金融小知識：什麼是 CFD (差價合約)？

因為工作的關係，忙到今天才有時間更新，真是痛苦 ~"~

原文出自 ForexNews.com 的「今日問答 (Question and Answer of the Day)」專欄。今天的主題是《What is a CFD?》，特別記錄下來供日後參考。

What is a CFD?

什麼是 CFD (差價合約)？

A CFD or "Contract For Difference" is a derivative that allows traders to take advantage of prices moving up (long positions) or prices moving down (short positions) on underlying financial instruments and are often used to speculate on those markets.

CFD 或是「差價合約 (Contract For Difference)」是一種衍生性金融商品 (Derivative)，讓交易人可以從標的金融工具 (Underlying Financial Instrument) 的價格持續走揚 (多頭部位) 或價格持續走跌 (空頭部位) 獲利，而且通常會用來推測這些市場的走勢。

They are not permitted in the United States, where the US government insists that the investors trade the actual underlying securities, which are typically futures. However, these instruments are very popular outside of the US, where investors can trade gold, oil, or stock index futures.

美國禁止使用這些金融工具，美國政府堅持投資人必須以實體標的證券進行交易 (通常是期貨)。不過，這些金融工具在美國以外的國家十分盛行，投資人可以交易黃金、石油或股票指數期貨。