Speculators trade in the futures market to profit from price fluctuations, and in doing so, provide several vital economic functions by facilitating the trading of basic commodities and financial instruments:

1.Assuming risk in the hope of making a profit, rather than creating risk
2.Participating in the market provide liquidity and capital
3.Providing a mechanism for price discovery
 

Offsetting is entering an order to liquidate the initial position:

1.By selling if one is holding a long position
2.By buying if one is holding a short position
 

Futures-based commodity indexes have four sources of returns:

1.Spot
2.Rolling
3.Collateral
4.Rebalancing
 

Trade execution and management covers key considerations when starting to trade:

1.Trade timing
2.Market Profile overview
3.Solid market basis
4.Market urgency
5.Openings
6.Trade management