In finance, a futures contract is a standardized legal agreement to buy or sell something at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future, between parties not known to each other. The asset transacted is usually a commodity or financial instrument. The predetermined price the parties agree to buy and sell the asset for is known as the forward price. The specified time in the future—which is when delivery and payment occur—is known as the delivery date. Because it is a function of an underlying asset, a futures contract is a derivative product.
A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or financial instrument at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the future. Futures exchanges provide physical or electronic trading venues, details of standardized contracts, market and price data, clearing houses, exchange self-regulations, margin mechanisms, settlement procedures, delivery times, delivery procedures and other services to foster trading in futures contracts. Futures exchanges can be organized as non-profit member-owned organizations or as for-profit organizations. Futures exchanges can be integrated under the same brand name or organization with other types of exchanges, such as stock markets, options markets, and bond markets. Non-profit member-owned futures exchanges benefit their members, who earn commissions and revenue acting as brokers or market makers. For-profit futures exchanges earn most of their revenue from trading and clearing fees.
A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses or gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. A hedge can be constructed from many types of financial instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds, insurance, forward contracts, swaps, options, gambles, many types of over-the-counter and derivative products, and futures contracts.
The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange was a futures exchange based in London. In 2014, following a series of takeovers, LIFFE became part of Intercontinental Exchange, and was renamed ICE Futures Europe.
Eurex Exchange is an international exchange which primarily offers trading in European based derivatives. It is the largest European futures and options market. The products traded on this exchange vary from German and Swiss debt instruments to European stocks and various stock indexes. All transactions executed on Eurex Exchange are cleared through Eurex Clearing, which functions as a central counterparty (CCP) for multi-asset class clearing of the above-mentioned exchange-traded product range as well as over-the-counter traded products.
A commodity broker is a firm or an individual who executes orders to buy or sell commodity contracts on behalf of the clients and charges them a commission. A firm or individual who trades for his own account is called a trader. Commodity contracts include futures, options, and similar financial derivatives. Clients who trade commodity contracts are either hedgers using the derivatives markets to manage risk, or speculators who are willing to assume that risk from hedgers in hopes of a profit.
Moritz (Mauricio) Hochschild was a leading mining industry businessman in the first half of the twentieth century. Along with Simón Iturri Patiño and Carlos Víctor Aramayo, he was one of the three so-called Bolivian tin barons. Additionally, he saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust by facilitating their legal admission to Bolivia.
Wilhelm Ralph Merton was a prominent and influential German-born entrepreneur, social democrat, and philanthropist. Among his most notable accomplishments, he was a founder of the University of Frankfurt and Metallgesellschaft AG, which became the largest non-ferrous mining company in the world and the second largest company in Germany.
Rudolf Wolff & Co. was founded in London in 1866 as a metal merchant.
Dr. Heinz Schimmelbusch is the Chief Executive Officer of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V.. AMG provides material science-based metallurgical solutions for energy, aerospace, infrastructure and specialty metals and chemicals markets.
Marex is a UK-based tech-enabled liquidity hub, connecting clients to global energy, metals, agricultural and financial markets. Across its businesses, Marex provides high value add services in Market Making, Commercial Hedging, Price Discovery and Data & Advisory.
Curt Adolph Netto was a German metallurgist and educator. He is regarded as a precursor for the industrial utilization of aluminium. He was active in early Meiji period Japan.
Rudolf Ferscha is an Austrian banker and business executive who was previously an executive board member of Goldman Sachs Bank in Frankfurt and of Deutsche Börse AG, one of Germany's top 30 listed companies. He also served as CEO of Eurex and as Chairman of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Ferscha holds a law degree from the University of Vienna.
Merton is a surname of English origin. Notable people with the surname include:
Interactive Brokers LLC (IB) is an American multinational brokerage firm. It operates the largest electronic trading platform in the U.S. by number of daily average revenue trades. The company brokers stocks, options, futures, EFPs, futures options, forex, bonds, and funds.
Berthold Hochschild was a mining magnate, a founder of the American Metal Company, and a philanthropist.
Carl Morris Loeb was a German-born American businessman who served as the president of the American Metal Company and the founder of Carl M. Loeb & Co, which became Loeb, Rhoades & Co. in 1938.
American Metal Company was an American nonferrous metal trading and production company.
Zachary Hochschild was a German businessman, metal trader, and co-founder of Metallgesellschaft AG.
Sali Hochschild was a German-born Chilean businessman, the founder of Compania Minera y Comercial Sali Hochschild S.A., once one of the largest mining and mineral processing companies in Chile.
