For more than 30 years, the IFM has provided attendees with a solid understanding of futures, options and swaps markets from trading and mechanics to terminology, risk management, pricing, and basic trade strategies and regulation.

This virtual instructor-led course is delivered in 2-hour sessions occurring over 5 days. Program is delivered by an engaging instructor with extensive real-world expertise, and the class discussion is supported by case studies, practice exercises and print materials. The course fee includes two must-read industry books - Futures and Options and the Guide to U.S. Futures Regulation.What You'll Learn:After the course you will be able to:

• Describe trading and uses of futures and be able compare and contrast futures to securities and cash market products.
  
• Understand futures trading theory, basic functions, characteristics, pricing and terminology.
  
• Interpret problems faced by those who are either long or short the market and understand how using listed contracts alleviates those problems by calculation of profit or loss with/without futures implementation.
  
• Explain the principles of margins, offset, settlement.
  
• Understand the strategy used in different order types.
  
• Describe the nature of "basis risk" and how it may impact normally robust hedging results.
  
• Describe the nature of future spreads as "relative positions".
  
• Identify the principles of hedging and cash-futures price relationships as well as the importance of the basis.
  
• Understand the use of futures to hedge exposure to an underlying commodity or to speculate on a future price.
  
• Enumerate the uses of stock-indexes, foreign exchange, energy, metals and other futures-based commodities.
  
• Understand options nomenclature including premiums, exercise, assignment and settlement.
  
• Describe option price determinants of option price and how they affect the option premium.
  
• Understand use of option spreads to focus on a given market forecast; implementing vertical spread, horizontal spread, straddle, strangles, butterfly and condor strategies.
  
• Compare futures and options on futures as risk management tools.
  
• Understand portfolio management strategies and tactics using various futures and options products to modify the risk characteristics of a given portfolio.