Futures trading can be an attractive investment option for some people. It is a type of investment where investors try to take advantage of trading futures contracts. These are contracts that are made by producers of a certain commodity with a dealer which involves the obligation of delivering a certain amount of a certain commodity for a specified period of time in the future. The commodities that such futures contracts trade can include grains such as wheat, corn to other produce such as lumber, livestock, cattle, coffee and even orange juice. There are also futures contracts for precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.
What makes futures trading quite attractive is the high level of investment leverage that it offers. Investors can invest just as little as ten percent of a futures contracts value in order to have the opportunity to trade it. This allows investors to trade futures contracts using lesser investment capital for trading larger valued contracts.
Futures contracts usually have standardized amounts of the commodity that they involve. For example, if an investor holds a future contract for wheat, he usually holds a value worth 5,000 bushels....