Futures exchange

Futures Exchange

An exchange on which futures contracts are traded. A futures contract is traded on a futures exchange; this allows them to be standardized contracts, which reduces uncertainty for investors. Futures exchanges are useful because it allows investors to make either speculative investments or hedges based on the expected future price for a commodity or other underlying asset. Many futures exchanges are also options exchanges.

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Futures exchange.

Traditionally, futures contracts and options on those contracts have been bought and sold on a futures exchange, or trading floor, in a defined physical space.

In the United States, for example, there are futures exchanges in Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and New York.

As electronic trading of these products expands, however, buying and selling doesn't always occur on the floor of an exchange. So the term is also used to describe the activity of trading futures contacts.

Dictionary of Financial Terms. Copyright © 2008 Lightbulb Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved.