A TASTE OF THE FUTURES

What does it take to craft a truly innovative dish? For Michelin-starred Chef Gabriel Kreuther, it's a combination of understanding how ingredients interact to create the perfect balance and knowing when to break from the norm. The quality and availability of those ingredients are also crucial to culinary success. Chef Kreuther is subject to some of the same forces that affect home cooks as well as investors: global markets, trends and other factors that influence price and value... Futures were first created in the mid-19th century to protect farmers and distributors from myriad factors that could send commodities prices skyrocketing or plummeting. By creating a contract to exchange delivery of a harvest at a future date and pre-arranged price, both parties hoped to insulate themselves from those fluctuations. But those same futures factors can create opportunities for investors today... This content was paid for by an advertiser and created by The Wall Street Journal advertising..