The Investment Blog » futures http://www.uicinvestors.org Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:45:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 How do futures contracts work with the margins? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-do-futures-contracts-work-with-the-margins http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-do-futures-contracts-work-with-the-margins#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:05:36 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-do-futures-contracts-work-with-the-margins Futures where speculators put up a initial margin are essentially leveraged positions, aren’t they, where the losses are protected with maintenance margins? Do futures exchanges put up the rest of the money with interest payable? Is that how it works?

John always says such dumb stuff in such a pompous manner.

No, John, your broker doesn’t put up margin for you. Imagine paying $8 a round turn and having your broker put up 95% of the notional value of an S&P contract. That would be one cheap loan.

The key is not to think about the notional value of the contract at all. Futures contracts are just risk units and your margin deposit covers the short-term risk of the contract. For some contracts it’s not even clear what the notional size is, e.g., is a Eurodollar contract a $1M notional contract or just the interest on $1M for three months or something in between? If you take delivery under a futures contract you get invoiced for the underlier and your margin account is just to settle price differences.

]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-do-futures-contracts-work-with-the-margins/feed 2 What is the best online platform to trade futures? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-best-online-platform-to-trade-futures http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-best-online-platform-to-trade-futures#comments Fri, 27 May 2011 07:38:19 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-best-online-platform-to-trade-futures What are some online platforms/brokers that offer the ability to trade futures?

T & K Futures and Options Inc.

]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-best-online-platform-to-trade-futures/feed 2 What is the difference of gold and silver spot price vs. the futures market? Are these two separate markets? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-difference-of-gold-and-silver-spot-price-vs-the-futures-market-are-these-two-separate-markets http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-difference-of-gold-and-silver-spot-price-vs-the-futures-market-are-these-two-separate-markets#comments Wed, 25 May 2011 02:21:19 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-difference-of-gold-and-silver-spot-price-vs-the-futures-market-are-these-two-separate-markets What is comex? Where does the spot price come from? Are these different from gold and silver futures? Does the comex have to hold the physical metal or do the futures have to hold it? Can someone give an explanation of the different markets and terms? Thanks!

The spot price is the current market price or more succinctly the price of the last trade. Futures are contracts to trade at an agreed upon price in the future and therefore have a value dependent on the probable future price versus that of the contract and are traded as such with the associated speculation of the future price. The difference between the current spot price and the contracted price of the futures contract, the time to maturity and the volatility of the price is used to estimate the probable price at maturity and hence estimate the value of the futures contract. The spot price is for the commodity itself, futures are a derivative product and is a related but separate market.

Comex is the Commodity Exchange, a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, they don’t hold anything, they just bring buyers and sellers together.

]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-difference-of-gold-and-silver-spot-price-vs-the-futures-market-are-these-two-separate-markets/feed 2 How can I check the futures price for an individual stock? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-can-i-check-the-futures-price-for-an-individual-stock http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-can-i-check-the-futures-price-for-an-individual-stock#comments Sun, 22 May 2011 05:27:13 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-can-i-check-the-futures-price-for-an-individual-stock I know the stock indexes have futures prices but what about for an individual stock? Where can I find it?

You can check this through your futures broker, or at http://www.onechicago.com/

]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-can-i-check-the-futures-price-for-an-individual-stock/feed 1 Whats the difference between investing in the stock market and futures and options trading? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/whats-the-difference-between-investing-in-the-stock-market-and-futures-and-options-trading http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/whats-the-difference-between-investing-in-the-stock-market-and-futures-and-options-trading#comments Sat, 01 Jan 2011 10:21:16 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/whats-the-difference-between-investing-in-the-stock-market-and-futures-and-options-trading What is the difference between investing in the stock market and futures and options trading?

Let’s see:

Investing in the stock market means that you are buying an ownership interest in a corporation which provides valuable goods and services. If you invest broadly enough in stock markets, you are betting that global growth will happen during the holding period which accrues to the owners of global corporations.

Trading in futures means that you think that pork bellies are going to go either up or down faster than they would go in the other direction which would cause you to be closed out.

Trading in options means either you are an amateur looking for increased leverage on a directional bet in just about any market anywhere or you have some opinion about volatility which is different from the price of volatility expressed in the option.

]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/whats-the-difference-between-investing-in-the-stock-market-and-futures-and-options-trading/feed 3 What is the price for December futures using the parity relationship? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-price-for-december-futures-using-the-parity-relationship http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-price-for-december-futures-using-the-parity-relationship#comments Sun, 31 Oct 2010 13:37:14 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-price-for-december-futures-using-the-parity-relationship It is now January. The current interest rate is 4%. The June futures price for gold is $946.30, while the December futures price is $952.

What is the price for December futures using the parity relationship?

using continuous compounding and assuming 6 months, e^(.04/2) * 952 = 971.232

]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-price-for-december-futures-using-the-parity-relationship/feed 1 What is the most liquid futures contract? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-most-liquid-futures-contract http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-most-liquid-futures-contract#comments Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:23:24 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-most-liquid-futures-contract Of all the exchange traded futures contracts out there, which is the most liquid?

Crude oil

]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/what-is-the-most-liquid-futures-contract/feed 3 Futures TV 6 http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/futures-tv-6 http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/futures-tv-6#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:22:34 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/futures-tv-6 ibiza and studio footage from Futures

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]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/futures-tv-6/feed 9 CHICKENFOOT – Future In the Past http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/chickenfoot-future-in-the-past http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/chickenfoot-future-in-the-past#comments Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:12:14 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/chickenfoot-future-in-the-past Chickenfoot live at the Fillmore in San Francisco, 5/17/09, performing The Future’s In The Past. AWESOME show!!!

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]]> http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/chickenfoot-future-in-the-past/feed 25 How much money do you get if you win a Florida Bright Futures scholarship? http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-much-money-do-you-get-if-you-win-a-florida-bright-futures-scholarship http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-much-money-do-you-get-if-you-win-a-florida-bright-futures-scholarship#comments Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:29:15 +0000 admin http://www.uicinvestors.org/futures/how-much-money-do-you-get-if-you-win-a-florida-bright-futures-scholarship I am going to apply for the Florida Bright Futures scholarship. How much money will i get if i have a B average for all four years of high school.

I found some info about getting this scholarship online in this scholarship database – scholarships.onlinewebshop.net

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