What Is a Futures Contract?

什么是期货合约？

 

A futures contract is a legal agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity asset, or security at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future. Futures contracts are standardized for quality and quantity to facilitate trading on a futures exchange. The buyer of a futures contract is taking on the obligation to buy and receive the underlying asset when the futures contract expires. The seller of the futures contract is taking on the obligation to provide and deliver the underlying asset at the expiration date.

期货合约是在未来某一特定时间以预定价格买卖特定商品资产或证券的法律协议。期货合约在质量和数量上都是标准化的，以便于在期货交易所进行交易。期货合约的买方承担着在期货合约到期时购买和接收标的资产的义务。期货合约的卖方承担在到期日提供和交付标的资产的义务。

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

要点

· Futures contracts are financial derivatives that oblige the buyer to purchase some underlying asset (or the seller to sell that asset) at a predetermined future price and date.

· A futures contract allows an investor to speculate on the direction of a security, commodity, or a financial instrument, either long or short, using leverage.

· Futures are also often used to hedge the price movement of the underlying asset to help prevent losses from unfavorable price change.

· 期货合约是一种金融衍生工具，它要求买方以预定的未来价格和日期购买某种基础资产（或卖方出售该资产）。

· 期货合约允许投资者利用杠杆对证券，商品或金融工具的方向进行投机，不论是多头还是空头。

· 期货也经常被用来对冲标的资产的价格变动，以帮助防止不利的价格变动带来的损失。

 

Understanding Futures Contracts

理解期货合约

 

Futures are derivative financial contracts that obligate the parties to transact an asset at a predetermined future date and price. Here, the buyer must purchase or the seller must sell the underlying asset at the set price, regardless of the current market price at the expiration date.

期货是衍生金融合同，规定各方有义务在预定的未来日期和价格交易资产。在这里，买方必须以设定的价格购买或卖方必须出售基础资产，而不管到期日的当前市场价格。

 

Underlying assets include physical commodities or other financial instruments. Futures contracts detail the quantity of the underlying asset and are standardized to facilitate trading on a futures exchange. Futures can be used for hedging or trade speculation.

基础资产包括实物商品或其他金融工具。期货合约详细说明了标的资产的数量，并被标准化以方便期货交易所的交易。期货合约可以用于套期保值或交易投机。

 

For example, you might hear somebody say they bought oil futures, which means the same thing as an oil futures contract. When someone says "futures contract," they're typically referring to a specific type of future, such as oil, gold, bonds or S&P 500 index futures. Futures contracts are also one of the most direct ways to invest in oil. The term "futures" is more general, and is often used to refer to the whole market, such as "They're a futures trader."

“期货合约”和“期货”指的是同一个东西。例如，你可能会听到有人说他们购买了石油期货，这意味着与石油期货合同相同的事情。当有人说“期货合约”时，他们通常指的是特定类型的期货，如石油、黄金、债券或标准普尔500指数指数期货。期货合约也是投资石油最直接的方式之一。“期货”这个术语更常见，通常用来指整个市场，比如“他们是期货交易者。”

 

Futures contracts are standardized, unlike forward contracts. Forwards are similar types of agreements that lock in a future price in the present, but forwards are traded over-the-counter (OTC) and have customizable terms that are arrived at between the counterparties. Futures contracts, on the other hand, will each have the same terms regardless of who is the counterparty.

期货合约是标准化的，不像远期合约。远期类似协议，即目前锁定未来价格，但远期是场外交易(OTC)，并有可定制的条款，由交易对手之间达成。另一方面，无论交易对手是谁，期货合约都将有相同的条款。

 

Example of Futures Contracts

期货合约的示例

 

Futures contracts are used by two categories of market participants: hedgers and speculators. Producers or purchasers of an underlying asset hedge or guarantee the price at which the commodity is sold or purchased, while portfolio managers and traders may also make a bet on the price movements of an underlying asset using futures.

期货合约由两类市场参与者使用:对冲者和投机者。基础资产的生产者或购买者对冲或担保商品的销售或购买价格，而投资组合经理和交易者也可以使用期货对基础资产的价格变动进行押注。

 

An oil producer needs to sell their oil. They may use futures contracts do it. This way they can lock in a price they will sell at, and then deliver the oil to the buyer when the futures contract expires. Similarly, a manufacturing company may need oil for making widgets. Since they like to plan ahead and always have oil coming in each month, they too may use futures contracts. This way they know in advance the price they will pay for oil (the futures contract price) and they know they will be taking delivery of the oil once the contract expires.

石油生产商需要出售他们的石油，他们可能用期货合约。通过这种方式，他们可以锁定出售价格，然后在期货合约到期时将石油交付给买家。同样，制造公司可能需要石油来制造小部件。因为他们倾向于提前计划，并且每个月都会购买石油，所以他们也可能会使用期货合约。通过这种方式，他们提前知道他们将为石油支付的价格(期货合同价格)，并且他们知道一旦合同到期，他们将接收石油。

 

Futures are available on many different types of assets. There are futures contracts on stock exchange indexes, commodities, and currencies.

许多不同类型的资产都有期货。股票交易所指数、商品和货币都有期货合约。

 

Mechanics of a Futures Contract

期货合约机制

 

Imagine an oil producer plans to produce one million barrels of oil over the next year. It will be ready for delivery in 12 months. Assume the current price is $75 per barrel. The producer could produce the oil, and then sell it at the current market prices one year from today.

设想一个石油生产商计划在下一年生产一百万桶石油。12个月后可交付使用。假设目前的价格是每桶75英镑。生产商可以生产石油，然后在一年后以目前的市场价格出售。

 

Given the volatility of oil prices, the market price at that time could be very different than the current price. If oil producer thinks oil will be higher in one year, they may opt not to lock in a price now. But, if they think $75 is a good price, they could lock-in a guaranteed sale price by entering into a futures contract.

鉴于油价的波动性，当时的市场价格可能与目前的价格相差很大。如果石油生产商认为一年后油价会上涨，他们可能会选择现在不锁定价格。但是，如果他们认为75英镑是一个好的价格，他们可以通过签订期货合同来锁定一个有保证的销售价格。

 

A mathematical model is used to price futures, which takes into account the current spot price, the risk-free rate of return, time to maturity, storage costs, dividends, dividend yields, and convenience yields. Assume that the one-year oil futures contracts are priced at $78 per barrel. By entering into this contract, in one year the producer is obligated to deliver one million barrels of oil and is guaranteed to receive $78 million. The $78 price per barrel is received regardless of where spot market prices are at the time.

采用数学模型对期货进行定价，该模型考虑了当前现货价格，无风险收益率，到期时间，存储成本，股息，股息收益率，便利收益率。假设一年期石油期货合约定价为每桶78。通过签订这一合同，生产商有义务在一年内交付100万桶石油，并保证收到7800万桶。每桶78英镑的价格，无论现货市场价格当时在哪里，都是可以收到的。

 

Contracts are standardized. For example, one oil contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is for 1,000 barrels of oil. Therefore, if someone wanted to lock in a price (selling or buying) on 100,000 barrels of oil, they would need to buy/sell 100 contracts. To lock in a price on one million barrels of oil/they would need to buy/sell 1,000 contracts.

期货合约是标准化的。例如，芝加哥商品交易所(CME)的一份石油合约是1000桶石油。因此，如果有人想锁定10万桶石油的价格（卖出或买入），他们需要买入/卖出100份合约。要锁定100万桶石油的价格/他们需要购买/出售1000份合同。

 

The futures markets are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC is a federal agency created by Congress in 1974 to ensure the integrity of futures market pricing, including preventing abusive trading practices, fraud, and regulating brokerage firms engaged in futures trading.

期货市场由商品期货交易委员会(CFTC)监管。CFTC是美国国会于1974年创建的一个联邦机构，旨在确保期货市场定价的完整性，包括防止滥用交易惯例，欺诈，以及监管从事期货交易的经纪公司。

 

英文来源：https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/futurescontract.asp