Long Futures
Buying a futures contract — agreeing to take delivery (or cash settlement) at expiry, and profiting as the price rises.
Being long futures means you have bought a futures contract and are obligated to receive the underlying (or cash equivalent) at expiration. You profit when the futures price rises and lose when it falls.
A long futures position is delta positive: you gain point-for-point as the underlying rises. Unlike long stock, long futures positions are leveraged, margin-based, and marked-to-market daily.
Long futures do not carry the dividend rights or voting rights of equity ownership — they are purely a price exposure on the index or commodity.
Example
A trader buys 2 ES contracts at 5,400 expecting a rally. ES rises to 5,450 (50 points). Gain = 50 × $50 × 2 = $5,000. If ES fell to 5,360 instead, the loss = 40 × $50 × 2 = $4,000 debited over the holding period via MTM.
Related Terms
Futures Contract
A standardized, exchange-traded agreement to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price on a set future date, settled daily via mark-to-market.
BeginnerHedger
A market participant using futures to offset price risk in an existing exposure — the opposite of a speculator.
IntermediateMark-to-Market
The daily revaluation of open futures positions to the settlement price, with gains and losses settled in cash each session.
IntermediateNotional Value
The full economic exposure of a futures position: Futures Price × Contract Multiplier (or Contract Size).
IntermediateShort Futures
Selling a futures contract — agreeing to deliver (or cash settle) at expiry, and profiting as the price falls.
BeginnerSpeculator
A market participant who takes on futures risk with no underlying physical exposure, seeking to profit from price moves.
Beginner