How many kinds of securities trading methods are there?

The early stock trading mainly used spot trading, but with the development of commodity economy and capital market, the stock trading forms showed a development trend from low to high, from simple to complex, from single to complex. The classification standards of securities trading methods in various countries have a diversified trend, which can be classified by a single standard or by multiple standards, forming a situation in which spot trading, credit trading, futures trading and option trading coexist.

1, spot trading of securities Spot trading of securities is a trading method in which both parties to the securities transaction settle the securities and the price immediately after the transaction is completed. The two sides of spot trading are the holders of selling securities and the holders of buying money. Holders of securities for sale want to convert their securities into cash, while holders who buy money want to convert their currencies into securities. Spot trading is the initial delivery of securities and currencies immediately after the transaction, which is a typical form of "cash for delivery". In modern spot trading, there is usually a certain time interval between the trading and delivery of securities, and the length of the time interval is determined by the delivery date stipulated by the stock exchange. The trading and delivery dates of securities may or may not be the same date. Internationally, the time interval from transaction to delivery of spot transactions generally does not exceed 20 days. According to the current T+ 1 delivery rules, securities brokers and investors should complete the delivery on the next working day after the transaction. If the next business day falls on a legal holiday, the delivery date will be postponed to the first business day after the start of the legal holiday.

In order to ensure that stock exchanges and securities companies have reasonable time to deal with financial matters (including preparing for securities delivery and capital trading), stock exchanges will stipulate the time interval for securities trading and delivery. However, in order to prevent the long time interval from affecting the delivery safety, the delivery date mainly includes the same day delivery, the next day delivery and regular delivery. Same-day delivery, also known as "T+0" delivery, that is, delivery on the day of the transaction; The next day's delivery is called "T+ 1" delivery, that is, the next working day after the transaction is completed; Regular delivery is determined in accordance with the provisions of the exchange, usually within 5 working days after the transaction.

In spot trading, the securities seller must hold the securities, and the securities buyer must hold the corresponding currency. The transaction date is close to the delivery date, so the delivery risk is low. From the point of view of stabilizing trading order, spot trading should become the main trading form. As the oldest securities trading method in history, spot trading adapts to the social environment with relatively backward credit system and relatively simple trading rules, which helps to reduce trading risks. It is a relatively safe form of securities trading, and is also widely used in on-site trading and off-site trading.

2. Securities and Futures Trading Futures trading in a broad sense includes forward trading, which corresponds to spot trading. Characterized in that:

1) The object of futures trading is not the securities themselves, but futures contracts, that is, contracts to buy or sell securities in the future and deliver them. Futures contracts are standard contracts formulated by stock exchanges. According to the futures contract, one party shall deliver the financial assets stipulated in the futures contract to the other party holding the futures contract within the delivery period.

2) The term of futures contracts is usually long, and the term of futures contracts of some financial assets may be as long as several months or even a year. Before the expiration of the contract period, the holder of the futures contract can sell the contract to others at the open market price and transfer the rights under the futures contract. Therefore, before the contract term comes, the contract holder may have some changes because of the transfer of the futures contract.

3) When a stock exchange formulates a standard futures contract, it refers to the current market price of these securities assets. However, the physical price of securities assets will change during the term of futures contract, but the futures price may be close to the market price of physical assets at the time of delivery of securities assets.

Because futures trading has the characteristics of pre-trading, regular delivery and independent price, buyers and sellers have no intention of actually delivering securities assets when they reach a securities futures contract, but hope to sell them at an appropriate time after buying the futures contract, so as to seek profits or reduce losses, resulting in "long trading" and "short trading". Long-term trading and short-term trading are named respectively based on different judgments on the trend of futures prices, but they all belong to the trading behavior of buying low and selling high to make profits.

There is a delivery period before the futures contract expires. During this period, the futures contract holder has the right to request physical delivery to him. In order to maintain the reputation and delivery safety, the stock exchange will provide guarantee for this, and at the same time require the delivery party to deposit the securities or currency to be delivered.

3. Securities option trading Securities option trading refers to a transaction in which the parties buy or sell specific securities at a specific price within a certain period of time in order to obtain the benefits brought by price fluctuations in the securities market. Securities option trading is a trading form with options as the trading target. Options are divided into two basic types: call options and put options. According to the call option, the option holder has the right to buy the underlying assets, namely securities, at a certain time and at a certain price. According to put option, the option holder has the right to sell the underlying assets at a certain time and at a certain price. According to the option trading rules, the call option holder can buy the physical assets of the securities on a certain date, or give up buying the securities assets on the maturity date; Put option holders can sell the physical assets of the securities on a certain date, or refuse to sell the securities assets and pay the deposit. Option trading belongs to option trading.

4. Securities Credit Trading There are many academic theories about securities credit trading. Generally speaking, credit transaction is a transaction in which an investor obtains the credit of a securities firm by virtue of the margin and reputation provided by himself, and the securities firm provides loans when buying securities, and lends securities when selling securities. Therefore, all securities transactions that meet the following conditions belong to credit transaction B:

1) A typical credit transaction must be a margin transaction, that is, investors pay a certain margin to brokers and trade on this basis, so credit transactions are also called margin transactions.

2) Brokers provide loans to investors to buy securities or brokers provide securities for sale. Accordingly, credit transactions can be divided into financing credit transactions and securities lending credit transactions, so securities credit transactions can also be called "financing and securities lending transactions".

3) Credit trading is a securities trading method created by the stock exchange according to law. Securities credit trading has the advantages of activating the market, creating a fair market price and meeting the needs of investors. However, due to investment risks, it is necessary to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of securities credit transactions, set up a reasonable and strict risk control system, and give securities credit transactions an appropriate position, so as to realize the ideal of fostering strengths and avoiding weaknesses.

Credit transaction can be divided into financing transaction and securities lending transaction, but it is essentially different from "financing transaction" and "securities lending transaction" in China's securities trading practice. First of all, credit trading is a legal way of securities trading based on laws and rules of stock exchanges, but the margin trading in practice lacks legal basis. Secondly, the credit transaction is based on the deposit paid by investors, while the margin trading in practice has almost no nature of margin trading. In addition, credit transaction is a way for securities firms to provide credit to investors. In China, securities firms widely borrow funds or securities from investors, which belongs to reverse margin trading. In addition, some funds and securities are borrowed without the consent of investors, which is illegal misappropriation of funds and securities. In this sense, margin trading without legal permission is an illegal transaction.

In the securities markets of various countries, besides the above four basic securities trading modes, there are a large number of other non-main securities trading modes. Some are relatively independent of the first four securities trading methods, such as stock index trading, and some are attached to the first four basic securities trading methods, such as interest rate futures.