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Futures Risk Disclosure
Statement
THE RISK OF LOSS IN TRADING COMMODITY FUTURES CONTRACTS
CAN BE SUBSTANTIAL. YOU SHOULD, THEREFORE, CAREFULLY
CONSIDER WHETHER SUCH TRADING IS SUITABLE FOR YOU
IN LIGHT OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES.
YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING POINTS:
1. You may sustain a total loss of the funds that
you deposit with your broker to establish or maintain
a position in the commodity futures market, and you
may incur losses beyond these amounts. If the market
moves against your position, you may be called upon
by your broker to deposit a substantial amount of
additional margin funds, on short notice, in order
to maintain your position. If you do not provide the
required funds within the time required by your broker,
your position may be liquidated at a loss, and you
will be liable for any resulting deficit in your account.
2. Under certain market conditions, you may find
it difficult or impossible to liquidate a position.
This can occur, for example, when the market reaches
a daily price fluctuation limit ("limit move").
3. Placing contingent orders, such as "stop-loss"
or "stop-limit" orders, will not necessarily
limit your losses to the intended amounts, since market
conditions on the exchange where the order is placed
may make it impossible to execute such orders.
4. All futures positions involve risk, and a "spread"
position may not be less risky than an outright "long"
or "short" position.
5. The high degree of leverage (gearing) that is
often obtainable in futures trading because of the
small margin requirements can work against you as
well as for you. Leverage (gearing) can lead to large
losses as well as gains.
6. You should consult your broker concerning the
nature of the protections available to safeguard funds
or property deposited for your account.
ALL OF THE POINTS NOTED ABOVE APPLY TO ALL FUTURES
TRADING WHETHER FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC. IN ADDITION,
IF YOU ARE CONTEMPLATING TRADING FOREIGN FUTURES OR
OPTIONS CONTRACTS, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING
ADDITIONAL RISKS:
7. Foreign futures transactions involve executing
and clearing trades on a foreign exchange. This is
the case even if the foreign exchange is formally
"linked" to a domestic exchange, whereby
a trade executed on one exchange liquidates or establishes
a position on the other exchange. No domestic organization
regulates the activities of a foreign exchange, including
the execution, delivery, and clearing of transactions
on such an exchange, and no domestic regulator has
the power to compel enforcement of the rules of the
foreign exchange or the laws of the foreign country.
Moreover, such laws or regulations will vary depending
on the foreign country in which the transaction occurs.
For these reasons, customers who trade on foreign
exchanges may not be afforded certain of the protections
which apply to domestic transactions, including the
right to use domestic alternative dispute resolution
procedures. In particular, funds received from customers
to margin foreign futures transactions may not be
provided the same protections as funds received to
margin futures transactions on domestic exchanges.
Before you trade, you should familiarize yourself
with the foreign rules which will apply to your particular
transaction.
8. Finally, you should be aware that the price of
any foreign futures or option contract and, therefore,
the potential profit and loss resulting therefrom,
may be affected by any fluctuation in the foreign
exchange rate between the time the order is placed
and the foreign futures contract is liquidated or
the foreign option contract is liquidated or exercised.
THIS BRIEF STATEMENT CANNOT, OF COURSE, DISCLOSE
ALL THE RISKS AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE COMMODITY MARKETS
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