
P1: OTA/XYZ P2: ABC
JWBT468-c01 JWBT468-Burghardt March 15, 2011 3:52 Printer Name: Courier Westford
CHAPTER 1
Understanding Returns
The purpose of this chapter is to bridge the gap between the world of conven-
tional money management, where return has a natural and well-understood
meaning, and the world of futures, where the idea of return by itself makes
no sense. The disconnect between the two markets is simply this: Real assets
tie up real cash. To buy a portfolio of real stocks, for example, one invests
real cash. The stocks then spin off dividends, which constitute part of the
return, and the prices of the stocks rise or fall, which constitutes ...