I appologize for the basic questions but trying to get some information on futures such as ES and YM. 1) What is the hard asset backing the ym and es contracts ? So lets say the S&P mini .. can you excercise it? if excercised what are you getting? 2) Besides the liquidity.. what is the diffrence between the september and lets say november YM contracts? Are they priced diffrently? as in a higher premium for the latter month?
The difference in value for different contract months is due to the time value of money. That is, you're able to effectively buy and hold the underlying securities for a longer period of time and hence need to pay a premium to induce someone to sell to you. Over time, as the contract approaches expiration, its price will converge with the cash price.