Glossary

Point Balance

See Also:

Commission: Commission is a fee charged by a broker or brokerage house (company) to a customer (trader) for executing a transaction. In the future market commission is
1) The charge made by a futures commission merchant for buying and selling futures contracts;
2) the fee charged by a futures broker for the execution of an order. Note: when capitalized, the word Commission usually refers to the CFTC.

Contract: Contract is a term of reference describing a unit of trading for a commodity future or option. At the same time contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specified commodity, detailing the amount and grade of the product and the date on which the contract will mature and become deliverable.

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.

Open: Open is the period at the beginning of the trading session officially designated by the exchange during which all transactions are considered made "at the open."

Par: Par refers to the standard delivery point(s) and/or quality of a commodity that is deliverable on a futures contract at contract price. Serves as a benchmark upon which to base discounts or premiums for varying quality and delivery locations. Par in bond markets refers to an index (usually 100) representing the face value of a bond.

Settlement: Settlement is the act of fulfilling the delivery requirements of the futures contract.

Settlement Price: Settlement Price (also referred to as Closing Price) is the last price paid for a futures contract on any trading day. Settlement prices are used to determine open trade equity, margin calls and invoice prices for deliveries. Settlement price at which the clearing organization clears all trades and settles all accounts between clearing members of each contract month. The term also refers to a price established by the exchange to even up positions which may not be able to be liquidated in regular trading.

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