Glossary

Clearing House

See Also:

Ring: Ring is a circular area on the trading floor of an exchange where traders and brokers stand while executing futures trades. Some exchanges use pits rather than rings.

Call: There are three meaning of the "Call" term. It could be:
1) An option contract giving the buyer the right but not the obligation to purchase a commodity or other asset or to enter into a long futures position;
2) a period at the opening and the close of some futures markets in which the price for each futures contract is established by auction;
3) the requirement that a financial instrument be returned to the issuer prior to maturity, with principal and accrued interest paid off upon return.

Called: Called is another term for exercised when an option is a call. In the case of an option on a physical, the writer of a call must deliver the indicated underlying commodity when the option is exercised or called. In the case of an option on a futures contract, a futures position will be created that will require margin, unless the writer of the call has an offsetting position.

Clearing Association: Clearing Association (also called Clearing Organization and Clearing House) is an entity through which futures and other derivative transactions are cleared and settled.

Clearing Organization: An entity through which futures and other derivative transactions are cleared and settled. It is also charged with assuring the proper conduct of each contract's delivery procedures and the adequate financing of trading. A clearing organization may be a division of a particular exchange, an adjunct or affiliate thereof, or a freestanding entity. Also called a clearing house, clearing association or multilateral clearing organization.

Derivative: A financial instrument, traded on or off an exchange, the price of which is directly dependent upon the value of one or more underlying securities, equity indices, debt instruments, commodities, other derivative instruments, or any agreed upon pricing index or arrangement. Derivatives involve the trading of rights or obligations based on the underlying product but do not directly transfer that product. Derivatives are generally used to hedge risk or to exchange a floating rate of return for fixed rate of return. Derivatives include futures, options, and swaps. For example, futures contracts are derivatives of the physical contract and options on futures are derivatives of futures contracts.

Futures: Futures (also called Futures Contract) is a legally binding agreement to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument at a later date. Futures contracts are normally standardized according to the quality, quantity, delivery time and location for each commodity, with price as the only variable.

Transaction: Transaction is an entry or liquidation of a trade.

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