knowledge of stocks limited to reading the paper occasionally; futures: isn't the idea something like: you buy the ability to enter a trade of a pre-set volume and decide whether or not to execute that order based on looking at where the price actually did end up going?
Surely then you could buy an FX futures contract to, for example, short cable at a given price (1.991) and then two days later see the price hit 1.94, and the maximum possible loss you would experience would be the cost of that futures contract?
But hang on, if you can do that can't you buy TWO futures contracts hedge the price and only realise the one of the two which came up trumps?
Heeeelp meeee
Surely then you could buy an FX futures contract to, for example, short cable at a given price (1.991) and then two days later see the price hit 1.94, and the maximum possible loss you would experience would be the cost of that futures contract?
But hang on, if you can do that can't you buy TWO futures contracts hedge the price and only realise the one of the two which came up trumps?
Heeeelp meeee