【中文版】

什么叫期货？

期货是一种金融衍生品，它以商品、货币、股票等为标的物，通过合约的形式进行买卖。期货交易具有杠杆效应，可以以较小的资金撬动较大的市场，同时也可以进行双向交易，既可以做多也可以做空。期货市场是一种高度市场化的市场，可以进行公开竞价和撮合交易。

期货的标的物可以是商品、货币、股票等，因此期货市场可以划分为商品期货市场、货币期货市场和股票期货市场等。商品期货是最为常见的期货品种，如大豆、原油等；货币期货则是用来交易货币汇率的期货合约，如美元、欧元等；股票期货则是用来交易股票价格的期货合约，如上证50指数、纳斯达克100指数等。

期货市场在金融市场中扮演着重要的角色。它为投资者提供了多样化的投资机会，可以用来对冲风险、投机获利以及套期保值等。同时，期货市场也是国家宏观经济调控的重要手段之一，政府可以通过期货市场来调节市场价格和供需关系，以达到稳定市场的目的。

总之，期货是一种高度市场化的金融衍生品，它为投资者提供了多样化的投资机会和风险对冲手段，同时也是国家宏观经济调控的重要手段之一。

【英文版】

What is futures?

Futures is a kind of financial derivative, which is based on commodities, currencies, stocks, and other assets as the underlying asset, and is traded through contracts. Futures trading has the effect of leverage, which allows a small amount of funds to move a large market, and also allows dual-direction trading, that is, both long and short positions can be taken. The futures market is a highly market-based market where open auction and matched orders can be conducted.

The underlying asset of futures can be commodities, currencies, stocks, etc., so the futures market can be divided into commodity futures markets, currency futures markets, and stock futures markets. Commodity futures are the most common variety of futures, such as soybeans, crude oil, etc.; currency futures are futures contracts for trading currency exchange rates, such as the US dollar, the euro, etc.; stock futures are futures contracts for trading stock prices, such as the SSE 50 Index, the Nasdaq 100 Index, etc.

The futures market plays an important role in the financial market. It provides investors with diversified investment opportunities, which can be used for hedging risks, speculative profit-making, and hedging. At the same time, the futures market is also one of the important means of national macroeconomic control. The government can adjust market prices and supply-demand relationships through the futures market to achieve the purpose of stabilizing the market.

In short, futures are highly market-based financial derivatives that provide investors with diversified investment opportunities and risk hedging methods, and are also important tools for national macroeconomic control.