Glossary

Double Hedging

See Also:

Hedging: Hedging is the practice of taking a position in a futures market opposite to a position held in the cash market to minimize the risk of financial loss from an adverse price change; or a purchase or sale of futures as a temporary substitute for a cash transaction that will occur later. . A long hedge involves buying futures contracts to protect against possible increasing prices of commodities. A short hedge involves selling futures contracts to protect against possible declining prices of commodities.

Commitments: Commitments, also known as Open Interest, is the total number of futures or options contracts of a given commodity that have not yet been offset by an opposite futures or option transaction nor fulfilled by delivery of the commodity or option exercise.

Commodity: A commodity, as defined in the Commodity Exchange Act, includes the agricultural commodities enumerated in Section 1a(4) of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 USC 1a(4), and all other goods and articles, except onions as provided in Public Law 85-839 (7 USC 13-1), a 1958 law that banned futures trading in onions, and all services, rights, and interests in which contracts for future delivery are presently or in the future dealt in.

Fill: Fill is the execution of an order.

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.

Long: Long Futures trader is a trader who has bought futures contracts or options on futures contracts or owns a cash commodity. Long position (long trading) is opposite to Short position (Short trading).

Offset: Offset (also referred to as Liquidation, closing out and cover) is the liquidation of a purchase of futures contracts through the sale of an equal number of contracts of the same delivery month, or liquidating a short sale of futures through the purchase of an equal number of contracts of the same delivery month.

Position Limit: Position Limit is the maximum number of speculative futures contracts one can hold as determined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and/or the exchange where the contract is traded.

Speculative Position Limit: Speculative Position Limit is the maximum position, either net long or net short, in one commodity future (or option) or in all futures (or options) of one commodity combined that may be held or controlled by one person (other than a person eligible for a hedge exemption) as prescribed by an exchange and/or by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Trader: Trader is a merchant involved in cash commodities or a professional speculator who trades for his own account and who typically holds exchange trading privileges.

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