Futures And Forwards
Interest Rate and Treasury Futures Primer
Treasury futures control $100,000 of notional on 1-3% margin, so hedges live or die on conversion factors, cheapest-to-deliver switches, and basis risk.
intermediate 2026-01-31
Futures And Forwards
20 articles in this subtopic.
Futures And Forwards
Margin Efficiency vs. ETFs or Swaps
Futures require 3–7% margin to control full notional exposure. ETFs demand 50–100%. Swaps sit somewhere in between—but with higher operational overhead.
intermediate 2026-01-28
Futures And Forwards
Mark-to-Market Accounting Mechanics
Every futures position you hold gets repriced against you—or in your favor—twice per day.
advanced 2026-01-25
Futures And Forwards
Position Limits and Accountability Levels
Position limits exist because markets learned the hard way what happens without them.
intermediate 2026-01-23
Futures And Forwards
Commodity Futures: Storage and Convenience Yield
The cost-of-carry equation decomposes futures spreads into storage, financing, and convenience yield, explaining why WTI settled at -$37.63 in April 2020.
intermediate 2025-12-23
Futures And Forwards
Cash vs. Physical Settlement Agreements
Every futures contract you trade carries a hidden operational question: what happens at expiration?
intermediate 2025-12-20
Futures And Forwards
Forward Contracts vs. Exchange-Traded Futures
Every derivatives position you take involves a choice most traders never think about explicitly: where the contract lives.
intermediate 2025-12-13
Futures And Forwards
Glossary: Futures Market Terms
Twenty-seven futures terms defined at practitioner level, from basis risk to mark-to-market, with the daily margin-call chain that hits real accounts.
beginner 2025-12-08
Futures And Forwards
Understanding Delivery Months and Symbols
Futures tickers encode product, month, and year in a few characters, and knowing First Notice Day keeps rolls ahead of physical delivery risk.
intermediate 2025-12-08
Futures And Forwards
Initial and Variation Margin Process
Margin—the performance bond required to hold a futures position—is where most new derivatives traders get blindsided.
intermediate 2025-12-07
Futures And Forwards
Spread Margining Rules
Exchange-recognized spreads cut futures margin to 5-25% of outright rates, but unrecognized legs earn zero credit and tail events can blow past them.
intermediate 2025-12-04
Futures And Forwards
Currency Futures for Hedging FX Risk
Currency risk silently erodes international portfolio returns—and most investors discover it only after the damage is done.
advanced 2025-12-03
Futures And Forwards
Basis Risk Between Futures and Spot
Hedging converts price risk into basis risk, which clusters in the tails; minimum-variance ratios and daily basis monitoring keep the residual contained.
advanced 2025-11-30
Futures And Forwards
Tax Treatment of Section 1256 Contracts
Most futures and options traders focus on entry signals, position sizing, and risk management—then get blindsided by the tax bill.
intermediate 2025-11-25
Futures And Forwards
Backtesting Futures Trading Systems
Futures backtests overstate returns when they ignore margin spikes, contract rolls, and slippage; walk-forward validation exposes overfit systems.
intermediate 2025-11-16
Futures And Forwards
Futures Contract Specifications and Standardization
Contract size, tick value, margin, and settlement terms are the rails of every futures trade, as the April 2020 negative WTI settlement made clear.
intermediate 2025-10-08
Futures And Forwards
Using Futures for Equity Beta Exposure
Equity index futures turn idle cash into synthetic S&P 500 beta at roughly 22:1 leverage, provided you manage margin buffers, roll costs, and basis risk.
intermediate 2025-10-02
Futures And Forwards
Block Trades and Exchange for Physical
Block trades and EFPs move large futures positions off the public order book, governed by CME minimums, 5-minute reporting windows, and CFTC records rules.
intermediate 2025-09-18
Futures And Forwards
Seasonality Considerations in Futures Markets
Seasonal futures patterns are real but priced into the curve; the durable edge is managing margin spikes, doubled volatility, and basis risk.
intermediate 2025-09-12
Futures And Forwards
Calendar Spreads and Roll Strategies
Calendar spreads trade the gap between futures expiration months at 15-25% of outright margin; roll timing follows predictable liquidity shifts.
intermediate 2025-09-07