But so does the value of the imaginary stocks, which Hunter might have sold for $170,000 per contract.
Each one-cent move in coffee is equivalent to $375 per contract of 37,500 pounds.
The Chicago exchanges charge members between 20 and 50 cents per contract for each of those 220 million contracts that they trade.
Thus yesterday's rise was equivalent to $2,040 per contract.
Quantity: Standardized stock options typically have 100 shares per contract.
Refco's usual commissions are more or less half a tick per contract, which is not much money even on a 50-contract lot.
Thus, the average effect of marking to the market was an additional profit of about £8 per contract.
The amount and units of the underlying asset per contract.
In addition to the commission the clearing house also charges 1.50 per contract.
Initial cash outlays for gold speculators were raised yesterday to $2,700 per 100-ounce contract, from $2,500.