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FUTURES. NICK PIANTEK. WHAT ARE FUTURES??. Futures are contracts to buy or sell a specific commodity on a specific day for a present price. WHY WERE THEY CREATED?.
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FUTURES NICK PIANTEK
WHAT ARE FUTURES?? • Futures are contracts to buy or sell a specific commodity on a specific day for a present price.
WHY WERE THEY CREATED? • Futures provide producers, farmers, and end users with the opportunity to hedge their position against large price swings and potentially large losses.
WHO TRADES FUTURES? • Hedgers (Farmers and Commercials) trade futures to reduce risk. • Example: Farmers who commit themselves to sell grain at a good price are protected if prices drop. • Large Speculators (brokerage houses) trade both their own accounts and their client’s accounts to capitalize on price swings. • Small Speculators (investors) trade futures to capitalize on large moves in the direction of their position.
TRADING FUTURES • When you buy a futures contract, you pay an initial margin (usually between 2% and 10% depending on the client) • This installment must remain 100% intact day to day. It can grow, but cannot drop. • When you leave the market (i.e. sell it back) it cancels your obligation to buy the commodity on the contract expiration date.
MARKED TO MARKET • Marked to Market means that at the end of the day, the house settles all accounts. • If your contract profited on the day, the money is credited to your account when the market closes for the day. If the position went against you, the account is debited that amount.
Softs (Food and Fiber) Grains and Oilseeds Livestock Metals Petroleum Currencies Index Interest Rate SUBGROUPS
SOFTS • Orange Juice • Cocoa • Coffee • Sugar • Cotton (fiber)
Corn Oats Wheat Soybeans Soybean Oil Soybean Meal GRAINS and OILSEEDS
LIVESTOCK • Live Cattle • Feeder Cattle • Live Hogs • Pork Bellies
METALS • Copper • Gold • Silver • Platinum
PETROLEUM • Crude Oil • Heating Oil • Unleaded Gas • Natural Gas
CURRENCIES • British Pound • Japanese Yen • Swiss Franc • Canadian Dollar • Deutsche Mark
INDEX • Dow Jones Industrial • S&P 500 • Nasdaq 100 • US Dollar • NYSE Composite • Others
INTEREST RATE • Treasury Bonds • Treasury Notes • 2 yr. Notes • 5 yr. Notes • Treasury Bills • Municipal Bonds • Eurodollar
OTHER COMMODITIES • Lumber • Palladium • Milk • Propane • Butter • Eggs
MAIN CITIES WITH EXCHANGES • Chicago • New York City • Kansas City • Minneapolis
CHICAGO EXCHANGES • Chicago Board of Trade • Traded: grains, T-bonds and notes, metals, indexes • Chicago Mercantile Exchange • Traded: livestock, currency, indexes • MidAmerica Commodity Exchange (MidAm) deals in half contracts. • financial futures, currency, livestock, grain, metals
NEY YORK EXCHANGES • CTN, NYFE, FINEX • New York Cotton exchange and its divisions New York Futures exchange and Financial Instrument Exchange • Traded: cotton, orange juice, currency, Treasuries, indexes • CSCE • Coffee, Sugar, and Cocoa exchange
NY EXCHANGES (cont.) • NYM, CMX-COMEX • New York Mercantile exchange and it’s division Commodity exchange • Traded: Financial futures, metals
KANSAS CITY and MINNEAPOLIS EXCHANGES • Kansas City Board of Trade • Traded: grains, livestock, softs • MPLS • Minneapolis Grain Exchange • These exchanges are mainly agricultural exchanges
CONTRACT SPECIFICATIONS • These are the sizes of the contracts. • Some examples: • 1 Wheat contract = 5,000 bushels of Wheat • 1 Gasoline contract = 42,000 gallons of Gas • 1 Sugar contract = 112,000 lbs. Of Sugar • Therefore, if wheat is being traded at $3.20 a bushel, 1 contract = $16,000. A one cent move is equal to $50
SEAT PRICES • A seat on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange today is worth between $385,000 and $400,000. • A seat on the New York Mercantile Exchange is currently being offered by the exchange for $700,000.
JUST A NOTE • Futures vs. Options • similarities • Both Derivative investments (once or twice removed from an underlying product) • Both were created to reduce risk • difference • futures-obligation to buy/sell at a present price • option-right to buy/sell at a preset price
IN CASE YOU’RE INTERESTED • Here’s some web sites you can look at if you’re interested in learning more: • http://www.cbot.com • http://www.cme.com • http://www.nybot.com • http://www.nymex.com • http://www.kcbt.com • http://www.midam.com • http://www.cboe.com