Learn How to Trade Futures | Tradovate

Ready to trade futures? Well, there’s never been a better time to get started. Watch this short video to learn about the history of futures, what they are and how to trade them. But first, some quick history. Futures contracts were initially created as a way for farmers to insure their crops by locking in “future” selling prices BEFORE their harvests. Probably why we call ‘em futures. 😊 The very first futures exchanged can be traced all the way back to the year 1730; making futures a cornerstone of the global financial system. Today, futures reach well beyond farmers insuring their crops, and are often traded as speculative products. You’ll often see futures referred to as “derivatives” because they “DERIVE” their value from the underlying assets they represent. And these derivatives represent an enormous variety of markets such as stock indexes like the S&P 500, energies like oil and gas, agricultural products such as wheat, cryptocurrencies… like Bitcoin, and metals… like gold. Making futures even more unique, is a big bucket of benefits not seen in some other asset classes, like stocks and foreign currencies. Let’s have a look… • Diversify across multiple asset classes. Trade futures on everything from stock indexes to orange juice and much, much more. • Traders gotta trade! Being a trader means being able to quickly and easily trade long or short, based on your market outlook. Futures trading allows for this by simply buying or selling contracts. That’s futures, and that’s a beautiful thing. Oh, and unlike with stocks, there’s no 25-thousand-dollar pattern day-trading balance requirements, no uptick rule, and no short-selling restrictions. • Get the right fit. Futures come in a variety of sizes; many specifically designed for the individual trader. These smaller contracts allow you to get started trading with less money & then scale up as you become more comfortable. • Use leverage to your advantage. Futures are traded on margin which in essence is borrowed capital. This boosts your buying power, allowing you to trade larger positions with a smaller outlay of cash. • Insure using futures. Traders often use futures contract as a means of insurance, also known as hedging. Remember, futures started as a way for farmers to insure the crops they owned, but that were not yet harvested. So, let’s pretend Bitcoin is a crop you own & you think the price of Bitcoin is going down. Just sell some Bitcoin futures contracts to insure the coin you own. When the coin goes down in price, the futures contracts you sold go up in price. That’s the concept of insurance. • Trading ‘round the clock. Futures traders are free to seek opportunities nearly 24 hours per day, and in the right situations, this could prove to be a cool thing. For example, let’s say a large-cap technology stock that’s part of the Nasdaq 100 is going to report earnings after (emphasis on the word “after”) the closing bell. While the stock market is closed for trading, futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index trade nearly 24 hours a day; providing additional opportunities for futures traders. • Futures are regulated, and exchange traded. You can feel good knowing futures are exchange-traded and highly regulated. They trade on one exchange at a time… so, no hidden liquidity to worry about, and no varying prices from exchange to exchange… the price you see is the price everyone sees, and gets. That’s futures. Ready to get started? It’s easier than you think Start trading futures today. Visit Tradeovate. (Maybe we add some more specifics here and a show a link on how to open an account?