Indices DJIA S&P 500 DAX 30 Nasdaq 100 Nasdaq Comp Nikkei 225 FTSE 100 SMI DJ Stoxx 50 CAC 40 Hang Seng Kospi Nyse Comp AMEX   -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -   10911 1137.4 5732.4 2127.7 2438.1 8981.9 5072.1 4984.1 2161.9 5732.4 19614.7 1817.4 7017.6 2174.7 Commodites Light Crude Oil Brent Crude Copper Gold Pallad Platinum Silver Dow Diamonds QQQQ   -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -   83.08 106.28 1.17 1758.7 730.5 1782 38.21 109.16 55.42 Last update: 11-08-2011 14:29:00 (GMT - Live)

Selling (Going Short) to Profit from an Expected Price Decreas What is a Futures Contract? Leverage: Small movements can create big profits! Margins Month Codes Buying (Going Long) to Profit from an Expected Price Increase Selling (Going Short) to Profit from an Expected Price Decrease About the National Futures Association (NFA) Complete history of the Futures Contract? Contract Specifications: mini-sized Dow ($5) CBOT Contract Specifications: DJIA Futures ($10 Multiplier) CBOT Contract Specifications: Corn CBOT TOP 4 U.S. FUTURES EXCHANGES TOP 10 GLOBAL FUTURES CONTRACTS TOP 10 U.S. FUTURES CONTRACTS TOP 10 CME FUTURES CONTRACTS RANKED BY VOLUME Delivery CME Eurodollar Futures CME Eurodollar Futures CME LIBOR Futures The only way going short to profit from an expected price decrease differs from going long to profit from an expected price increase is the sequence of the trades. Instead of first buying a futures contract, you first sell a futures contract. If, as expected, the price declines, a profit can be realized by later purchasing an offsetting futures contract at the lower price. The gain per unit will be the amount by which the purchase price is below the earlier selling price. For example, assume that in January your research or other available information indicates a probable decrease in cattle prices over the next several months. In the hope of profiting, you deposit an initial margin of $700 and sell one April live cattle futures contract at a price of, say, 85¢ a pound. Each contract is for 40,000 pounds, meaning each 1¢ a pound change in price will increase or decrease the value of the futures contract by $400. If, by March, the price has declined to 80¢ a pound, an offsetting futures contract can be purchased at 5¢ a pound below the original selling price. On the 40,000 pound contract, that’s a gain of 5¢ x 40,000 lbs. or $2,000 less transaction costs. source: National Futures Association