The risk of options varies with the type of option. Call options are more riskier because there payoff is unlimited. Call options are concerned with the upward movement of a stocks price. Considering that stocks can increase without bound, call options are the riskier of the two. Put options are limited to the given exercise price.
Puts are concerned with the stocks downward movement.
Since stocks can only decline up to zero, put options are less risky than call options. Futures Contracts Future contracts involve negotiating an agreement for the future delivery of a security or commodity. Futures contracts tend to be highly standardized and traded on an exchange that specializes in such transactions. A futures contract differs from options in that the parties to a futures contract are legally bound to fulfill their agreements. In practice however, very few contracts actually result in the delivery of the commodity.