Financial futures

The first futures contracts were negotiated for agricultural commodities, and later futures contracts were negotiated for natural resources such as oil. Financial futures were introduced in 1972, and in recent decades, currency futures, interest rate futures, stock market index futures, and perpetual futures have played an increasingly large role in the overall futures markets. Retail traders increasingly use futures contracts alongside options strategies to hedge positions, manage leverage, and scale entries in volatile markets. Even organ futures have been proposed to increase the supply of transplant organs.