Futures Market

The futures market is a market where people trade contracts based on the future price of assets. In simple terms, the futures market lets investors bet on or protect against future price changes. The futures market is important because it is used for commodities, stock indexes, currencies, bonds, and interest rates. Businesses and investors use futures to manage risk or express expectations about future prices. For example, an airline may use oil futures to protect itself from higher fuel prices. The futures market is not the same as the regular stock market. Futures are contracts about future prices, while stocks represent ownership in companies.