For every product you buy, there is a number of outside factors – demand, weather, transportation and global politics – that impact its price as it moves along the supply chain to you. Futures take all those factors into account ahead of time, so that prices can remain relatively predictable and consistent when the product reaches the market.
Why you pay what you pay
This section will break these price factors down a bit. We’ll show you how futures help corn move off the cob and into your corn flakes. We'll show you some of the reasons that gas prices in your town may move up and down the way they do. And we’ll even get into the nuts and bolts of the mortgage rates you pay on your home.
