Think: The contract IS the option. The investments you make in the futures market are actually contracts. You aren't buying an asset outright, like what happens in the stock market when you buy a share of some company. Instead, in futures trading, someone has given you the right to either buy or sell a set amount of some asset (shares of stock or barrels of oil or whatever) at a certain set price by a certain date.
An assignable contract allows you to transfer the contract to the third party (or to put it another way, you can assign it to someone else). This allows you to sell the contract to someone else if it becomes more valuable, rather than waiting to complete the transaction yourself. Not all futures contracts are assignable, however.
Assignable contracts are like making a bet on the Kentucky Derby, seeing your horse get out to a big lead, and then selling your betting slip to someone else while the race is still being run. You are eliminating the risk that your horse might trip and end up losing the race. You are also eliminating the hassle involved with cashing in the winning bet if the horse ends up winning.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is a Co-signer?7 Views
Finance a la shmoop what is a cosigner? well it's just this oh wait
that goes in the trigonometry video people why don't you do this all right [Man discussing trigonometry]
never mind cosigner it's this... okay all right we're in finance so a cosigner is
this there we go it's your mom you really wanted that
condo with the nice view of the park the cool arts district and the local dentist [Dentist office building]
office nearby for some weird reason but the building owners just didn't trust
you alone to make the payments yourself which makes sense given that you're a
part-time barista who takes at least one sick day every week you blame them so [Sick days marked on calendar]
your condo dream seems a well a bit out of reach luckily for you the bomb
or Bank of mom came in handy when she co-signed the loan along with you all [Mum signing loan agreement]
right what does that co-signing mean well it means that you are the first one
obliged to pay the monthly payments on your loan but if you don't well then the
Bank of America way bigger than the bank of mom can come after mom and she is
directly legally obligated to pay the loans that you promised - hey so yeah
you got your condo dream but mom's living quarters aren't so spacious yeah [Mum laying in a car backseat]
well you made her co-sign for your deadbeat self hanging her butt up to dry
and now she's well enjoying the view from her SUV parked on the curb of the [SUV window winds down and Mum appears]
road outside the dentist hang in there mom you'll get a better
parking lot slot with a view someday
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