Futures — Learn — Unfiltered Finance

Futures

Futures.End to end.

Overnight signals, gap dynamics, and opening-range strategies.

LESSONS

35 total

What Are Futures Contracts?

A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date. You're locking in a price today for a transaction that happens later. Farmers sell corn futures to guarantee a price; airlines buy oil futures to lock in fuel costs.

Read lesson

[ 02 ]Beginner5 min

Futures vs. Stocks

Stocks are ownership in a company. Futures are contracts to buy/sell an asset later. The key differences: futures have expiration dates (stocks don't), futures use leverage (you control much more than you deposit), and futures can go short just as easily as long.

Read lesson

[ 03 ]Beginner6 min

Leverage & Margin in Futures

Futures require only a small deposit (margin) to control a large contract. This is leverage. A $5,000 deposit might control $250,000 worth of contracts. If the contract moves 1%, you make or lose $2,500 — a 50% move on your $5,000. Leverage is a double-edged sword.

Read lesson

[ 04 ]Beginner5 min

Contract Specifications

Every futures contract has exact specifications: what you're trading, how much of it, the price increments, and when it expires. You need to know these before you trade — a crude oil contract is 1,000 barrels. One tick the wrong direction can mean hundreds of dollars.

Read lesson

[ 05 ]Beginner6 min

Index Futures (ES, NQ, RTY)

Index futures let you trade the whole stock market as one instrument. Instead of buying 500 individual stocks, you buy one E-mini S&P 500 (ES) contract. Index futures are the world's most liquid futures markets and are heavily used by institutional traders.

Read lesson

[ 06 ]Intermediate6 min

Crude Oil Futures (CL)

Crude oil is the world's most important commodity. Oil futures move on OPEC decisions, US inventory data (released every Wednesday), geopolitical tensions, and economic growth data. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) is the US benchmark; Brent is the global one.

Read lesson

[ 07 ]Intermediate6 min

Gold & Silver Futures (GC, SI)

Gold is a safe-haven asset — people flock to it during uncertainty, inflation fears, and dollar weakness. Silver behaves like gold but is more volatile and has industrial demand too. Both trade on COMEX (part of CME Group). Gold is the most popular precious metals futures.

Read lesson

[ 08 ]Intermediate6 min

Treasury Bond Futures (ZB, ZN, ZF)

US Treasury futures let you trade government bond prices. When interest rates go up, bond prices go down — and vice versa. These are the most actively traded futures in the world by institutional investors. Understanding them helps you understand the bond market's impact on everything else.

Read lesson

[ 09 ]Intermediate6 min

Currency Futures (EUR, JPY, GBP)

Currency futures let you trade the value of one currency against the US dollar. The EUR/USD futures reflect the euro's strength. These are influenced by interest rate differentials, economic data, and central bank policy. Forex traders often use futures for lower costs and more regulation.

Read lesson

[ 10 ]Intermediate5 min

Natural Gas Futures (NG)

Natural gas is one of the most volatile commodity futures. Prices are highly sensitive to weather — cold winters and hot summers drive demand. Storage reports (released every Thursday by EIA) are major weekly market movers. NG can move 10%+ in a single day.

Read lesson

[ 11 ]Intermediate7 min

Grain Futures (Corn, Wheat, Soybeans)

The grain complex (corn, wheat, soybeans) is one of the oldest and most important futures markets. These commodities feed the world. Prices swing on weather, USDA crop reports, export demand from China, and South American production. The USDA WASDE report is the 'earnings report' of ag markets.

Read lesson

[ 12 ]Intermediate5 min

Livestock Futures (Cattle, Hogs)

Live cattle and lean hog futures let you trade the price of beef and pork. These markets are driven by feed costs (corn and soybean meal), seasonal demand patterns, disease outbreaks, and supply cycle factors. They're less liquid than grains but offer unique trading opportunities.

Read lesson

[ 13 ]Intermediate5 min

Contract Rollover & Expiration

Futures contracts expire. If you're still holding when expiration hits, you may get (or deliver) the physical commodity. Most traders 'roll' their position — close the expiring contract and open the next month's contract — before expiration to avoid delivery.

Read lesson

[ 14 ]Intermediate6 min

Contango & Backwardation

Contango means futures prices are higher than the current (spot) price — the market expects the price to rise, or storage costs are being priced in. Backwardation means futures are below spot — often signals current tight supply. Both conditions have major implications for traders and commodity investors.

Read lesson

[ 15 ]Beginner5 min

Futures Trading Hours & Sessions

Most futures trade nearly 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. This means you can trade overnight, react to news from Asia and Europe, and aren't stuck waiting for the US stock market to open. Each futures market has its own hours — know them before you trade.

Read lesson

[ 16 ]Intermediate6 min

Technical Analysis for Futures

Technical analysis works in futures markets because price reflects the collective behavior of buyers and sellers. The same chart patterns, moving averages, and indicators used for stocks apply here — but futures add nuances like high overnight volume, gap analysis, and volume profile.

Read lesson

[ 17 ]Intermediate6 min

Risk Management in Futures

Because futures use leverage, risk management is not optional — it's survival. A 1% adverse move can wipe 20% of your margin. The golden rules: never risk more than 1-2% of your account on any single trade, use hard stop-losses, and size positions relative to volatility.

Read lesson

[ 18 ]Intermediate6 min

Hedging with Futures

Hedging means using futures to protect against losses in an existing position. If you own stocks, you can short index futures to offset a market decline. If you're a farmer, you sell commodity futures to lock in a price. Hedging doesn't eliminate risk — it transfers it.

Read lesson

[ 19 ]Advanced6 min

Commitment of Traders Report

Every Friday, the CFTC publishes the Commitment of Traders (COT) report, showing how different groups are positioned in futures markets. It tells you what the 'smart money' (commercials), 'big speculators' (hedge funds), and 'small traders' are doing.

Read lesson

[ 20 ]Beginner5 min

Futures Order Types

Futures use the same basic order types as stocks — market, limit, and stop — but add some futures-specific types. Stop orders are particularly important in leveraged markets where losses can accumulate rapidly.

Read lesson

[ 21 ]Advanced6 min

Seasonality in Futures Markets

Many futures markets have consistent seasonal tendencies. Natural gas tends to rally heading into winter. Gasoline peaks in spring as summer driving demand rises. Grains spike during planting and drought season. Seasonality doesn't work every year, but it provides useful context for higher-probability trades.

Read lesson

[ 22 ]Advanced7 min

Spread Trading Deep Dive

Spread trading is simultaneous buy/sell in related futures contracts to profit from the price relationship changing — not from directional moves. It's lower margin, often less volatile than outright positions, and allows you to express relative value opinions. Professionals love spread trading.

Read lesson

[ 23 ]Intermediate7 min

Energy Market Fundamentals

Energy futures (crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, heating oil) are driven by the interaction of supply, demand, and storage. Understanding the key fundamental reports — EIA inventory data, OPEC decisions, rig counts — is essential for trading these markets with an edge.

Read lesson

[ 24 ]Intermediate7 min

Agricultural Futures Fundamentals

Agricultural futures (corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, sugar, coffee, cocoa) are driven by weather, government reports, export demand, and production cycles. Unlike financial assets, commodities can't 'go to zero' — they have a cost of production floor. But they can be extremely volatile.

Read lesson

[ 25 ]Intermediate6 min

Volume & Open Interest Analysis

In futures, Open Interest (the number of contracts outstanding) is as important as Volume. Rising prices with rising open interest signal a healthy trend (new money flowing in). Rising prices with falling open interest suggests short covering (weak rally). Understanding these relationships helps assess trend strength.

Read lesson

[ 26 ]Intermediate5 min

Futures Tax Treatment (Section 1256)

Futures get a unique tax advantage called the 60/40 rule. Regardless of whether you held for 1 day or 1 year, 60% of your gains are taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rate and 40% at the short-term rate. This significantly reduces the effective tax rate for active traders.

Read lesson

[ 27 ]Advanced7 min

VIX Futures & Volatility Products

The VIX ('fear index') measures expected stock market volatility. But you can't buy the VIX directly — you can only trade VIX futures or ETPs like UVXY and VXX. This distinction matters enormously: VIX futures behave very differently from the VIX index itself, and most retail traders lose money on VIX products because they don't understand this.

Read lesson

[ 28 ]Intermediate6 min

Copper & Industrial Metals (HG, ALI)

Copper is called 'Dr. Copper' because it has a PhD in economics — its price tends to predict global economic health. When copper rises, it signals industrial expansion; when it falls, it signals slowdown. Industrial metals futures (copper, aluminum, nickel, zinc) are driven by Chinese manufacturing demand, infrastructure spending, and the energy transition.

Read lesson

[ 29 ]Intermediate6 min

Soft Commodities (Coffee, Sugar, Cotton, Cocoa)

Soft commodities — coffee, sugar, cotton, cocoa, and orange juice — are agricultural products with unique supply dynamics. They're affected by weather in specific tropical growing regions, currency moves in producer countries, and global consumption trends. These markets are less crowded than oil or gold, creating opportunities for specialized traders.

Read lesson

[ 30 ]Beginner5 min

Tick Value & P&L Mechanics

Every futures contract moves in 'ticks' — the smallest price increment — each worth a fixed dollar amount. Knowing tick values cold is foundational; trading without knowing them is trading blind.

Read lesson

[ 31 ]Beginner6 min

Margin & Leverage in Futures

Futures margin is a performance bond, not a down payment. With $13k initial margin you control $260k of S&P 500 exposure — 20x leverage. Powerful and dangerous in equal measure.

Read lesson

[ 32 ]Intermediate6 min

Contract Rollover & Volume Migration

Futures contracts expire. As one expires, traders 'roll' to the next contract — and during the roll window, volume migrates between months. Trading the wrong contract during roll causes liquidity surprises.

Read lesson

[ 33 ]Intermediate6 min

Overnight Trading on Globex

Most US futures trade nearly 24 hours via CME Globex. Overnight sessions have lower liquidity and bigger moves on news — opportunities and risks both amplify outside RTH (regular trading hours).

Read lesson

[ 34 ]Advanced7 min

Reading the COT Report

The Commitments of Traders (COT) report shows what commercial hedgers, large speculators, and small traders are doing in every futures market. Following the smart-money positioning is a known edge.

Read lesson

[ 35 ]Intermediate6 min

Section 1256 Tax Treatment

US-listed futures get a major tax break: Section 1256. Profits are taxed 60% long-term and 40% short-term, regardless of how long you held. Stocks have no equivalent — futures are tax-advantaged for active traders.

Read lesson

STRATEGIES

24 total

BullishUndefined riskIntermediate

Trend Following

Taking directional positions to capture sustained price trends. The oldest and most proven futures strategy, used by legendary traders like Richard Dennis and the Turtle Traders.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskIntermediate

Calendar Spreads

Buying one expiration month and selling another in the same commodity. Profits from changes in the price difference between months rather than outright direction.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

Inter-Commodity Spreads

Trading the price relationship between two related but different commodities. Examples: crude oil vs. gasoline (crack spread), corn vs. wheat, gold vs. silver ratio.

See playbook

BullishDefined riskIntermediate

Breakout Trading

Entering a position when price breaks through a significant support or resistance level, betting the breakout leads to a sustained move. High volume breakouts have the best follow-through.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

Mean Reversion

Betting that extreme price moves will revert back toward the historical average. When markets move far and fast in one direction, mean reversion traders fade the move, expecting a snap-back. Best applied to range-bound markets and highly liquid futures.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskIntermediate

Portfolio Hedging with Futures

Using short futures positions to offset potential losses in a long stock portfolio or commodity exposure. The hedge doesn't need to be perfect — even a partial hedge significantly reduces drawdown risk during market corrections.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

Futures Day Trading

Opening and closing all positions within the same trading day, avoiding overnight risk. Futures are ideal for day trading: tight spreads, deep liquidity, high volatility, and favorable 23-hour trading windows. The E-mini S&P 500 (ES) and oil (CL) are most popular.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskIntermediate

Seasonal Commodity Strategy

Systematically trade recurring seasonal patterns in commodity futures. Based on decades of historical data showing consistent tendencies in energy, grain, and metal markets at specific times of year. Used as a bias, not a standalone system.

See playbook

BearishUndefined riskIntermediate

Short Selling Futures

Sell a futures contract expecting the price to fall, then buy it back cheaper. Shorting futures is mechanically identical to going long — no borrowing required. This symmetry makes futures the most natural market for expressing bearish views.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskIntermediate

Range Trading

Buy at support and sell at resistance within a defined trading range. When a market lacks a clear trend, it oscillates between price boundaries — range traders exploit this predictable behavior instead of fighting it.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

Futures Scalping

Take many small trades throughout the day, targeting 1-4 tick profits with minimal time in the market. Scalpers use speed and order flow reading to extract small edges hundreds of times per session. Requires the tightest spreads, fastest execution, and iron emotional discipline.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

Crack Spread Trading

Trade the refining margin — the price difference between crude oil (input) and refined products like gasoline and heating oil (outputs). The crack spread reflects refinery profitability. When refiners are highly profitable, cracks tend to revert; when margins are thin, they expand.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

Algorithmic Trend Following

Use a rule-based mechanical system to trade trends across a diversified portfolio of futures markets. The CTA (Commodity Trading Advisor) approach: pre-define every entry, exit, and position size rule so emotions never influence decisions. Systems trade energy, metals, rates, currencies, and grains simultaneously.

See playbook

NeutralUndefined riskAdvanced

Macro News Trading

Position in or around major scheduled economic data releases (NFP, CPI, FOMC, EIA reports) to capture the volatility spike. Some traders position before the release; others fade the initial overreaction. Both approaches require a clear thesis and faster-than-average execution.

See playbook

BullishDefined riskBeginner

Micro Futures for Scaling In

Use Micro E-mini contracts (MES, MNQ, MYM) at 1/10 the notional of standard E-minis to scale into and out of positions in 10% increments. Lets traders express conviction without being binary.

See playbook

BullishDefined riskIntermediate

VWAP Pullback Trade

Enter long when price pulls back to the session VWAP after an opening drive higher, with bid-side delta turning positive on the pullback. Targets a continuation push.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskIntermediate

Overnight Gap Fade

Fade large overnight gaps in the E-minis when there is no fresh catalyst. Statistical edge: the majority of opening gaps partially fill during the cash session.

See playbook

BullishDefined riskAdvanced

Carry & Roll-Down on Treasuries

In a positively-sloped yield curve, hold longer-dated Treasury futures to earn carry plus roll-down as the bond ages along the curve. A core institutional rates trade.

See playbook

NeutralUndefined riskAdvanced

Currency Carry via FX Futures

Long a high-yielding-currency futures contract (BRL, MXN, ZAR) and short a low-yielding-currency futures contract (JPY, CHF). Earn the interest-rate differential while hoping FX is stable.

See playbook

NeutralUndefined riskAdvanced

VIX Futures Term-Structure Trade

Trade the VIX futures curve: short front-month and long back-month in steep contango to harvest roll yield, or reverse the structure when the curve flattens or inverts.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

WTI/Brent Spread Trade

Trade the spread between WTI and Brent crude futures. Macro and infrastructure events (pipeline outages, OPEC decisions) reliably move the spread by $2-$5 per barrel.

See playbook

NeutralDefined riskAdvanced

Gold/Silver Ratio Trade

Trade the gold-to-silver ratio. Historically the ratio mean-reverts around 60-70; extremes above 90 or below 40 have historically produced clean rotation trades.

See playbook

BearishDefined riskAdvanced

Treasury Curve Flattener

Short the 2-year (ZT) and long the 10-year (ZN) in DV01-equivalent size to bet on a flattening Treasury curve. Common ahead of Fed hike cycles.

See playbook

BullishDefined riskIntermediate

ES Overnight Bias Trade

Buy ES at the cash-session close (4:00 PM ET) and sell at the cash-session open (9:30 AM ET). Captures the historically positive overnight drift driven by global risk sentiment.

See playbook