Who are Hedgers and Speculators?
Hedgers are interested in the products of the futures contracts. They can be producers, like farmers, mining companies and oil drillers. Or they can be users, like bankers, paper mills and oil distributors. In general, producers sell futures contracts while users buy them. Speculators, trade futures strictly to make money. Typically, speculators trade futures contracts, but never use the underlying instrument itself. Speculators may either buy or sell contracts depending on which way they think the market is going in a particular underlying instrument.
