A market for trading contracts wherein one party, usually a specialist, pledges for a certain sum of money to deliver to or buy from another party, the holder of the contract, a specified quantity of specified fungible commodities, securities or foreign exchange on a specified future date Such contracts are primarily an extension of the division of labor principle whereby the speculative incidence of interim price changes are shifted from parties unfamiliar with the causes of such price changes to those with a special knowledge and understanding of expected price changes Thus processors or manufacturers in need of future raw materials can know immediately the costs of such materials and foreign traders can likewise know immediately the domestic monetary equivalent of future payments for their exports or imports priced in foreign currencies
Arrangement through a contract for the delivery of a commodity at a future time and at a price specified at the time of purchase The price is based on an auction or market basis Standardized, exchange-traded, and government regulated hedging mechanism
A continuous auction market in which participants buy and sell commodities contracts for delivery on a specified future date Trading is carried on through open outcry and hand signals in a trading pit or ring
an opportunity for buyers and sellers to get together for price discovery and risk management through open outcry The Fixed Price and Basis Payment Contracts use the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, and Kansas City Board of Trade futures markets
A market in which people buy and sell goods for future delivery (p 172) - A market for trading contracts for future delivery of goods or assets (p 856)
Arrangement through a contract for the delivery of a commodity at a time and price specified at the time of purchase The price is based on an auction or market basis
The place where futures contracts are traded, such as the Commodity Exchange in New York, which handles metals, and the Chicago Board of Trade, which deals in grain futures Other exchanges handle sugar, cotton, and other commodities