Learn about trading in a futures market.

By Publisher: Khan Academy | Factsheet

In the world of finance, futures trading is a very important activity to understand. It can have a great impact on all our lives as it effects the future prices of essential items such as food, energy sources and raw materials. A futures contract is a contract between a buyer and seller where an asset of certain quantity and quality has a price agreed for it today with delivery and payment for the asset occurring at a specified future date. In this free online course the world of futures trading, and its importance, is explained in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. You will learn how money is made based on the demand for a certain commodity and the trade-off between wanting that commodity now, rather than waiting for it at a later date for a given price. Examples of high demand commodities are gold, silver, oil and corn. This free course will be of great interest to professionals in business, finance and economics who would like to learn more about the concept and practice of futures trading and to all learners who would like a better understanding of how the prices of essential items such as food and raw materials are set.