Why is forward contracting useful?
Forward contracting is very valuable in hedging and speculation. The classic hedging application would be that of a wheat farmer forward-selling his harvest at a known price in order to eliminate price risk. Conversely, a bread factory may want to buy bread forward in order to assist production planning without the risk of price fluctuations. If a speculator has information or analysis which forecasts an upturn in a price, then she can go long on the forward market instead of the cash market. The speculator would go long on the forward, wait for the price to rise, and then take a reversing transaction. The use of forward markets here supplies leverage to the speculator.
Forward contracting is valuable in hedging and speculation. The classic hedging application is that of a wheat farmer forward-selling his harvest, at the time of sowing, in order to eliminate price risk. Conversely, a bread factory could buy wheat forward in order to assist production planning without the risk of price fluctuations. If a speculator has information or analysis which forecasts an upturn in a price, then she can adopt a buy position (go long) on the forward market instead of the cash market. The speculator would wait for the price to rise, and then close out the position on the forward market (by selling off the forward contracts). This is a good alternative to speculation using the spot market, which involves buying wheat, storing it for a while, and then selling it off. A speculator prefers transactions involving a forward market because 1) the costs of taking or making delivery of wheat is avoided, and 2) funds are not blocked for the purpose of speculation.
