 | |
- close
- close
|
WIKI ANALYSIS
Welcome to the sample page for a futures article. Before you get into the body here, please provide italic text at the top with links to the class or type articles relevant for this commodity. (For example, you might be writing about KCBT Wheat futures, be sure to link to the article on Wheat Prices in the preamble italic text.)
The first sentence should tell us the TICKER SYMBOL, the exchange (linked) on which the commodity is traded, and the pricing unit. As for the rest of this section, this is the introduction, tell us a little bit of basic information about the commodity, this includes what it is used for specifically and how it is unique to similar commodities (for example, why Pork Bellies is a different commodity from Lean Hogs).
In general, these articles are much shorter than Futures Types or Futures Categories articles (e.g. Corn Prices, Wheat Prices) as they are purely descriptive of the contract. Focus on what is unique to this futures contract specifically, as opposed to what affects the prices for all futures contracts of this type.
Make sure to begin the article with the {{commodity}} tag. Also, remember to use proper categorization. For example, Brent Crude would belong to:
- [[category:Energy Commodities]] (the category)
- [[category:Oil Commodities]] (the sub-category)
- [[category:Crude Oil Commodities]] (the type)
- [[category:NYMEX Commodities]] (the exchange)
End the introduction by clearing up any ticker ambiguity, specifically addressing any electronic session tickers. (Corn, for example, uses "C" for open auction and "ZC" for electronic trading.)
Chart
This is a sample chart. In the italic text above, explain what you are seeing. For example, this is a chart for Corn with a December, 2009 delivery date with price in cents per bushel.
The chart will have to manually go here until we roll out the new "futures" namespace. See the page on Commodity Ticker Construction for details on how to build the tickers for futures contract.
Delivery Dates
Enumerate when the commodity's delivery months are. This should be available from the exchange website. Ideally, a table can be created with forthcoming delivery dates. In the future we will have a live delivery date price table, but for now create a table with the next six to twelve or so futures contracts and their full symbols. Be sure to link to the Commodity Ticker Construction page to explain ticker construction.
The following is a table with Soybean delivery dates and resultant ticker symbols for 2009
| Delivery Month | Full Ticker Symbol | Thomson-Reuters Symbol |
| January, 2009 | SF9 | S/F9-CB |
| March, 2009 | SH9 | S/H9-CB |
| May, 2009 | SK9 | S/K9-CB |
| July, 2009 | SN9 | S/N9-CB |
| August, 2009 | SQ9 | S/Q9-CB |
| September, 2009 | SU9 | S/U9-CB |
| November, 2009 | SX9 | S/X9-CB |
Contract Specifications
In this part of the article you need to specify the futures contract this includes the following elements.
Contract Size
How many barrels, bushels, gallons, pounds, or tons.
Daily Price Limit (if applicable)
Many futures contracts have a price movement limit, that is if the price moves up or down a certain amount in one day, trading of that commodity is ceased for the day. List this here with the equivalent value change of the contract. For example, if the limit is $.10 per pound and contracts are 10,000 pounds, the limit would work out to a $1000 price movement per contract.
Last trading day
This is usually dependent on the exchange. All commodities futures contracts have a final "trading day," either in the delivery month or the month proceeding the delivery month. This is typically some variation of "the last business day before the 15th calendar day of the delivery month," depending on the contract.
Deliverable Grades
All the types or grades comprising the contract. This might be oil from a geographic region, or a certain quality of grain, for example. Some types of grades (particularly grains commodities) have price discrepancies depending on quality. List that here.
Other Specifications
For the most part, things relevant to hedgers like delivery days are not relevant, but feel free to include them if you really want.
Other Facts
You would not title this section "other facts" but here is where you would list other relevant information as it applies to investors.
Specifically, here is where you would address how this futures conrtract is different from other (similar) futures contracts. For example, how is brent crude different from Light Crude Prices, as well as if there are any unique facts about the contracts or commodities themselves.
See Also
Link to other futures pages in the same type or category of commodity, as well as commodity exchange pages.
| ||||||
|
|
