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Put up to four markets on the same ruler. The shapes do most of the explaining.

EXITSWINGLEVERAGECARRYFRAUDNO RECOURSEBARRIEREXPERTISE
  • Options 59 Tough The most expertise-hungry instrument an individual can buy: the payoff looks simple until volatility is priced in.
  • Futures contracts 50 Demanding Leverage and daily margin inside a well-regulated cleared structure. The rules protect the market, not your balance.
  Options Futures contracts
Exit difficulty 2 1
Volatility 5 4
Leverage 5 5
Carry cost 3 3
Fraud risk 2 2
Protection gap 2 2
Barrier to entry 3 3
Expertise needed 5 4
Difficulty 59 Tough 50 Demanding
In a sentence The right, but not the obligation, to trade at a set price — which makes the payoff asymmetric and the pricing genuinely difficult.A standardised, exchange-cleared agreement to trade something at a set price on a set date — the oldest financial derivative and still the cleanest.
Unit One contract, typically over 100 shares One contract, defined by the exchange
Smallest realistic trade One contract One contract; micro contracts now exist for major indices
Settlement Physical or cash settlement at exercise or expiry Daily margin, with physical delivery or cash settlement at expiry

The fingerprint measures how demanding a market is to take part in. It is not a rating or a recommendation.