MonsieurGonzo... futures generally refer to a futures contract, which is a contract for a standard amount of a commodity (wheat, soy, oil, stock, interest bearing notes) and includes a settlement date. Settlement dates run into the 'future' months, therefore the name. They originated as a way to let cylical agricultural producers and end users buy and sell up to the time of delivery of their products instead of doing only when the harvest was in or the pigs brought to slaughter. There is leverage in trading futures, set as a constant contract multiple per commodity. Remember that a futures contract is an agreement to receive the goods themselves whereas an option is simply a declining time premium over and above the strike price for the right to buy or sell up to a specific date (no product is involved). Therefore futures, by nature, will lead current market price action as they try to divine and arrive at future demand/supply settlement costs, higher or lower. Futures "derive" their value from the underlying commodity, hence they're called derivatives.
I'm sure I missed or erred on some of this, but perhaps this helps. There are many great resources on the internet which both trace the history of this business and current thought on trading them. Paper trade first until you are comfortable, then use discretionary money because its a tough way to invest and an easy way to gamble.
Jim
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