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Primary differences between Futures and Stocks/ETFs (for US markets)

The following are the primarily differences between trading in futures versus trading in stocks and ETFs.

Parameters	Futures	Stocks & ETFs
Accounts	Futures account needed	Trade from a securities account
Account documentation	Account application Risk and disclosure documents Net-worth information Electronic trading disclosure Quote data fee disclosures	Securities account application Margin account application (if applicable) Net worth and income requirements Options disclosure documents
Margin and Leverage	Performance bond margin, usually 1-5% of notional amount	50% deposit, 50% borrowed at broker loan rate
Exchanges	Trade on futures exchanges i.e. CME Group	Trade on stock exchanges i.e. NYSE, Nasdaq
Diversify Assets	All asset classes represented - Equity, FX, Interest Rates, Commodities	Listed stocks and categorized as equities. Some ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to asset classes such as IR and Commodities.
Regulation	Regulated by CFTC	Regulated by SEC
Ownerhsip vs Legal contracts	Legalized contracts to buy or sell a certain amount of a commodity/instrument by a certain expiry date	Stockholders own a share in the company business
Dividends paid	No	Yes
Taxes on short term gains	60/40 rule (United States)	Ordinary income
Investor protections	CME clearing house	SIPC

END OF MY NOTES