Currently, professional exchange players increasingly prefer futures on American indices, but to understand why this is happening, let’s first try to explain in simple words What is a futures? To do this, let's use a real-life example.
Let's assume that you are engaged in gold mining in the Orenburg region. The season lasts until the onset of cold weather, and all this time the price of mined gold falls, as buyers receive more and more offers from successful miners who managed to mine commodity lots.
During the season, every day is expensive, and therefore you do not have the opportunity to spend a lot of time looking for someone who will give best price, because a simple dredge and other equipment will cost more.
For this reason, you will prefer to immediately enter into an agreement with Region Gold LLC at the price that you can agree on.
At the same time, it may happen that this season there will be fewer miners than usual, and gold will rise in price, but you will miss this benefit. And if it happens that gold falls in price, then such an agreement will protect you from losses. Essentially, hedging takes place.
The difference between a futures and a forward
The above agreement is an over-the-counter forward transaction, in the conclusion of which the parties can take into account all the circumstances that are relevant to them. Up to the reputation of the miner, the presence of friendly relations between the gold digger and the buyer, the conditions for the transfer of goods (in the taiga or at the receiving point), phasing, etc.
But the forward also has disadvantages: if the buyer raises prices or even refuses his obligations, then the prospector will have to run around the frozen taiga in search of someone who will buy the fruits of his labor. And then he will agree to any conditions!
Since this situation is not uncommon, life has found a solution to avoid this problem. The solution is this: the prospector and the buyer should interact not directly, but through the exchange.
A forward transaction concluded through an exchange is a futures contract. Everything is very simple!
Such a transaction is very much formalized by the exchange committee, which, in the exchange specifications, prescribes all the requirements for product quality, quantity, packaging, delivery conditions, and others. essential conditions. As a result, only two factors remain in the contract: price and delivery time, and the product itself receives the generalized status of an underlying asset.
In this case, each party is charged a depositary margin - a guarantee fee that is returned after the transaction is completed. This is a guarantee of futures in case of failure to fulfill obligations.
Gold futures are very common, so our gold miner can use it to protect his interests. In this case, the miner will receive money for his goods not from the buyer, but from the clearing house of the exchange, so he can be absolutely sure that he will not be deceived.
The formalization of futures contracts is also good because each of the parties to the concluded transaction can get rid of their obligations at any time. To do this, she needs to sell the futures contract itself at exchange trading. Moreover, there is no need to ask the partner for consent or even notify him about such a sale.
Exchange quotes for futures are regularly published, which makes it possible to predict their dynamics. This circumstance was the basis for the emergence of financial futures, which initially do not contain any real goods at all.
Such transactions are closed not by the delivery of goods, but by mutual settlements, as if the goods had been delivered and paid for.
If the exchange price of a real commodity listed on the exchange has risen, the buyer pays the seller the difference between the original price and the final price. And if the goods have fallen in price, then a similar payment is made to the buyer. Such payments are called variation margin.
If the price of the underlying asset is expected to rise, this situation is called contango. Otherwise, backwardation occurs.
All these terms are unique to futures and are completely unrelated to forwards, even if their underlying asset is listed on an exchange.
Futures contracts on American indices
A simple futures contract is a derivative financial instrument from the derivatives family, and its underlying asset can be almost anything: gold, oil, securities, currency, etc., but the most interesting asset is stock indices.
This asset is completely abstract, since there can obviously be no deliveries on it. For the same reason, indices are calculated not in monetary units, but in points.
The calculation of stock indices is based on the prices of certain securities listed on a given exchange.
Futures for American indices are of greatest interest, since they are calculated using the prices of shares of giant companies, which reflect the state of the economy as a whole. There are several dozen of these companies and their composition is constantly changing, but they always cover all major areas of business.
Futures for American indices are taken into account even by those who are very far from the stock market: economists, politicians, investors in real sectors of the economy, etc.
The most famous are futures for the @NASDAQ index and the @S&P 500 index.
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Share, etc.) without a significant loss in value.
Imbalance- a situation in which the crowd’s opinion regarding the direction of future price movement becomes one-sided and the crowd seeks to realize its opinion (OPENS POSITIONS).
- these are crowd (weak money) positions opened due to Market Maker liquidity ( strong money). Simply put, these are those positions of weak players in which the counterparty is the ONLY strong player (MM).
Alive- a market model in which there is no market maker and the price movement is caused by the advantage of one of the parties (buyers or sellers). The movement of the live market, in my opinion, is chaotic, i.e. not predictable.
Market Maker Market- a market model in which a large player provides liquidity to the crowd at the time of a strong imbalance. The market maker market, in my opinion, is natural and predictable.
It seems to me that: ANY LIQUID FUTURES CONTRACT (including to American indices) COMBINES THE LIVE MARKET AND MARKET MAKER MARKET MODELS. It all depends on the phase the market is in and how turbulent it is.
In Fig. 1. shows the state of market balance. In a calm market, MM places two orders (long and short) with a certain spread. There is also liquidity within this spread. This liquidity is provided by the crowd. The price can move up and down within the spread (spread between MM orders) if a slight imbalance occurs. 
A minor imbalance is an imbalance in which the liquidity of one of the sides of the CROWD (for example, buyers from among the crowd) is sufficient to satisfy the desire of the other side of the CROWD (for example, sellers) IN THE MARKET. Thus, the balance point (price value in this moment) moves within the spread of the market maker, who does not have an open position. Moreover, the MM can rearrange its orders in the order book (an order for long and for short) as the price moves and not open positions. This is the phase of a LIVE MARKET, the movement is chaotic, as a rule, there is a sluggish sideways movement. As long as the value of the imbalance is within the limits in which liquidity is provided by the crowd, the market will be unpredictable and boring. Any transactions (intraday) on such a market, in my opinion, have a 50/50 chance of success.
If for some reason (news, graphic patterns, whatever) the imbalance grows to levels at which one side of the crowd is unable to provide liquidity, then the market maker comes into play. In the moment, if you look at the order book, it will look like a removal of liquidity from one of the parties inside the spread and impacts on the market maker’s large orders. 
The chart shows how smooth price movements are replaced by a dense “sausage”, growing, but the market is not going anywhere. The crowd's opinion becomes one-sided, as a result of which the crowd aggressively seeks to open positions (in this example, short). Most often this happens at the moment and after the breakdown of a significant price level. 
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CROWD OPINION: “Time matters here, and you need to open a position right at this moment, because “everything is right now!” Hence the density of everything that happens on the graph.
When the crowd's desire to sell is satisfied, the market comes to a new state of balance. All sellers have gained short positions and then sit and wait to see what will happen. 
The market maker can only stretch his spread upward (push the top short order higher) and wait for the scalpers who opened short to close first, then other weak holders with a longer stop value. And closing short positions will naturally be a purchase, but there is practically no liquidity for shorts, it is already in open positions.
This is followed by an impulse upward price movement (unloading the positions of weak holders) and here the following options are possible:
1. Fuel has run out, open interest has closed
2. As a result of the impulse, the imbalance changed, and with it the open interest changed in the opposite direction.
3. The fuel has run out, but open interest remains, i.e. There are holders who suffer losses and do not close their positions.
I'm interested in the third option, because... it is from this that a trend can be formed. The trend will be when weak holders suffer losses for as long as possible, or, even better, average out their positions.
So, we have a trade, exit from it and wait for the movement to continue. This requires short sellers to average out at a loss. At the same time, they will have a certain average price for open positions. Anyone who averaged out probably noticed that in very rare cases they give you this price, and if they do, it’s not for long, so they don’t have time to close. In my opinion, this situation is what we need to look for. Graphically it looks like this: the price first rests on the average value or tests it (pierces it by several ticks). Or better yet, both.
And finally, clear example. Gold futures. Friday 06/07/2013 
The implementation is slightly different, because the pose was not taken in the area average price, and earlier. One contract was closed at local highs, the second was left with a stop at breakeven in the hope of significant growth, which, alas, did not happen (closed in a used one).
Well, here are some more examples of movement down from the average price: 
Hope
US financial markets continued to fall on Thursday due to expectations of tightening monetary policy. Dow Jones fell by 4.2% to 23,860.46. S&P 500 fell 3.8% to 2,798.03, led by financial and technology stocks. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones are correcting. The Nasdaq fell 3.9% to 7,296.05. The dollar's weakening resumed: the ICE Dollar Index, which measures the exchange rate of the American currency against a basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.01% to 90.274. Index futures indicate markets will open higher today.
Markets remain volatile following a strong labor market report in January, which could accelerate the Fed's pace of interest rate hikes. Comments from Fed officials indicated that central bankers do not see market volatility as a reason to change their current stance of gradually raising rates. New York Fed President William Dudley said three rate hikes in 2018 still seemed reasonable. Kansas City Fed President Esther George said three rate hikes this year are a "reasonable outcome." Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said the Fed is "far away" from higher rates due to rising inflation amid rising labor costs. Political uncertainty due to the failure of the budget deal also did not support investor confidence. The federal government has partially closed twice this year. The US Senate approved the budget deal today, but it is too late to prevent a government shutdown.
European indices are falling
European stock indices resumed their decline on Thursday following Wall Street's decline. Weakening Euro continued and British pound rose against the dollar after the Bank of England hinted that interest rates could rise as early as May. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.6%. Germany's DAX 30 fell 2.6% to 12,260.29. French CAC 40 fell by 2%, and the British FTSE 100 lost 1.5% to 7170.69. Today the indices opened with mixed data.
Chinese stocks led Asian markets' decline
Today Asian stock indices everything is in the red as the sale has resumed. Nikkei fell 2.3% to 21,382.62, despite the yen weakening against the dollar. Chinese stocks fell sharply as Chinese consumer inflation slowed to a seven-month low in January: index Shanghai Composite fell by 4.05%, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng- by 3.3%. The Australian All Ordinaries index fell 0.9% as the Australian dollar rose against the US dollar.
Brent oil futures are declining today due to concerns about rising global supply. Prices fell yesterday as OPEC member Iran announced plans to increase production by at least 700,000 barrels per day over the next four years. April Brent crude futures fell 1.1% to $64.81 a barrel on Thursday.
Futures contracts are being traded on American exchanges. a large number of various stock indices. All these contracts are of a settlement type, that is, when the delivery date arrives, a financial settlement occurs at the current price of the asset, as a result of which profits or losses are reflected in the traders’ accounts. The most popular indices that are actively traded on the US derivatives market are listed below.
S&P 500– an index of 500 famous securities national companies with large capitalization, traded on the NYSE stock exchange, calculated by Standard & Poor's since 1957. This is the main indicator of the American stock market, well reflecting its dynamics. Futures for the S&P 500 index are traded on the CME exchange (contract size $250 x S&P 500, ticker SP) Mini-contracts quoted in dollars (size $50 x E-mini S&P 500, ticker ES) and euros (size 50? x E-mini S&P 500, ticker EME) are also popular.
S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600- derivatives of the main S&P index, they consist of 400 securities of mid-cap companies and 600 securities of small-cap companies, respectively. The futures size for the first index is $500 x S&P MidCap 400 (ticker MD), for the second - $500 x S&P SmallCap 600 (ticker SMP). Mini-contracts with sizes of $100 x Index are listed under the stock tickers EMD and SMC. They are also traded on the CME.
NASDAQ 100– an index of 100 securities of the largest national and foreign companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Companies do not belong to the financial sector and are selected based on market capitalization. The index has been calculated since 1985. Futures for it are traded on the CME exchange under the ticker ND, its volume is $100 x NASDAQ-100. Mini futures ticker - NQ, size - $20 x E-mini NASDAQ-100.
DOW JONES Industrial Average– The DJIA index is a set of 30 largest American companies, “blue chips”. It is the progenitor of all American indices, although it no longer reflects the state of the economy very well. It was first counted by Charles Dow in 1896. Index futures are traded on the CBOT under the ticker symbol DJ and are traded at $10 x DJIA. The mini futures size is $5 x Index and the ticker is YM.
Russell 2000 and Russell 1000- well-known indices reflecting the price of shares of two thousand companies with small capitalization and one thousand with large capitalization, respectively. The indices have been calculated since 1984 by Russell Investment Group. Mini-contracts for them are traded on the American branch of the ICE exchange, their tickers are TF and RF, the size is $100 x Index.
There are also several index futures traded on exchanges that are not dedicated to stock market in general, but to certain sectors of the American economy. We will limit ourselves to listing them: E-mini NASDAQ Biotech (biotechnology, ticker BIO), S&P Financial SPCTR (finance, ticker FIN), S&P Technology SPCTR (high technology, ticker TEC), Dow Jones US Real Estate (real estate, ticker RX).
Most American stock exchanges trade stock index contracts. Often, investors prefer to work with American futures indices, as this is the most cost-effective option compared to other indices. Among the American indices, the most famous are: Dow Jones, P500 Index, NASDAQ 100 Index, Russell 2000 and Russell 1000.
List of the most popular American indices
SP500 index - this index includes the five hundred most liquid companies in the world, whose shares are traded on the world-famous NYSE stock exchange. This sp500 index appeared on the stock exchange in 1957, thanks to active economic activity American company Standard & Poor's. The p500 index represents large capitalization companies. Futures on sp500 indexes with the ticker sp can be purchased on the CME exchange at a price of $250. A less budget option is the minimum contract for traders sp500 index futures with the ticker ES for only $50.
The Dow Jones index is one of the most popular American indexes, thanks to which all others exist. He owes his appearance to Charles Dow. Futures for American indices are listed for sale on the CBOT Chicago Stock Exchange. Today, DOW includes more than thirty giant US companies and their shares, on which the entire economy of the country depends. As a rule, these companies are not permanent and may change. If previously Dow Jones included only industrial companies, now it has corporations covering absolutely different areas economy. The dow trading strategy is a profitable exchange instrument. Anyone who knows how to use it can make good money on their shares.
The NASDAQ 100 Index is a well-known American stock index that trades hundreds of stocks. 
the largest companies in the financial market. The NASDAQ 100 is sold on the world famous NASDAQ exchange. Due to volatility and prolonged trends, NASDAQ 100 index futures are a very popular type of trading for speculators. In use since 1985, when 2 new indices were simultaneously introduced: NASDAQ-100 and NASDAQ Financial-100. It is one of the ten most liquid futures in the world.
Russell 2000 and Russell 1000 are popular US stock indexes that trade shares of two thousand companies with a small part capital investments and thousands of large ones. The indices are calculated by Russell Investment Group. Futures on the Russell 2000 and Russell 1000 indices can be purchased on the ICE exchange with tickers TF and RF for $100.
Futures covering major economic sectors
You can also purchase other futures on indices corresponding to various sectors of the economy on exchanges:
S&PFinancialSPCTR - futures financial sector with ticker FIN;
S&PTechnologySPCTR – futures of the high technology sector with the ticker TEC;
E-miniNASDAQBiotech – futures of the biotechnology sector with the ticker BIO;
Dow Jones USRealEstate is a US real estate futures with the ticker RX.
The concept of stock index and futures
To track the price dynamics of the market of a group of companies and their shares of any direction, stock indices are quoted.
A stock (exchange) index is one of the main indicators of the dynamics of growth or decline of shares, as well as any other securities that carry a certain value for the company. One of the most important indicators stock index – its dynamics. Based on the increase or decrease in prices, certain conclusions can be drawn regarding general development any sector of the economy.
Futures are one of the types of exchange contracts for the sale of a specific type of stock, which can be reused in trading. These are certain financial instruments that set the price today for certain company assets that will be sold soon.
Often, stocks are traded on US stock markets in the form of index futures. note that high growth or a sharp drop in stock indices makes it possible to track the position of dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of shares from its composition. The ability to track stock indices is attractive Special attention trading participants due to high liquidity.
Stock exchanges and their functions
Stock exchanges are a market that trades various types valuable papers. A currency exchange is not included in this concept, since there are special motto exchanges for trading motto denominations various countries. Today there are about two hundred different stock exchanges in the world. However, the lion's share of transactions takes place in the world's largest stock exchange, New York.
Financial market concept
Futures markets are like a huge global auction where buyers and sellers set prices for major stocks and financial assets. Main 
Participants in such trading are usually called hedgers and speculators. The difference is that speculators trade by taking advantage of buying and selling prices, while hedgers work to protect the underlying assets of their companies and try to prevent their prices from falling in the future.
Helpful advice! If you want to start trading futures on American indices, you should familiarize yourself in advance with issues related to saving your money, with options for action strategies, with possible risks financial fraud. In America, all rights of investing persons are protected thanks to the laws of the federal government and the rules of the organization of financial markets.
How to trade futures
Futures on various indices - the main trading occurs through hedging. Hedging is a trading operation, the main function of which is considered to be a warning against all kinds of losses when conducting other trading operations. The main purpose of hedging is to reduce risk. Sometimes this can be quite difficult.
One of the most difficult economic actions is that index futures are profitable to trade, but it always has high liquidity, which is why it attracts so many people. There is an opinion that futures are something complex by definition, but this is far from the case.
Understanding CFD
CFD is a type of simplified financial leverage that allows you to act on financial market in online mode. Thanks to it, you can achieve financial benefits due to the price difference between buying and selling shares without leaving your home or office. You just need to choose the right strategy of action. CFD allows you to produce online a full range of financial transactions, benefiting from the right investments.
Thus, we come to the conclusion: most people believe that trading index futures is something incredibly difficult, but this is not entirely true. To have a basic understanding of the financial market, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the symbols of financial instruments. These concepts are simple and refer to financial levers that can be used to set prices today for shares that will be sold in the future. The most popular futures for American indices are considered to be: Dow Jones, P500 Index, NASDAQ 100 Index, Russell 2000 and Russell 1000.
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