When were first futures traded?
The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) began to trade heating
oil futures in 1978. The exchange later introduced crude oil,
gasoline, and natural gas futures. Airlines, shipping companies,
public transportation authorities, home-heating-oil delivery
services, and major multinational oil and gas companies have all
sought to hedge their price risk using these futures contracts. In
1990 the NYMEX traded more than thirty-five million energy futures
and option contracts.
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