Futures
An obligation to buy or sell later at a price agreed now — the simplest derivative.
Lessons
- What Is a Futures Contract?A binding agreement to trade at a set price on a future date. Symmetric, simple, and serious.
- The Futures PayoffStraight-line profit and loss in both directions — and why that symmetry cuts both ways.
- Margin & Mark-to-MarketWhy your account is settled every single day, and how a margin call sneaks up on you.
- Spot Price vs Futures PriceWhy the futures price differs from today’s price, and what the gap tells you.
- Contango & BackwardationWhen futures trade above or below spot — and the market mood each one signals.
- Rollover & ExpiryHow traders carry a position past expiry, and why rollover data is widely watched.
- Hedging with FuturesProtecting a portfolio by taking an offsetting futures position — the original use case.