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Oil futures trading is based on the predicted cost of oil months or years from now. When people trade oil futures, they aren't trading based on the cost of oil today; they're trading oil futures based on expectations of oil prices months, or even years in the future. Most oil futures traders predict that the price of oil is going to rise in the future, so if they buy oil futures at a low current rate, they'll have turned a profit when the price of oil actually does rise in the future. However, if they're wrong and the price of oil drops, oil futures traders would lose money. READ MORE

Crude Oil Futures trade 30 consecutive months plus long-dated futures initially listed 36, 48, 60, 72, and 84 months prior to delivery. Additionally, trading can be executed at an average differential to the previous day’s settlement prices for periods of two to 30 consecutive months in a single transaction. These calendar strips are executed during open outcry trading hours. Options: 12 consecutive months, plus three long-dated options at 18, 24, and 36 months out on a June/December cycle. READ MORE

There are now 379 (!) symbols in my ETF universe, but I only look closely at the 40 most liquid ones, which includes the US Oil Fund (USO). I discovered that there are now two other oil funds in addition to USO: iPath ETN Crude Oil (OIL), and PowerShares DB Oil Fund (DBO), which are both relatively thinly traded. READ MORE