A futures contract is a standardized advance commitment, negotiated on an organized futures market Futures market A market on which a product (financial instrument, currency, merchandise) is purchased or sold with payment and delivery postponed until a later date than the initial transaction which determined the price. , to deliver a specified quantity of a precisely defined underlying asset Asset Something belonging to an individual or a business that has value or the power to earn money (FT). The opposite of assets are liabilities, that is the part of the balance sheet reflecting a company’s resources (the capital contributed by the partners, provisions for contingencies and charges, as well as the outstanding debts). at a specified time – the ‘delivery date’ – and place. Futures contracts are the most widely traded financial instruments Financial instruments Financial instruments include financial securities and financial contracts. in the world.