 This means the cost of purchasing the wheat is $50,000 (5,000 bushels x $10).So the buyer would have lost $5,550 ($50,000 less $44,450), or the difference in the cost between the contract price and the spot price.Furthermore, futures are traded via exchanges, which guarantee that if one party reneges on its end of the bargain, (1) that party is blacklisted from entering into such contracts in the future and (2) the injured party is insured against the loss by the exchange.