# 🍕 Futures

By [Let Them Eat Cake](https://paragraph.com/@ltecake) · 2022-06-21

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**TL,DR: Like preordering pizza before the big game**

Futures / Preorder

*   agreement to pay for a specific product at a later date and time
    
*   way of guaranteeing price and availability
    

Eatamology

Imagine you are throwing a party for Super Bowl Sunday and know that crowds will overwhelm your local pizza joint. Prices will be through the roof and they will probably run out of pizza. This is where a future can save the day. Simply lock in the deal in advance, and then execute the transaction when the big day arrives.

Financials

Futures are most often used for commodities trading, which includes energy products like oil. They allow businesses and traders to lock in prices for defensive or offensive purposes. For example, a defensive future involves an airline locking in fuel prices before a busy summer, hedging against a scenario when oil production slows in the Middle East, cutting suppling and sending prices skyrocketing. An offensive future involves an investor that holds airline stocks and believes the market is going to crash (pun intended) due to a global pandemic. They buy futures which allows them to sell at a high price even after the crash occurs.

Where to Find

Futures are available on most brokerage platforms, but require proof of substantial financial assets and a sophisticated investing strategy before investors are enabled to trade.

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*Originally published on [Let Them Eat Cake](https://paragraph.com/@ltecake/futures)*