Difference Between Future Trading, Options Trading, and Forex Trading

Introduction
Futures contracts, Options trading, and forex trading are different forms of investing that often get confused. Futures trading involves buying or selling tangible goods, such as corn or cattle, while forex is the exchange of one currency for another. Both futures trading and forex trading are volatile markets that can be used to speculate on upcoming trends in certain products, but they differ in important ways.

Description Stocks Forex Futures Options indices Bonds Funds Crypto
Defination A stock is a security that represents a fractional ownership in a company The name forex, is a portmanteau of foreign and exchange. It's often abbreviated as fx. A futures contract is an agreement between two parties which are the buyer and the seller. The buyer pays the seller today for the promise of the commodity at a future date. An option contract is a contract which conveys to its owner, the holder, the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date, depending on the style of the option. Indices are collections of equities, assets, or commodities that measure the performance of a market or sector. Index trading is a way to gain exposure to the financial markets without investing in individual stocks or other assets directly. Index traders buy and sell shares in a basket of underlying assets, or an index-tracking fund, and speculate on the price movements of the index Bonds are debt securities issued by corporations, governments, or other organizations and sold to investors A fund is a pool of money set aside for a specific purpose. The pool of money in a fund is often invested and professionally managed in order to generate returns for its investor Cryptocurrency or crypto refers to a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it1
Point size Usally it is 1/100 Called a Pip and in most USD pairs its value equal to 1/10000 of the price (the 4th digit to the right of the decimel) while for JPY pairs it is 1/00 Usally is 1/100 Usally is 1/100 Usally is 1/100 Usally is 1/100 Usally is 1/100 Usally is 1/10000

Futures

Defination:
A futures contract is an agreement between two parties which are the buyer and the seller. The buyer pays the seller today for the promise of the commodity at a future date.
Futures contracts are traded in futures exchanges.
The commodities can be things such as livestock, agriculture produce, metals, energy, and financial products.

  • Futures contracts are standardized. This means that they all have the same specifications, such as quantity, quality, delivery date and price. For example: if you buy a December 2018 futures contract on corn at $3 per bushel (1 bushel = 56 pounds), then you know exactly what you're getting regardless of who your broker is or where they're located in the world.
  • Futures contracts have predefined terms and conditions - just like any other contract! You can find out everything about them by reading their governing documents which are available online from your exchange or clearinghouse website if needed; however most traders don't bother because it's pretty straightforward stuff unless there are unusual circumstances surrounding a particular contract type like weather events affecting supply levels etc.

    • Options

    Defination
    Option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the holder, the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date, depending on the style of the option. Options are typically acquired by purchase, as a form of compensation, or as part of a complex financial transaction

    Options contracts, unlike Futures, have no intrinsic value

    Options unlike futures, have no intrinsic value. They are not a binding agreement to buy or sell an asset at a specified price on a specified date in the future, therefore do not have any intrinsic value.
    However, they can be used as speculative instruments because they allow you to speculate on whether an underlying security will increase or decrease in price over time.

    The difference beteen a futures contract and an option is the price of entry

    Futures contracts have expiration dates which means that if you don't close out your position before then, then all bets are off: You lose everything!

    Investors tend to use options for speculation and hedging, but not for long-term investing

    Options are not for long-term investing.
    Investors tend to use options for speculation and hedging, but not for long-term investing. In other words, investors may use these tools as part of their portfolio management strategy, but they will typically do so in a way that involves buying and selling them within one year or less of purchase.
    Options are also useful when you want to speculate on the price movement of an underlying asset without actually owning it--for example, if you think Apple (AAPL) stock will rise above $200 per share by this time next year, buying calls expiring in 12 months could result in a profit if your prediction comes true (or loss if it doesn't). But since these contracts expire after only three months or so at most--and sometimes even sooner--you have no guarantee that the underlying shares will increase enough during that time frame for your investment strategy work out favorably; furthermore, if things go poorly between now and when those options expire then there's no way around losing money either way!

    Futures contracts are used by producers and consumers who want to buy or sell physical goods at a predetermined price in the future, regardless of whether it's rising or falling.

    Futures contracts are not for speculation; they're used as a hedge against price movements. If you have an inventory of widgets that you need to sell before they go out of date, then you could use a futures contract as part of your risk management strategy.
    If you think the price of corn will go up over time, then buying a futures contract gives you the right (but not obligation) to purchase corn at today's price when it becomes available next year--this is called going long on corn futures because it means that if prices increase during this period then there will be some benefit from having bought these rights now at lower prices than what would otherwise occur later when actual delivery takes place under normal conditions where supply would dictate higher costs due to scarcity factors being removed from play during delivery dates being extended into future periods caused by high demand levels caused by increased consumption rates spurred on by lower-priced food items produced using cheap labor costs stemming back into past periods due into previous years' farming seasons.

    While forex trading is similar to stock trading, it isn't a substitute for stocks because it involves currencies rather than companies' stocks

    Forex is a global market where buyers and sellers trade their currencies in pairs. For example, if you want to buy euros (EUR), then you will have to exchange them for U.S dollars (USD). The price of one currency against another fluctuates depending on economic conditions such as interest rate movements or inflation rates. The value of these two currencies changes every second so traders need to monitor them constantly to make sure that they are buying at the right time and selling at the right time so as not lose money on their investment portfolio.