Imagine there are several farmers in a market. Some have a view that the price of Wheat is going to fall in the near future (bearish participants)
Also, some bakers have a view that the price of wheat is going to rise in the near future (bullish participants)
The market place has free flow of information. It provides a platform to both bullish & bearish participants to execute their trades without even knowing each other or hunting for counterparties.
- So, the expected future price (price of wheat) is known to every farmer and bread manufacturer.
- Any farmer trying to extract a higher price will not be able to do so because for the bread manufacturer there are several other farmers to buy from and vice versa.
- Since the price is universally known and there are several farmers and bread manufacturers, there is no need to get into individual contracts.
- There is no need to know who the options/futures buyer is and who the options/futures seller is for it does not make any difference for either party.
- The markets also make it possible for either party to deal with several counter parties at the same time.
- The market thus makes it possible to keep identities of parties to remain confidential with respect to the respective counter parties.
- If one were to replace the farmer and bread manufacturer by normal people who have opposite views about the future prices of stocks, what we have is a typical Derivatives Market.
The derivatives market is the financial market for derivatives, financial instruments like futures contracts or options, which are derived from other forms of assets.
Key Takeaways
The market provides a platform for several parties and counter parties to come together to trade over stocks about which information is free flowing.
This leads to a single future price for all participants, thereby rendering irrelevant the need to know who the buyer for the seller and vice versa.
Despite all of the above, the market system independently has all the necessary information about the market participants.