I'm curious why highly levered products suitable for short-term speculation are virtually all futures, as opposed to just a leveraged vehicle that just tracks the "cash" or "spot" market. Is it true that necessity for a futures contract for a particular market develops first, then the speculators come in just for the liquidity and leverage they provide?
The reason I ask is that, in the currency market, futures have been traded for quite some time, but now there is an ever growing spot market available for individual speculators. The difference here in forex is that the cash market can also be traded using extensive leverage -- 50:1 or more, as opposed to say equities. But since a leveraged "spot" instrument has never developed for other markets, is there any reason think that a spot market freely accessible to the public (as opposed to the closed interbank market that currently exists) will eventually push out futures?
The reason I ask is that, in the currency market, futures have been traded for quite some time, but now there is an ever growing spot market available for individual speculators. The difference here in forex is that the cash market can also be traded using extensive leverage -- 50:1 or more, as opposed to say equities. But since a leveraged "spot" instrument has never developed for other markets, is there any reason think that a spot market freely accessible to the public (as opposed to the closed interbank market that currently exists) will eventually push out futures?
(my marketmaker recently offered cash market gold and silver and does not maintain inventory and there are not any contract expirations either)