It was better to get money selling the territory to a neutral country than getting it stolen by an enemy. Purchase of Alaska, 1867. Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States in 1859, believing the United States would off-set the designs of Russiaâs greatest rival in the Pacific, Great Britain.
The value of the Dow futures is often quoted before the stock market opens as an indicator of how the market will react during the trading day. Trading Dow futures is one way traders attempt to profit from the value changes of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Even investors who don't trade futures can use the Dow futures as a forecasting tool.
A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts; that is, a contract to buy specific quantities of a commodity or financial instrument at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the future. These types of contracts fall into the category of derivatives. The opposite of the futures market is the spots market, where trades will occur immediately (2 business days) after a transaction agreement has been made, rather than at a predetermined time in the future.