Forward contracts are very similar to futures contracts, except they are not marked to market, exchange traded, or defined on standardized assets. Forwards also typically have no interim partial settlements or "true-ups" in margin requirements like futures - such that the parties do not exchange additional property securing the party at gain and the entire unrealized gain or loss builds up while the contract is open. A forward contract arrangement might call for the loss party to pledge collateral or additional collateral to better secure the party at gain. (Wikipedia)
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Forwards Contract: A forward contract is the simplest of the Derivative products. It is a mutual agreement between two parties, in which the buyer agrees to buy a quantity of an asset at a specific price from the seller at a future date. The Price of the contract does not change before delivery. These type of contracts are binding, which means both the buyer and seller must stay committed to the contract. This means they are bound to deliver or take delivery of the product on which the forward contract was agreed upon. Forwards contracts are very useful in hedging Futures Contract: A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell an asset at a certain time in the future at a specific price. The Contractual terms of the futures contracts are very clear. The Futures market was designed to solve the shortcomings in the forwards contracts. Unlike forwards, futures are traded in organized exchanges. They also use a clearing house that provides the necessary protection to both the buyer and the seller. The price of the futures contract can change prior to delivery. Hence, both participants must settle daily price changes as per the contract values. Difference: Futures are traded in Organized Exchanges while Forwards are Over-The-Counter (OTC) traded
Forwards Contract: A forward contract is the simplest of the Derivative products. It is a mutual agreement between two parties, in which the buyer agrees to buy a quantity of an asset at a specific price from the seller at a future date. The Price of the contract does not change before delivery. These type of contracts are binding, which means both the buyer and seller must stay committed to the contract. This means they are bound to deliver or take delivery of the product on which the forward contract was agreed upon. Forwards contracts are very useful in hedging Futures Contract: A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell an asset at a certain time in the future at a specific price. The Contractual terms of the futures contracts are very clear. The Futures market was designed to solve the shortcomings in the forwards contracts. Unlike forwards, futures are traded in organized exchanges. They also use a clearing house that provides the necessary protection to both the buyer and the seller. The price of the futures contract can change prior to delivery. Hence, both participants must settle daily price changes as per the contract values. Difference: Futures are traded in Organized Exchanges while Forwards are Over-The-Counter (OTC) traded
Forwards and futures are essentially the same thing: a commitment to buy/sell at a certain date for a certain price. The difference is in futures contracts you're also committed to sell a certain quantity, whereas in a forward you're not.An options contract gives you the option, but not the obligation, to buy or sell. This is great if you're working with stocks. If you have a futures contract to buy 500 shares of Coca-Cola for $10 per share on January 15 and Coke closed at $8 on January 15, you just lost a thousand dollars. If you were long on a put with the same spread between strike and stock prices, you made $1000.Forwards and futures have a purpose in life--IF you're dealing commodities with the intention to use them. You make frozen pies. You know you need ten tons each of wheat, sugar and apples. If you have a futures contract for October delivery on all of those commodities, you know what your pies' materials value is going to be, hence you can publish a good price for your pies. But futures speculators--investors who buy futures with the intent of selling the product after delivery, or the contract to a producer (there is a secondary market in futures)--have a long and proud history of losing their asses on these, so I recommend against them as an investment vehicle.
The only difference between a long call option and a long futures position is the derivative itself--one of them is an option, the other is a futures contract.
There's one main difference and it's huge: An option contract gives the person who buys it the privilege of doing whatever it is the contract is written for. A futures contract imposes an obligation on the buyer. There are also liquidity requirements and requirements to pay performance bonds in futures trading that don't exist in options trading, but the real basic difference is that an options buyer can do something and a futures trader has to.