Futures Classes Futures Classes Both the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics and the Department of Finance offer courses to undergraduate and graduate students in futures and options markets. Except for basic concepts, there seems remarkably little overlap between courses in the two Departments.
Students have the opportunity of being exposed to a wide variety of material.
Although a general commodity marketing course, students learn the basics of futures markets, then participate in a trading simulation for about 6 weeks that relies on actual prices quoted from the markets everyday. Students are graded on the reasons for their trades and on a paper evaluating their own experiences and trading results. This is a comprehensive course describing the development of futures trading, operation and governance of commodity exchanges, economic functions of futures trading, operational procedures and regulation of the markets. The main focus is on understanding basis relationships and patterns, and procedures and strategies firms need to follow in managing their price risks. A broad spectrum of agricultural, metal, financial instrument and currency contracts are covered.