Futures—also called futures contracts—allow traders to lock in a price of the underlying asset or commodity. These contracts have expirations dates and set prices that are known up front. Futures are identified by their expiration month. For example, a December gold futures contract expires in December. The term futures tend to represent the overall market. However, there are many types of futures contracts available for trading including:

Commodity futures such as in crude oil, natural gas, corn, and wheat
Stock index futures such as the S&P 500 Index.
Currency futures including those for the euro and the British pound.
Precious metal futures for gold and silver.
U.S. Treasury futures for bonds and other products.

t's important to note the distinction between options and futures. Options contracts give the holder the right to buy or sell the underlying asset at expiration, while the holder of a futures contract is obligated to fulfill the terms of the contract.

Pros
Investors can use futures contracts to speculate on the direction in the price of an underlying asset Companies can hedge the price of their raw materials or products they sell to protect from adverse price movements Futures contracts may only require a deposit of a fraction of the contract amount with a broker

Cons
Investors have a risk that they can lose more than the initial margin amount since futures use leverage Investing in a futures contract might cause a company that hedged to miss out on favorable price movements Margin can be a double-edged sword meaning gains are amplified but so too are losses