Futurs

Futurs is the plural form of futur in French, used to refer to futures or the future as a concept. In French grammar, futur can denote the future tense, and the plural futurs appears when discussing multiple future forms or events. In English texts, the corresponding term is future or futures for more than one future occurrence.

In financial contexts, futures is the standard English term for standardized contracts to buy or sell an asset at a specified future date and price. In French, these contracts are typically described as contrats à terme, with the plural form futu rs appearing in translations as the equivalent of futures. The term futur (plural futurs) may appear in linguistic or translation discussions, but in market writing the English term futures is used.

A futures contract is standardized in terms of quantity, quality (where applicable), and delivery date, and is traded on organized exchanges. A central clearinghouse guarantees performance, and participants are required to post margin and settle gains and losses daily through mark-to-market procedures. This structure reduces counterparty risk and facilitates liquidity.

Typical futures cover a wide range of assets. Commodity futures include agricultural products, energy, and metals. Financial futures include stock index futures, interest rate futures, bond futures, and currency futures. Market participants use futures for hedging against price changes or for speculative purposes, aiming to profit from anticipated movements in the underlying asset.

Historically, organized futures markets emerged in the Dojima Rice Exchange in Japan during the 17th–18th centuries and later in Chicago and other places in the 19th century. Today, futures markets are governed by national regulators and subject to standardized contract specifications and exchange rules.