alt Hacker NewsThis is right up there with the futures trader who accidentally ordered a barge full of coal delivered to his manhattan office.
Replies
kchoudhu • 04/24/2025
As good as the DailyWTF story is, it's not real. Coal is unfortunately cash settled.
Even oil, which is physically delivered settles physically in discrete locations. It would be pretty funny if someone delivered tankers full of oil to your office though lol.
alfiedotwtf • 04/24/2025
As soon as I read this headline, I was hoping someone in the comments was going to link to “Special Delivery”! That one and “Complicator’s Gloves” are probably the most memorable!
gadders • 04/24/2025
Good job it wasn't a power future.
Yes many futures are not "cash settled" but settled in the actual commodity.
This is why in rare occasions the price of a thing goes negative because trading in that thing you are contractually obligated to take delivery and people trying to unload that obligation sometimes can't find buyers until they are paid to take delivery. It happens when nobody really wants to buy a thing and there is no capacity left to store or ship. When you buy a futures contract and you don't want delivery you have to sell it to close your position, and rarely you have to give people large sums of money so you can close.