I know you're a developer and not a financial nerd. Hence, I will try to introduce the futures concept in the easiest terms. Futures contracts (more colloquially, futures) are legal agreements to buy or sell a given quantity of commodity or asset (barrel of oil, gold, and silver) at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future, hence the name futures.
For the sake of ease and clarity, let's consider an oversimplified version of a real futures contract from the financial industry. Let's suppose that an airline company wants to lock in the fuel price to manage their exposure to risk and to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Instead of buying the oil and storing it until they need it, they buy a futures contract for oil with a specific date of delivery and price per gallon. For example, an airline company can agree on a futures contract...
