what is the futures market 
the futures market is the exchange in which traders buy and sell derivative financial contracts these are agreements to buy or sell a specific commodity or financial instrument at a specific price and date the price is locked in and the buyer will gain or lose depending on the market price when the contract reaches maturity futures have long had a role in the markets for major physical commodities such as crude oil gold and wheat producers and buyers in volatile industries obtain reasonable prices in advance traders may be seeking a hedge against possible losses or making a speculative bet on the direction of commodity prices there are also futures markets for stocks indexes and currencies among others who needs an introducing broker an introducing broker is a financial adviser who specializes in futures investing an investor who is interested in futures but not inclined to dive in alone would consult with an introducing broker futures investing is relatively risky and relatively complex even compared to stock investing anyone determined to participate directly should have a good understanding of the ins and outs of futures trading before jumping into it 