Futures traders are traditionally placed in one of two groups: hedgers, who have an interest in the underlying commodity and are seeking to hedge out the risk of price changes; and speculators, who seek to make a profit by predicting market moves and buying a commodity "on paper" for which they have no practical use.

To minimize credit risk to the exchange, traders must post margin or a performance bond, typically 5%-15% of the contract's value.

Market volatility is expected to continue in credit spreads, yielding an unlikely possibility of there being a near term improvement on the economy.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. and CLS Bank International has recently launched a central settlement service for over-the-counter credit derivatives transactions.

DTCC and CLS initiated their Partner:
In the first quarterly central settlement cycle for the new service on Dec. 20, the amount of trading obligations requiring financial settlement was reduced by 98%, from $14.3 billion gross in aggregate U.S. dollar terms to $288 million net. Gross settlements by the 14 participating OTC derivatives dealers were consolidated from 340,000 to 123 net settlements. Payments were made in U.S. dollar, euro, yen, sterling and Swiss franc.