago and sold it to dealers. At the same time, the price was determined by the latter and was not always beneficial to the seller. As for buyers, they were faced with the problem of delivery of goods. As a result, the buyer and seller began to do without dealers and enter into contracts with each other.

What is the work plan in this case? She could be next - the owner of a farm was selling grain to a merchant. The latter had to ensure its storage until its transportation became possible.

The merchant who purchased the grain wanted to insure himself against price changes (after all, storage could be quite long, up to six months or even more). Accordingly, the buyer went to Chicago and entered into contracts with a grain processor there. Thus, the merchant not only found a buyer in advance, but also ensured an acceptable price for grain.

Gradually, such contracts gained recognition and became popular. After all, they offered undeniable benefits to all parties to the transaction.

For example, a grain buyer (merchant) could refuse the purchase and resell his right to another.

As for the farm owner, if he was not satisfied with the terms of the deal, he could always sell his supply obligations to another farmer.

Attention to the futures market was also shown by speculators who saw their benefits in such trading. Naturally, they were not interested in any raw materials. Their main goal is to buy cheaper in order to later sell at a higher price.

Initially, futures contracts only appeared on grain crops. However, already in the second half of the 20th century they began to be concluded on live cattle. In the 80s, such contracts began to be concluded on precious metals, and then to stock indices.

As futures contracts evolved, several issues arose that needed to be addressed.

• Firstly, we are talking about certain guarantees that contracts will be fulfilled. The task of guaranteeing is taken over by the exchange on which futures are traded. Moreover, here development went in two directions. Special reserves of goods and funds were created at the exchanges to fulfill obligations.
• On the other hand, resale of contracts has become possible. This need arises if one of the parties to a futures contract does not want to fulfill its obligations. Instead of refusing, it resells its right under the contract to a third party.

Why has futures trading become so widespread? The fact is that goods carry certain restrictions for the development of exchange trading. Accordingly, to remove them, contracts are needed that will allow you to work not with the product itself, but only with the right to it. Under the influence of market conditions, owners of rights to goods can sell or buy them.

Today, transactions in the futures market are concluded not only for commodities, but also for currencies, stocks, and indices. In addition, there are a huge number of speculators here.

The futures market is very liquid.

How futures work

Futures, like any other exchange asset, have their own price and volatility, and the essence of how traders make money is to buy cheaper and sell more expensive.

When a futures contract expires, there may be several options. The parties keep their money or one of the parties makes a profit. If by the time of execution the price of the commodity rises, the buyer receives a profit, since he purchased the contract at a lower price.

Accordingly, if at the time of execution the price of the commodity decreases, the seller receives a profit, since he sold the contract at a higher price, and the owner receives some loss, since the exchange pays him an amount less than for which he bought the futures contract.

Futures are very similar to options. However, it is worth remembering that they do not provide the right, but rather the obligation of the seller to sell, and the buyer to buy a certain volume of goods at a certain price in the future. The exchange acts as a guarantor of the transaction.

Technical points

Each individual contract has its own specification, the main terms of the contract. Such a document is secured by the exchange. It reflects the name, ticker, type of contract, volume of the underlying asset, circulation time, delivery time, minimum price change, as well as the cost of the minimum price change.

Regarding settlement futures, they are of a purely speculative nature. Upon expiration of the contract, no delivery of goods is expected.

It is settlement futures that are available to everyone individuals on the exchanges.

Futures price– this is the price of the contract at a given point in time. This price may change until the contract is executed. It should be noted that the price of a futures contract is not identical to the price of the underlying asset. Although it is formed based on the price of the underlying asset. The difference between the price of the futures and the underlying asset is described by terms such as contango and backwardation.

The price of the futures and the underlying asset may differ(despite the fact that by the time of expiration this difference will not exist).

• Contango— the cost of the futures contract before expiration ( expiration date of futures) will be higher than the value of the asset.
• Backwardation- the futures contract is worth less than the underlying asset
• Basis is the difference between the value of the asset and the futures.

The basis varies depending on how far away the contract expiration date is. As we approach the moment of execution, the basis tends to zero.

Futures trading

Futures are traded on exchanges such as the FORTS exchange in Russia, or the CBOE in Chicago, USA.

Futures trading enables traders to take advantage of numerous benefits. These include, in particular:

• access to a large number trading instruments, which allows you to significantly diversify your asset portfolio;
• the futures market is very popular - it is liquid, and this is another significant plus;
• When trading futures, the trader does not buy the underlying asset itself, but only a contract for it at a price that is significantly lower than the value of the underlying asset. We are talking about warranty coverage. This is a kind of deposit that is charged by the exchange. Its size varies from two to ten percent of the value of the underlying asset.

However, it is worth remembering that warranty obligations are not a fixed amount. Their size may vary even when the contract has already been purchased. It is very important to monitor this indicator, because if there is not enough capital to cover them, the broker may close positions if there are not enough funds in the trader’s account.

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A futures contract represents obligations between two parties. One of them undertakes to supply certain period asset, the other party undertakes to pay for it at a predetermined price. Exchanges are called upon to monitor the execution of the contract; a fairly simple and completely transparent mechanism obliges both parties to comply with the terms of the futures. A specification is drawn up in accordance with established standards, which defines the parameters of the contract, including all the necessary information with the help of which futures trading is carried out.

The main feature of a futures contract is the ability to transfer its obligations from the buyer or seller to a third party. This simultaneously guarantees the implementation of agreements and allows the final seller and buyer to get rid of a significant part of the risks. There is enormous interest in futures among market participants who are not even involved in the actual sale and acquisition of assets.

As a financial instrument, futures allow you to trade on changes in value and make considerable profits thanks to significant trading leverage. With relatively small funds, it is possible to manage positions that are much more expensive. Naturally, this increases the risks.

It is assumed that the details of what a futures is have already been studied in previous materials, so now we will talk about the specific parameters of a futures contract and how to trade futures.

Basic designations, terms and concepts

1) Unit of measurement and volumes of the underlying asset

Speculative futures trading does not involve its actual sale, that is, the provision of an asset or its acquisition, therefore beginners often lose sight of the actual content of the lot. Whether it's barrels or bushels, ounces or points, it's always important to know what the futures is related to and which asset should ultimately pass from the seller to the buyer. This makes it possible to predict the behavior of the price of the asset itself and naturally evaluate the futures itself. In addition, it becomes easier to estimate the size of one contract. For example, a corn futures contract involves a contract for the delivery of 5,000 bushels of a specific variety. GBP currency futures begin trading with a minimum volume of £62,500.

All these details can be found in the specifications, get an idea of ​​futures for various types assets listed on a website dedicated to the CME, or specifically the exchange on which futures trading will be carried out.

2) Tick size and minimum change price

The specification of a futures contract strictly determines the minimum price change. The actual tick value is expressed differently for different assets. For example, for the E-mini S&P 500 index futures, a tick is only a quarter of an index point. Based on this value, you can express the cost of one tick, its weight, through the assessment of the index point. For currency futures, the tick is often as small as 0.0001. The cost is calculated based on the exchange rate of the corresponding currency. It is especially important to know the tick size and its value in order to quickly and without confusion understand the situation on the market, when a single table presents information about many contracts, but you need to assess the significance of a particular change in order to trade profitably.

3) Margin and its size

Each futures contract is backed equally by both parties who entered into it with a certain guarantee obligation (GO), which is called the initial margin. Funds are not debited from the account, but are fixed, blocked, and cannot be used until the contract is closed with a counter offer. In addition to the initial margin when trading futures, there is also a margin for maintaining a position inside trading day and margin for rolling over the position to the next trading day.

The profit made from futures trading is actually made up of the variation margin for intraday position maintenance. It is calculated during clearing at the end of the day and is determined by the initial and final parameters of the futures, the price of the underlying asset at the time of closing the contract, and indicated at the time of its conclusion.

4) Deadline for fulfilling the obligation

Absolutely any futures contract has a strictly defined execution time, that is, on a specific date, both parties to the futures contract must fulfill their obligations. Players who trade futures purely for speculative purposes should, at best, not end up in a situation where the futures are theirs at expiration. Otherwise, you will either have to purchase/sell an asset that does not exist, or lose funds, because it will be written off by the GO exchange.

5) Contract trading time

Futures are a financial instrument of the derivatives market; it is definitely important to know exactly when they need to be traded, at what moments the largest injections in volume are possible and when there is a short daily pause during which it is impossible to execute any orders. This is the only way to count on success, having time to catch the moment of formation of a new trend. For each type of underlying asset of a futures contract, its time of greatest market activity is determined.

Breaks for various instruments are determined by the rules of the exchange. If for S&P non-trading time lasts 15 minutes from 00:15 to 00:30 Moscow time, then for currencies it is already 1 hour from 01:00 to 02:00 Moscow time. At the same time, all positions are recalculated, margins and other parameters for futures trading are calculated. This process is called price reduction. All positions are recalculated and all involved trading accounts are credited or debited.

6) Limits of price fluctuations

For most futures, even the limits of price changes are determined in the specification. The price limit defines the limits within which the price can change within each trading day.

7) Margin call

Protection mechanism for the exchange. A Margin Call situation occurs when the intraday change in the futures price exceeds the permissible value covered by the margin. In this case, the broker in mandatory warns the trader about the impossibility of securing open positions with his current funds and strongly suggests replenishing the account, closing part of the positions or stopping trading. If no action is taken, then losses of some or all of the positions are automatically recorded within the acceptable limit, based on the balance of funds in the market participant’s account.

How to trade futures correctly

Most futures trading takes place on the respective futures exchanges. Moreover, the path from the exchange to the end client is represented by a scheme of three components:

• Futures exchange
• Settlement company
• Client

The exchange carries out full maintenance and servicing of accounts of settlement firms, which are professional market participants with licensing of their activities, that is, brokers. It is brokers who calculate the parameters of operations and maintain the accounts of clients from whom they will trade.

In some cases, for example on the Moscow Derivatives Exchange, the scheme has been slightly changed. In first place there is a clearing company, which completely manages all customer accounts. In this case, the settlement company does not calculate warranty services, which makes the clients’ activities safer.

In any case, all necessary actions and calculations for trading are determined by the exchange and are performed at the first two levels. The client only needs to perform sufficient forecasting of the trading instrument of interest and provide his broker with all the necessary orders.

The first thing you need to do to start trading is to determine all the futures parameters. The start date of trading and the time of execution of the futures. Please note that futures trading ends the day before the expiration date. Determined by specification Warranty service and contract cost. Tick ​​of the minimum change in the value of an instrument.

The number of possible contracts that a player can trade is determined by the amount of free funds in the account that are not used to provide previously open positions and margin on the futures contract. Let’s say the contract is valued at $2000, while the size of the GO is determined by the exchange in the amount of 15%, that is, $300. If you have funds in your account in the amount of $1,500, you can either purchase four positions in the hope that the price will rise, or commit to selling 4 contracts in the hope that their price will fall. For each of them, accordingly, it is possible, by investing only $300, to trade the amount of $2000.

If the forecasts came true and the contract value changed in the desired direction, for example by $100 per trading day, then during clearing carried out daily by the exchange a variation margin in the amount of one hundred dollars will be credited to the client’s account, and when closing the position, a guarantee obligation in the amount of three hundred will also be returned dollars.

Otherwise, when the market goes in the opposite direction, the variation margin is calculated as a negative number and debited from the client's account. Naturally, when there are not enough funds to cover already open positions, a margin call situation arises with all the ensuing consequences that were mentioned earlier. Actually, this is where the features of futures trading end; otherwise, everything happens as in any other derivatives market.

The client has the opportunity margin trading with a decent trading leverage, which can range from 1:2 to 1:10, determining the liquidity of the futures and its riskiness, especially considering the huge number of factors that influence its price. Learning the technical intricacies that abound in futures trading is quite simple, given the accessibility and popularity of the trading platforms used for this. It is much more difficult to understand the essence of futures contracts and to choose exactly those underlying assets whose behavior will be adequately predicted by the trader in order to make a profit.

The futures market is a fast-growing financial sector investments. The main reasons for its popularity are high liquidity and a huge selection of different strategies. Despite this, many investors find it overly risky and complicated. Today I suggest you delve deeper into the study of this segment and talk about futures trading for beginners.

A futures is a contract to buy or sell an asset in the future, but at its current price.

For a simpler understanding, I suggest you consider an example: a farmer sowed his fields with wheat, at the moment the cost of wheat is 200 rubles per ton. According to forecasts, the year is expected to be fruitful, without droughts or other natural disasters. Knowing this, the farmer assumes that in the fall there will be more wheat than there is demand for it, which, in turn, will lead to a decrease in its price. Having made such conclusions, the farmer decides to sell his future harvest today at the current price, so as not to make a mistake in the future. He enters into an agreement with the buyer that in the fall he will sell him 100 tons of wheat at the current price. In this case, the farmer is the seller of the futures contract.

The main point of a futures contract is to receive a product in the future at the current price.

The very first financial instruments arose along with trade. Initially, it was a completely unorganized market, which was based on oral agreements between merchants. After the letter appeared, contracts for the supply of certain goods began to appear. By the 18th century, Europe already had the main types of financial instruments, which over time acquired the features of modern ones.

Strategies for using futures

Today there is a huge number simple strategies use of futures.

The first strategy is to use futures to hedge risk. How this is done is best seen in specific example. Let’s say in a month you should receive revenue in dollars, but you are afraid that by this time the exchange rate will change. In such a situation, the optimal solution would be to purchase futures for the dollar/ruble currency pair, which will allow you to exchange dollars for rubles in a month at the rate at the time of purchasing the futures.

The second strategy for using futures is speculative operations. In this case, the main task of speculators is to make a profit from the difference in the cost of buying and selling futures. Also, a small commission size has a positive impact on the profitability of buying/selling futures.

The third strategy for using futures is arbitrage operations. In this case, profit is made due to the difference in intermarket spreads. When performing arbitrage operations, a trader purchases futures on one exchange and sells them on another, where the value of this asset is higher.

Futures trading for beginners

Futures Trading for Beginners Starts with Choice the necessary tool. Let's take gold as an example, but you can use any other product, including silver, oil, and so on. I suggest you use the largest exchange holdings for these purposes: CME and ICE. So, select the “Products” sub-item, then “metals” and in the window that appears, select “GC Gold” - this is a gold futures contract. By clicking on this, a window will open in front of you with a link to the contract specification. In the table that appears you can find the mass useful information. Futures trading may seem quite complicated for beginners, but don’t be intimidated, as over time you will gain certain skills and will be able to handle it with ease.

Futures Trading Basics

To master the basics of futures trading, you need to learn how to analyze futures liquidity. To do this, you need to view all contracts, determine their volumes and find out the current exchange value. Another important point, which you should pay attention to is the start and end time of trading in the futures you are interested in. This point is especially important if the product is shipping very soon. When trading futures, you should definitely take this into account so as not to be left with a box of gold on an illiquid market and then think about where to get the money to pay for it.

Another important point is that you must learn to correctly calculate the number of contracts to be purchased. When concluding contracts, you should always have spare ones in your account cash in case the market does not meet your expectations. In the derivatives market, this amount is called margin. As soon as you create a trade, a certain amount of money is frozen in your account, the size of which is determined by the exchange. You will not be able to use the frozen amount as long as your contract is in force. Once the contract is closed, the amount of money can be withdrawn.

Speculators in the futures market

A futures market without speculators is the same as an auction without buyers. In almost all markets there are more speculators than real buyers. It is thanks to them that goods become liquid.

When speculators enter into contracts in the futures market, they knowingly expose themselves to risk. They take risks in order to profit from price fluctuations.

I present to your attention an example successful trading: On May 1, a speculator bought a contract for copper at 105.25 (margin was $1,500), 5 days later the contract was sold at a price of 111.70, resulting in a net profit of $1,612.5.

If the market did not meet the speculator's expectations and he were forced to sell copper at 99.25, then he would have suffered a loss of $1,500, that is, he would have lost all of his initial money. Speculators can be: ordinary people, and corporate members of the exchange. Both have the same goal: to make money on contracts by buying when the price goes up and selling when the price moves down.

For a more in-depth look at futures trading, I suggest you read the book Todd Lofton wrote, Futures Trading Basics. You can download it by clicking on the link below.

Futures (or futures contracts) are not securities. They represent an agreement between a seller and a buyer for the future purchase and sale of an asset at pre-agreed prices. And they are instruments of the so-called derivatives market - an integral part of the global financial market. The term “urgent” simply means the fact of a transaction with settlements in the future, with a deferment. The buyer's obligations under the contract are to purchase the underlying assets on time, the seller's obligations are to sell these same assets on time. The trading process is carried out on the FORTS futures and options market. Already now its turnover is comparable to the turnover of the market for underlying assets.

About the pros and cons

The futures life is limited to three months. After this period, a new futures contract similar to the previous one with exactly the same expiration date is introduced into circulation. But this minus is compensated by the clear advantages of futures trading. This includes a lower commission compared to shares, a leverage of 1 to 7, and a small starting capital(from 2000 rubles). That is why it is preferable for a trader who is not a large investor with millions of dollars to turn his attention at the beginning of his journey not to stocks, but to futures contracts.

In order to start earning money, it is enough to pay attention to futures for Gazprom, the RTS index, and currencies (for example, the ruble-dollar). They are the most active and liquid. It should only be taken into account that trading in futures for shares of Gazprom and Sberbank will be less active, although more accessible to understanding. And at the same time, the RTS index, the most liquid instrument, is a calculated value that does not have an underlying asset and is not accepted by everyone.

To get a general understanding of how to trade futures and the futures market itself, you should identify the main types of contracts. So, the main groups of futures today:

1. currency,
2. exchange (stock)
3. cereals,
4. interest rates (finance),
5. energy,
6. precious metals,
7. commodity.

Starting stock trading does not seem particularly difficult: you just need to install a special program on your computer - the MetaTrader 4 terminal and open a trading account.

Currency futures

Currency futures as a trading instrument are aimed primarily at small export-import companies. The market for such futures has good liquidity, and the currencies themselves have low volatility (rate variability). All these circumstances, as well as round-the-clock operation electronic market contribute to the great popularity of foreign exchange contracts among speculators.

A currency group of contracts is traded on the International Money Market (IMM) Division of CME in an electronic platform. These are contracts for eurocurrency, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, British pound. If you do not take into account some features specific to futures, the trading process is not much different from currency trading on the Forex exchange.

These contracts are derivatives from the calculated value of the stock (exchange) index - Dow Jones, NASDAQ, Nikkei, DAX and others. A stock index is an indicator of changes in a group of assets (stocks, for example) in a certain proportion. So, in Dow index Jones includes shares of thirty giant companies, and the American Standard & Poor's 500 includes shares of about 500 preferred corporations.

It should be noted that for an inexperienced trader, these highly volatile instruments will seem simply unbearably heavy. For a professional, they can become stunningly effective and cannot be replaced by any other.

Energy

The price of a barrel of “black gold” is closely monitored by the whole world. In the global economy, oil occupies the position of the circulatory system. You can make money here by trading futures for oil, kerosene, gas, and fuel oil. Beloved trading instrument Many traders have become fuel oil (HO), which behaves very, very technically.

Grain futures contracts for wheat, rice, oats, corn, soybeans are among the most respectable and popular. Mainly thanks to the reputable contingent of players in the market - exporters and importers, wholesale buyers, processing enterprises, and manufacturers themselves.

The most unpredictable grain contracts are those that are opposed to grain from a new harvest.

Finance

One of the most liquid and speculative futures contracts. The most popular contracts are 30-year T-Bonds and 10-year T-Notes. They are based on a standard government bond with a face value of $100,000.

Gold, silver and copper are the most interesting trading instruments in the futures market. Similar contracts are offered by NYMEX and SWOT.

Technically, futures trading is no different from stock trading: a trader uses a similar mechanism to open a book with orders. You can even continue to use the chart of the underlying stock for analysis and your indicators. And the transaction should be carried out using a futures contract.