490A COMPleTe gUIde TO THe FUTUreS MArKeT
be illustrated later in this section, for any given price scenario, some option-based strategy will often 
provide a more attractive trade in terms of reward/risk characteristics.   
 Strategy 2: Short Futures 
exAMPle . Sell August gold futures at $1,200. (See Table   35.2    and Figure   35.2   .)    
 tabLe 35.2     profit/Loss Calculations: Short Futures  
Futures price at expiration ($/oz) Futures price Change ($/oz) profit/Loss on position
1,000 200 $20,000
1,050 150 $15,000
1,100 100 $10,000
1,150 50 $5,000
1,200 0 $0
1,250 –50 –$5,000
1,300 –100 –$10,000
1,350 –150 –$15,000
1,400 –200 –$20,000
    FIGURE   35.1    Profi  t/loss Profi  le: long Futures 
Price of August gold futures at option expiration ($/oz)
Profit/loss at expiration ($)
1,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
−5,000
−10,000
−15,000
−20,000
0
1,050 1,100 1,150 1,200 1,250 1,300 1,350 1,400