VI.2. What is futures? Why are futures one of the most interesting tools for trading? Futures designations.

In simple words, futures is a contract for the supply of a primary asset after a certain time in the future, but at a pre–agreed price. The daily turnover of futures trading on Mosbir exceeds 4.5 billion. $, it is less for options up to $ 100 million. Assuming, for example, that the value of gold will grow, you buy gold futures and if you are right, the value of the futures increases, which allows you to sell it more expensive. Futures are issued for a certain period after which (expiration date) this contract must be executed. Usually traders get rid of futures before the expiration date. The main idea of futures is that with the help of futures you can fix the price of the asset you need. For example, if you think that the cost of 1 ton of wheat in 3 months will cost 20,000 rubles, and now it costs 15,500 rubles, then you buy futures now at 15,500 rubles, wait for the price to rise and then sell futures at a new price, for example, 19800 rubles. Your profit will be 4,300 rubles. One feature, profit or loss is credited to you during clearing, which is done daily, i.e. if by the time of clearing the price was 15,600 rubles, then you will be credited 100 rubles to your account today (this is the so-called variation margin). This money can be used immediately.

Also, considering that for futures you should only have the amount for GO, by the way, you can buy a futures contract for 100 shares of Gazprom JSC not for 30,000 rubles, but 5 times cheaper – 6000 rubles. You will receive a profit as from 100 shares (meaning the difference in the price of a futures contract for 100 shares). Great! This explains the extreme popularity of futures among traders. You need less money and more profit. However, do not forget about the increased risk.

What is the difference between futures and stocks?

– Futures have no dividends.

– The stock can be held as long as you like, futures until the expiration date.

– When we buy a stock on a brokerage account, there must be 100% of the amount of the lot price. If it is necessary to buy futures per share, the entire amount is not required, only the amount of guarantee is needed (it is better to have more, of course, so that there is no margin stake), on the Moscow Exchange it is 10-20%. I.e., the leverage of 5-10x is immediately laid in futures. It is free, which is the main advantage of futures. When buying stock futures, you do not borrow shares from a broker, which means you do not pay anything as a commission.

– Reduced commission compared to the stock market.

– When you bought a share, and even when the price of this share falls to zero, you can hold the share and wait for growth to go. For futures, if there is a shortage of funds in the account to cover the guarantee, the broker can close the transaction on margin call. Thus, the investor loses money.

Futures have a huge number of varieties, so index futures, stock futures, bond futures, currency, interest rates, commodity contracts are presented on the Moscow Exchange. For a more detailed acquaintance, visit the Mosbirzhi website www.moex.com and select the Futures Market from the site menu.

Table 1. Index futures.

Name of the contractCodeQuote
Moscow Exchange Index Futures ContractMIX100 х MICEX Index
Moscow Exchange Index Futures Contract (mini)MXIMICEX Index
RTS Index Futures ContractRTS100 х RTS Index
RTS Index Futures Contract (mini)RTSMRTS Index
Blue Chip Index Futures ContractRTSSBlue Chip Index
Industry indexes
Oil and Gas Index Futures ContractOGIOil and Gas Index (MOEXOG)
Metals and Mining Index Futures ContractMMIMetals and Mining Index (MOEXMM)
Finance Index Futures ContractFNIFinance Index (MOEXFN)
Consumer Sector Index Futures ContractCNIConsumer Sector Index (MOEXCN)
Moscow real estate Index DomClick
Futures contract for the Moscow Real Estate Index DomClickHOMEMoscow real estate index DomClick (MREDC)
Government Bond Index
Index Futures Contract RGBIRGBI100 х Government Bond Index (RGBI)

Table 2. Stock futures (example for June contracts).

June stock futures contractsThe last transaction on 03.06.22
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Aeroflot
AFLT-6.222 690
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Joint Stock Financial Corporation Sistema
AFKS-6.2212 762
Futures contract for ordinary shares of ALROSA (PJSC)
ALRS-6.227 100
Futures contract for American depositary receipts for shares of Ali Baba Group Holding Limited
BABA-6.22
Futures contract for American depositary receipts for shares of Baidu Inc.
BIDU-6.22
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Severstal
CHMF-6.2271 995
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Detsky Mir
DSKY-6.226 553
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC FGC UES
FEES-6.228 911
Futures contract for Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) for shares of X 5 Retail Group N.V.
FIVE-6.228 556
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (lot 1 share)
GMKN-6.2219 580
GMKN-9.2220 320
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Gazprom
GAZR-6.2229 812
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC RusHydro
HYDR-6.228 498
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Inter RAO UES
IRAO-6.2230 870
IRAO-9.22
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC NK LUKOIL
LKOH-6.2239 944
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Mechel
MTLR-6.2212 290
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Moscow Exchange
MOEX-6.228 867
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works
MAGN-6.2233 130
Futures Contract for Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) VK Company Limited
MAIL-6.223 105
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Magnit
MGNT-6.224 351
Futures contract for ordinary shares of MTS PJSC
MTSI-6.2226 049
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC NOVATEK
NOTK-6.2281 703
Futures contract for ordinary shares of NLMK PJSC
NLMK-6.2212 849
Futures contract for depositary receipts for shares of Ozone Holding PiElSi
OZON-6.228 468
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC PhosAgro
PHOR-6.226 945
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC PIK SZ
PIKK-6.225 400
Futures contract for Polymetal International ordinary shares
POLY-6.225 111
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Polyus
PLZL-6.22111 996
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC “Russian Networks”
RSTI-6.225 802
Futures contract for ordinary shares of MCPAO “OK “RUSAL”
RUAL-6.226 087
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC NK Rosneft
ROSN-6.2236 719
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Rostelecom
RTKM-6.225 790
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC “SPB Exchange”
SPBE-6.222 699
Futures contract for investment units SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
SPYF-6.22405,9
Futures contract for preferred shares of PJSC Surgutneftegaz
SNGP-6.2236 011
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Surgutneftegaz
SNGR-6.2221 980
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Gazprom Neft
SIBN-6.224 042
Futures contract for preferred shares of Sberbank PJSC
SBPR-6.2211 270
Futures contract for ordinary shares of Sberbank PJSC
SBRF-6.2211 977
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC “Airplane Group of Companies”
SMLT-6.222 072
Futures contract for the estimated value (0.1 of the value of one share of PJSC “Transneft”)
TRNS-6.22
Futures contract for Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) for shares of Tisios Group Holding PiElSi
TCSI-6.2220 238
Futures contract for preferred shares of PJSC “Transneft”
TRNF-6.22
Futures contract for ordinary shares of PJSC Tatneft named after V.D. Shashin
TATN-6.2239 297
Futures contract for ordinary shares of VTB Bank (PJSC)
VTBR-6.221 768
Futures contract for ordinary shares of Yandex N.V.
YNDF-6.2215 066

Futures for commodity contracts are represented by the following varieties (the futures cipher is indicated in parentheses):

Brent oil (BR);

Light Sweet Crude Oil (CL);

Gold (GOLD);

Palladium (PD);

Platinum (PT);

Silver (SILVER);

Raw sugar;

Aluminum (ALMG);

Cobalt (Co);

Nickel (Ni);

Zinc (Zn);

Natural gas (NG); Wheat (WH4).

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