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Futures
Glossary
Actuals
See Cash Commodity.
Add-on Method
A method of paying interest where the interest is added onto the principal at maturity or interest payment dates.
Adjusted Futures Price
The cash-price equivalent reflected in the current futures price. This is calculated by taking the futures price times the conversion factor for the particular financial instrument (e.g., bond or note) being delivered.
Against Actuals
See Exchange For Physicals.
All or None Order
An order which must be filled for the full size of the order before it can be executed.
American-style Option
An option contract that may be exercised at any time between the date of purchase and the expiration date.
Arbitrage
The simultaneous purchase and sale of similar commodities in different markets to take advantage of a price discrepancy.
Ask
The price at which a seller will sell a futures contract.
Assign
To make an option seller perform his obligation to assume a short futures position (as a seller of a call option) or a long futures position (as a seller of a put option).
At-the-Money Option
An option with a strike price that is equal, or approximately equal, to the current market price of the underlying futures contract.
Balance of Payment
A summary of the international transactions of a country over a period of time including commodity and service transactions, capital transactions, and gold movements.
Bar Chart
A chart that graphs the high, low, and settlement prices for a specific trading session over a given period of time.
Basis
The difference between the current cash price and the futures price of the same commodity. Unless otherwise specified, the price of the nearby futures contract month is generally used to calculate the basis.
Bear Spread
In most commodities and financial instruments, the term refers to selling the nearby contract month, and buying the deferred contract, to profit from a change in the price relationship.
Bid
An expression indicating a desire to buy a futures contract at a given price; opposite of offer.
Broker
A company or individual that executes futures and options orders on behalf of financial and commercial institutions and/or the general public.
Brokerage Fee
See Commission Fee.
Brokerage House
See Futures Commission Merchant.
Bull Spread
In most commodities and financial instruments, the term refers to buying the nearby month, and selling the deferred month, to profit from the change in the price relationship.
Butterfly Spread
The placing of two interdelivery spreads in opposite directions with the center delivery month common to both spreads.
Buying Hedge
See Purchasing Hedge.
Calendar Spread
The simultaneous sale and purchase of either calls or puts with the same strike price but different expiration months. See Interdelivery Spread and Horizontal Spread.
Call Option
An option that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase (go "long") the underlying futures contract at the strike price on or before the expiration date.
Canceling Order
An order that deletes a customer's previous order.
Carrying Charge
For physical commodities such as grains and metals, the cost of storage space, insurance, and finance charges incurred by holding a physical commodity. In interest rate futures markets, it refers to the differential between the yield on a cash instrument and the cost of funds necessary to buy the instrument. Also referred to as cost of carry or carry.
Carryover
Grain and oilseed commodities not consumed during the marketing year and remaining in storage at year's end. These stocks are "carried over" into the next marketing year and added to the stocks produced during that crop year.
Cash Commodity
An actual physical commodity someone is buying or selling, e.g., soybeans, corn, gold, silver, Treasury bonds, etc. Also referred to as actuals.
Cash Contract
A sales agreement for either immediate or future delivery of the actual product.
Cash Market
A place where people buy and sell the actual commodities, i.e., grain elevator, bank, etc. See Spot and Forward Contract.
Cash Settlement
Transactions generally involving index-based futures contracts that are settled in cash based on the actual value of the index on the last trading day, in contrast to those that specify the delivery of a commodity or financial instrument.
Charting
The use of charts to analyze market behavior and anticipate future price movements. Those who use charting as a trading method plot such factors as high, low, and settlement prices; average price movements; volume; and open interest. Two basic price charts are bar charts and point-and-figure charts. See Technical Analysis.
Cheapest to Deliver
A method to determine which particular cash debt instrument is most profitable to deliver against a futures contract.
Class of Options
Option contracts of the same type (call or put) and style (American, European or Capped) that cover the same underlying security.
Clear
The process by which a clearinghouse maintains records of all trades and settles margin flow on a daily mark-to-market basis for its clearing member.
Clearinghouse
An agency or separate corporation of a futures exchange that is responsible for settling trading accounts, clearing trades, collecting and maintaining margin monies, regulating delivery, and reporting trading data. Clearinghouses act as third parties to all futures and options contracts acting as a buyer to every clearing member seller and a seller to every clearing member buyer.
Clearing Member
A member of an exchange clearinghouse. Memberships in clearing organizations are usually held by companies. Clearing members are responsible for the financial commitments of customers that clear through their firm.
Closing Price
See Settlement Price.
Closing Range
A range of prices at which buy and sell transactions took place during the market close.
Closing Transaction
A transaction in which at some point prior to expiration, the option holder makes an offsetting sale of an identical option, or the option writer makes an offsetting purchase of an identical option. A closing transaction in an option reduces or cancels out an investor's previous position as the holder or the writer of that option.
Commission Fee
A fee charged by a broker for executing a transaction. Also referred to as brokerage fee.
Commission House
See Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).
Commodity
An article of commerce or a product that can be used for commerce. In a narrow sense, products traded on an authorized commodity exchange. The types of commodities include agricultural products, metals, petroleum, foreign currencies, and financial instruments and indexes.
Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
A branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, established in 1933, that supervises the government's farm loan and subsidy programs.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
A federal regulatory agency established under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act, as amended in 1974, that oversees futures trading in the United States. The commission is comprised of five commissioners, one of whom is designated as chairman, all appointed by the President subject to Senate confirmation, and is independent of all cabinet departments.
Commodity Pool
An enterprise in which funds contributed by a number of persons are combined for the purpose of trading futures contracts or commodity options.
Commodity Pool Operator (CPO)
An individual or organization that operates or solicits funds for a commodity pool.
Commodity Trading Adviser (CTA)
A person who, for compensation or profit, directly or indirectly advises others as to the value or the advisability of buying or selling futures contracts or commodity options. Advising indirectly includes exercising trading authority over a customer's account as well as providing recommendations through written publications or other media.
Concurrent Indicators
See Lagging Indicators.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
A major inflation measure computed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. It measures the change in prices of a fixed market basket of some 385 goods and services in the previous month.
Contract Grades
See Deliverable Grades.
Contract Month
See Delivery Month.
Convergence
A term referring to cash and futures prices tending to come together (i.e., the basis approaches zero) as the futures contract nears expiration.
Cost of Carry (or Carry)
See Carrying Charge.
Coupon
The interest rate on a debt instrument expressed in terms of a percent on an annualized basis that the issuer guarantees to pay the holder until maturity.
Covered Call Option Writing
A strategy in which one sells call options while simultaneously owning an equivalent position in the underlying security
Covered Put Option Writing
A strategy in which one sells puts and simultaneously is short an equivalent position in the underlying security.
Crop (Marketing) Year
The time span from harvest to harvest for agricultural commodities. The crop marketing year varies slightly with each ag commodity, but it tends to begin at harvest and end before the next year's harvest, e.g., the marketing year for soybeans begins September 1 and ends August 31. The futures contract month of November represents the first major new-crop marketing month, and the contract month of July represents the last major old-crop marketing month for soybeans.
Crop Reports
Reports compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on various ag commodities that are released throughout the year. Information in the reports includes estimates on planted acreage, yield, and expected production, as well as comparison of production from previous years.
Cross-Hedging
Hedging a cash commodity using a different but related futures contract when there is no futures contract for the cash commodity being hedged and the cash and futures markets follow similar price trends (e.g., using soybean meal futures to hedge fish meal).
Crush Spread
The purchase of soybean futures and the simultaneous sale of soybean oil and meal futures. See Reverse Crush.
Currency Option
The right to buy or sell one currency against another currency at a specified price during a specified period.
Daily Trading Limit
The maximum price range set by the exchange each day for a contract. Day Traders Speculators who take positions in futures or options contracts and liquidate them prior to the close of the same trading day.
Day Order
An order which remains in effect only until executed or until the end of the trading session.
Deferred (Delivery) Month
The more distant month(s) in which futures trading is taking place, as distinguished from the nearby (delivery) month.
Deliverable Grades
The standard grades of commodities or instruments listed in the rules of the exchanges that must be met when delivering cash commodities against futures contracts. Grades are often accompanied by a schedule of discounts and premiums allowable for delivery of commodities of lesser or greater quality than the standard called for by the exchange. Also referred to as contract grades.
Delivery
The transfer of the cash commodity from the seller of a futures contract to the buyer of a futures contract. Each futures exchange has specific procedures for delivery of a cash commodity. Some futures contracts, such as stock index contracts, are cash settled.
Delivery Date
The date on which the commodity or instrument of delivery must be delivered to fulfill the terms of a contract.
Delivery Month
A specific month in which delivery may take place under the terms of a futures contract. Also referred to as contract month.
Delivery Points
The locations and facilities designated by a futures exchange where stocks of a commodity may be delivered in fulfillment of a futures contract, under procedures established by the exchange.
Delta
A measure of how much an option premium changes, given a unit change in the underlying futures price. Delta often is interpreted as the probability that the option will be in-the-money by expiration.
Differentials
Price differences between classes, grades, and delivery locations of various stocks of the same commodity.
Equilibrium Price
The market price at which the quantity supplied of a commodity equals the quantity demanded.
Eurodollars
U.S. dollars on deposit with a bank outside of the United States and, consequently, outside the jurisdiction of the United States. The bank could be either a foreign bank or a subsidiary of a U.S. bank.
European-style Option
An option contract that may be exercised only during a specified period of time just prior to expiration
European Terms
A method of quoting exchange rates, which measures the amount of foreign currency needed to buy one U.S. dollar, i.e., foreign currency unit per dollar. See Reciprocal of European Terms.
Exchange For Physicals (EFP)
A transaction generally used by two hedgers who want to exchange futures for cash positions. Also referred to as against actuals or versus cash.
Exercise
The action taken by the holder of a call option if he wishes to purchase the underlying futures contract or by the holder of a put option if he wishes to sell the underlying futures contract.
Exercise Price
See Strike Price.
Exercise Settlement Amount
The difference between the exercise price of the option and the exercise settlement value of the index on the day an exercise notice is tendered, multiplied by the index multiplier.
Expiration Cycle
An expiration cycle relates to the dates on which options on a particular underlying security expire. A given option, other then LEAPS®, will be assigned to of of the three cycles, the January cycle, the February cycle or the March cycle.
Expiration Date
Options on futures generally expire on a specific date during the month preceding the futures contract delivery month. For example, an option on a March futures contract expires in February but is referred to as a March option because its exercise would result in a March futures contract position.
Expiration Time
The time of day by which all exercise notices must be received on the expiration date.
Extrinsic Value
See Time Value.
Feed Ratio
A ratio used to express the relationship of feeding costs to the dollar value of livestock. See Hog/Corn Ratio and Steer/Corn Ratio.
Fill-or-Kill
A customer order that is a price limit order that must be filled immediately or canceled.
Financial Instrument
There are two basic types (1) a debt instrument, which is a loan with an agreement to pay back funds with interest; (2) an equity security, which is a share or stock in a company.
First Notice Day
The first day on which a notice of intent to deliver a commodity in fulfillment of a given month's futures contract can be made by the clearinghouse. First notice day may vary with each commodity and exchange.
Floor Broker (FB)
An individual who executes orders for the purchase or sale of any commodity futures or options contract on any contract market for any other person.
Floor Trader (FT)
An individual who executes trades for the purchase or sale of any commodity futures or options contract on any contract market for such individual's own account.
Foreign Exchange Market
See Forex Market.
Forex Market
An over-the-counter market where buyers and sellers conduct foreign exchange business by telephone and other means of communication. Also referred to as foreign exchange market.
Forward (Cash) Contract
A cash contract in which a seller agrees to deliver a specific cash commodity to a buyer sometime in the future. Forward contracts, in contrast to futures contracts, are privately negotiated and are not standardized.
Full Carrying Charge Market
A futures market where the price difference between delivery months reflects the total costs of interest, insurance, and storage.
Fundamental Analysis
A method of anticipating future price movement using supply and demand information.
Futures Commission Merchant (FCM)
An individual or organization that solicits or accepts orders to buy or sell futures contracts or options on futures and accepts money or other assets from customers to support such orders. Also referred to as commission house or wire house.
Futures Contract
A legally binding agreement, made on the trading floor of a futures exchange, to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument sometime in the future. Futures contracts are standardized according to the quality, quantity, and delivery time and location for each commodity. The only variable is price, which is discovered on an exchange trading floor.
Futures Exchange
A central marketplace with established rules and regulations where buyers and sellers meet to trade futures and options on futures contracts.
GLOBEX.
A global after-hours electronic trading system.
Good-Till-Cancelled Order
An order which remains in effect until it is cancelled or executed.
Grain Terminal
Large grain elevator facility with the capacity to ship grain by rail and/or barge to domestic or foreign markets.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The value of all final goods and services produced by an economy over a particular time period, normally a year.
Gross National Product (GNP)
Gross Domestic Product plus the income accruing to domestic residents as a result of investments abroad less income earned in domestic markets accruing to foreigners abroad.
Gross Processing Margin (GPM)
The difference between the cost of soybeans and the combined sales income of the processed soybean oil and meal.
Hedger
An individual or company owning or planning to own a cash commodity corn, soybeans, wheat, U.S. Treasury bonds, notes, bills, etc. and concerned that the cost of the commodity may change before either buying or selling it in the cash market. A hedger achieves protection against changing cash prices by purchasing (selling) futures contracts of the same or similar commodity and later offsetting that position by selling (purchasing) futures contracts of the same quantity and type as the initial transaction.
Hedging
The practice of offsetting the price risk inherent in any cash market position by taking an equal but opposite position in the futures market. Hedgers use the futures markets to protect their businesses from adverse price changes. See Selling (Short) Hedge and Purchasing (Long) Hedge.
High
The highest price of the day for a particular futures contract.
Hog/Corn Ratio
The relationship of feeding costs to the dollar value of hogs. It is measured by dividing the price of hogs ($/hundredweight) by the price of corn ($/bushel). When corn prices are high relative to pork prices, fewer units of corn equal the dollar value of 100 pounds of pork. Conversely, when corn prices are low in relation to pork prices, more units of corn are required to equal the value of 100 pounds of pork. See Feed Ratio.
Holder
See Option Buyer.
Horizontal Spread
The purchase of either a call or put option and the simultaneous sale of the same type of option with typically the same strike price but with a different expiration month. Also referred to as a calendar spread.
Immediate Order
An order which must be executed in whole or part when voiced or else cancelled.
Initial Margin
See Original Margin.
Intercommodity Spread
The purchase of a given delivery month of one futures market and the simultaneous sale of the same delivery month of a different, but related, futures market.
Interdelivery Spread
The purchase of one delivery month of a given futures contract and simultaneous sale of another delivery month of the same commodity on the same exchange. Also referred to as an intramarket or calendar spread.
Intermarket Spread
The sale of a given delivery month of a futures contract on one exchange and the simultaneous purchase of the same delivery month and futures contract on another exchange.
In-the-Money Option
An option having intrinsic value. A call option is in-the-money if its strike price is below the current price of the underlying futures contract. A put option is in-the-money if its strike price is above the current price of the underlying futures contract. See Intrinsic Value.
Intramarket Spread
See Interdelivery Spread.
Intrinsic Value
The amount by which an option is in-the-money. See In-the-Money Option.
Introducing Broker (IB)
A person or organization that solicits or accepts orders to buy or sell futures contracts or commodity options but does not accept money or other assets from customers to support such orders.
Lagging Indicators
Market indicators showing the general direction of the economy and confirming or denying the trend implied by the leading indicators. Also referred to as concurrent indicators.
Last Trading Day
The final day when trading may occur in a given futures or options contract month. Futures contracts outstanding at the end of the last trading day must be settled by delivery of the underlying commodity or securities or by agreement for monetary settlement (in some cases by EFPs).
Leading Indicators
Market indicators that signal the state of the economy for the coming months. Some of the leading indicators include average manufacturing workweek, initial claims for unemployment insurance, orders for consumer goods and material, percentage of companies reporting slower deliveries, change in manufacturers' unfilled orders for durable goods, plant and equipment orders, new building permits, index of consumer expectations, change in material prices, prices of stocks, change in money supply.
Limits
See Position Limit, Price Limit, Variable Limit.
Linkage
The ability to buy (sell) contracts on one exchange and later sell (buy) them on another exchange.
Liquid
A characteristic of a security or commodity market with enough units outstanding to allow large transactions without a substantial change in price. Institutional investors are inclined to seek out liquid investments so that their trading activity will not influence the market price.
Liquidate
Selling (or purchasing) futures contracts of the same delivery month purchased (or sold) during an earlier transaction or making (or taking) delivery of the cash commodity represented by the futures contract.
Loan Program
A federal program in which the government lends money at preannounced rates to farmers and allows them to use the crops they plant for the upcoming crop year as collateral. Default on these loans is the primary method by which the government acquires stocks of agricultural commodities.
Loan Rate
The amount lent per unit of a commodity to farmers.
Long
One who has bought futures contracts or owns a cash commodity. Long Hedge See Purchasing Hedge.
Low
The lowest price of the day for a particular futures contract.
Managed Futures
Represents an industry comprised of professional money managers known as commodity trading advisors who manage client assets on a discretionary basis, using global futures markets as an investment medium.
Margin Call
A call from a clearinghouse to a clearing member, or from a brokerage firm to a customer, to bring margin deposits up to a required minimum level.
Market Order
An order to buy or sell a futures contract of a given delivery month to be filled at the best possible price and as soon as possible.
Marking-to-Market
To debit or credit on a daily basis a margin account based on the close of that day's trading session. In this way, buyers and sellers are protected against the possibility of contract default.
Minimum Price Fluctuation
See Tick.
Moving-Average Charts
A statistical price analysis method of recognizing different price trends. A moving average is calculated by adding the prices for a predetermined number of days and then dividing by the number of days.
National Futures Association (NFA)
An industrywide, industry-supported, self-regulatory organization for futures and options markets. The primary responsibilities of the NFA are to enforce ethical standards and customer protection rules, screen futures professionals for membership, audit and monitor professionals for financial and general compliance rules, and provide for arbitration of futures-related disputes.
Nearby (Delivery) Month
The futures contract month closest to expiration. Also referred to as spot month.
Notice Day
Any day on which notices of intent to deliver on futures contract may be issued.
Offer
An expression indicating one's desire to sell a commodity at a given price; opposite of bid.
OPEC
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, emerged as the major petroleum pricing power in1973, when the ownership of oil production in the Middle East transferred from the operating companies to the governments of the producing countries or to their national oil. Members are Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
Open Interest
The total number of futures or options contracts of a given commodity that have not yet been offset by an opposite futures or option transaction nor fulfilled by delivery of the commodity or option exercise. Each open transaction has a buyer and a seller, but for calculation of open interest, only one side of the contract is counted.
Open Market Operation
The buying and selling of government securities Treasury bills, notes, and bonds by the Federal Reserve.
Open Outcry
Method of public auction for making verbal bids and offers in the trading pits or rings of futures exchanges.
Option
A contract that conveys the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a particular item at a certain price for a limited time. Only the seller of the option is obligated to perform.
Option Buyer
The purchaser of either a call or put option. Option buyers receive the right, but not the obligation, to assume a futures position. Also referred to as the holder.
Option Premium
The price of an option the sum of money that the option buyer pays and the option seller receives for the rights granted by the option.
Option Seller
The person who sells an option in return for a premium and is obligated to perform when the holder exercises his right under the option contract. Also referred to as the writer.
Option Spread
The simultaneous purchase and sale of one or more options contracts, futures, and/or cash positions.
Option Writer
See Option Seller.
Original Margin
The amount a futures market participant must deposit into his commodity account at the time he places an order to buy or sell a futures contract. Also referred to as initial margin.
Out-of-the-Money Option
An option with no intrinsic value, i.e., a call whose strike price is above the current futures price or a put whose strike price is below the current futures price.
P&S (Purchase and Sale) Statement
A statement sent by a commission house to a customer when his futures or options on futures position has changed, showing the number of contracts bought or sold, the prices at which the contracts were bought or sold, the gross profit or loss, the commission charges, and the net profit or loss on the transactions.
Payment-In-Kind (PIK) Program
A government program in which farmers who comply with a voluntary acreage-control program and set aside an additional percentage of acreage specified by the government receive certificates that can be redeemed for government-owned stocks of a commodity.
Performance Bond Margin
The amount of money deposited by both a buyer and seller of a futures contract or an options seller to ensure performance of the term of the contract. Margin in commodities is not a payment of equity or down payment on the commodity itself, but rather it is a security deposit.
Pit
The area on the trading floor where futures and options on futures contracts are bought and sold. Pits are usually raised octagonal platforms with steps descending on the inside that permit buyers and sellers of contracts to see each other.
Point-and-Figure Charts
Charts that show price changes of a minimum amount regardless of the time period involved.
Position
A market commitment. A buyer of a futures contract is said to have a long position and, conversely, a seller of futures contracts is said to have a short position.
Position Limit
The maximum number of speculative futures contracts one can hold as determined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or the exchange upon which the contract is traded. Also referred to as trading limit.
Position Trader
An approach to trading in which the trader either buys or sells contracts and holds them for an extended period of time.
Price Discovery
The generation of information about "future" cash market prices through the futures markets.
Price Limit
The maximum advance or decline from the previous day's settlement price permitted for a contract in one trading session by the rules of the exchange. See also Variable Limit.
Price Limit Order
A customer order that specifies the price at which a trade can be executed.
Primary Dealer
A designation given by the Federal Reserve System to commercial banks or broker/dealers who meet specific criteria. Among the criteria are capital requirements and meaningful participation in the Treasury auctions.
Primary Market
Market of new issues of securities.
Producer Price Index (PPI)
An index that shows the cost of resources needed to produce manufactured goods during the previous month.
Purchasing Hedge (or Long Hedge)
Buying futures contracts to protect against a possible price increase of cash commodities that will be purchased in the future. At the time the cash commodities are bought, the open futures position is closed by selling an equal number and type of futures contracts as those that were initially purchased. Also referred to as a buying hedge. See Hedging.
Put Option
An option that gives the option buyer the right but not the obligation to sell (go "short") the underlying futures contract at the strike price on or before the expiration date.
Range (Price)
The price span during a given trading session, week, month, year, etc.
Reciprocal of European Terms
One method of quoting exchange rates, which measures the U.S. dollar value of one foreign currency unit, i.e., U.S. dollars per foreign units. See European Terms.
Repurchase Agreements (or Repo)
An agreement between a seller and a buyer, usually in U.S. government securities, in which the seller agrees to buy back the security at a later date.
Reserve Requirements
The minimum amount of cash and liquid assets as a percentage of demand deposits and time deposits that member banks of the Federal Reserve are required to maintain.
Resistance
A level above which prices have had difficulty penetrating.
Resumption
The reopening the following day of specific futures and options markets that also trade during the evening session at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Reverse Crush Spread
The sale of soybean futures and the simultaneous purchase of soybean oil and meal futures. See Crush Spread.
Scalper
A trader who trades for small, short-term profits during the course of a trading session, rarely carrying a position overnight.
Secondary Market
Market where previously issued securities are bought and sold.
Selling Hedge (or Short Hedge)
Selling futures contracts to protect against possible declining prices of commodities that will be sold in the future. At the time the cash commodities are sold, the open futures position is closed by purchasing an equal number and type of futures contracts as those that were initially sold. See Hedging.
Settle
See Settlement Price.
Settlement Price
The last price paid for a commodity on any trading day. The exchange clearinghouse determines a firm's net gains or losses, margin requirements, and the next day's price limits, based on each futures and options contract settlement price. If there is a closing range of prices, the settlement price is determined by averaging those prices. Also referred to as settle or closing price.
Series
All option contracts of the same class that also have the same expiration date and strike price.
Short
(noun) One who has sold futures contracts or plans to purchase a cash commodity. (verb) Selling futures contracts or initiating a cash forward contract sale without offsetting a particular market position.
Short Hedge
See Selling Hedge.
Speculator
A market participant who tries to profit from buying and selling futures and options contracts by anticipating future price movements. Speculators assume market price risk and add liquidity and capital to the futures markets.
Spot
Usually refers to a cash market price for a physical commodity that is available for immediate delivery.
Spot Month
See Nearby (Delivery) Month.
Spread
The price difference between two related markets or commodities.
Spreading
The simultaneous buying and selling of two related markets in the expectation that a profit will be made when the position is offset. Examples include buying one futures contract and selling another futures contract of the same commodity but different delivery month; buying and selling the same delivery month of the same commodity on different futures exchanges; buying a given delivery month of one futures market and selling the same delivery month of a different, but related, futures market.
Steer/Corn Ratio
The relationship of cattle prices to feeding costs. It is measured by dividing the price of cattle ($/hundredweight) by the price of corn ($/bushel). When corn prices are high relative to cattle prices, fewer units of corn equal the dollar value of 100 pounds of cattle. Conversely, when corn prices are low in relation to cattle prices, more units of corn are required to equal the value of 100 pounds of beef. See Feed Ratio.
Stock Index
An indicator used to measure and report value changes in a selected group of stocks. How a particular stock index tracks the market depends on its composition the sampling of stocks, the weighting of individual stocks, and the method of averaging used to establish an index.
Stop-Limit Order
A variation of a stop order in which a trade must be executed at the exact price or better. If the order cannot be executed, it is held until the stated price or better is reached again.
Stop Order
An order to buy or sell when the market reaches a specified point. A stop order to buy becomes a market order when the futures contract trades (or is bid) at or above the stop price. A stop order to sell becomes a market order when the futures contract trades (or is offered) at or below the stop price.
Straddle
The simultaneous sale or purchase of both a call and a put with the same expiration month and with the same strike price.
Strangle
The simultaneous sale or purchase of both a call and a put with the same expiration month and different strike prices.
Strike Price
The price at which the futures contract underlying a call or put option can be purchased (if a call) or sold (if a put). Also referred to as exercise price.
Support
The place on a chart where the buying of futures contracts is sufficient to halt a price decline.
Technical Analysis
Anticipating future price movement using historical prices, trading volume, open interest, and other trading data to study price patterns.
The Clearing Corporation
The Clearing Corporation is a Delaware Corporation owned by 17 stockholders, many of whom represent the world-wide derivatives market place participants and market makers and is the only active independant futures clearinghouse in the World. The Clearing Corporation was formerly named The Board of Trade Clearing Corporation, which was formed in 1925.
Tick
The smallest allowable increment of price movement for a contract. Also referred to as minimum price fluctuation.
Time Limit Order
A customer order that designates the time during which it can be executed.
Time-Stamped
Part of the order-routing process in which the time of day is stamped on an order. An order is time-stamped when it is (1) received on the trading floor, and (2) completed.
Time Value
The amount of money option buyers are willing to pay for an option in the anticipation that, over time, a change in the underlying futures price will cause the option to increase in value. In general, an option premium is the sum of time value and intrinsic value. Any amount by which an option premium exceeds the option's intrinsic value can be considered time value. Also referred to as extrinsic value.
Trade Balance
The difference between a nation's imports and exports of merchandise. Trading Limit See Position Limit.
Treasury Bill
See U.S. Treasury Bill.
Treasury Bond
See U.S. Treasury Bond.
Treasury Note
See U.S. Treasury Note.
Type
The classification of an option contract as either a put or a call.
Uncovered Call Option Writing
A short call option position in which the writer does not own an equivalent position in the underlying security represented by their option contracts.
Uncoverd Put Option Writing
A short put option position in which the writer does not have a corresponding short position in the underlying security or has not deposited, in a cash account, cash or cash equivalents equal to the exercise value of the put.
U.S. Treasury Bill
A short-term U.S. government debt instrument with an original maturity of one year or less. Bills are sold at a discount from par with the interest earned being the difference between the face value received at maturity and the price paid.
U.S. Treasury Bond
Government-debt security with a coupon and original maturity of more than 10 years. Interest is paid semiannually.
U.S. Treasury Note
Government-debt security with a coupon and original maturity of one to 10 years.
Variable Price Limit
A price limit schedule determined by an exchange that permits variations above or below the normally allowable price movement for any one trading day.
Variation Margin
During periods of great market volatility or in the case of high-risk accounts, additional margin deposited by a clearing member firm to an exchange clearinghouse.
Versus Cash
See Exchange For Physicals.
Vertical Spread
Buying and selling puts or calls of the same expiration month but different strike prices.
Volatility
A measurement of the change in price over a given time period. It is often expressed as a percentage and computed as the annualized standard deviation of percentage change in daily price.
Volume
The number of purchases or sales of a commodity futures contract made during a specified period of time, often the total transactions for one trading day.
Warehouse Receipt
Document guaranteeing the existence and availability of a given quantity and quality of a commodity in storage; commonly used as the instrument of transfer of ownership in both cash and futures transactions.
Wire House
See Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).
Writer
See Option Seller.
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