strike will correspond to a particular level of volatility these contracts are effectively options on volatility for all the embodiments within the scope of this invention it is not necessary that the underlying for the contract exists at any particular time other than the first and second reference times for example when the underlying of the inventive contract is the price of a futures contract that futures contract may not yet have been made available for trading at the time that the inventive contract is first made available for trading it should be understood that the invention also pertains to the situation in which the contract specifies that different underlyings are observed at the first and second reference times if the level of one underlying at one of the reference times is related to the level of the other underlying examples of this are i the price of an equity index future at the first reference time and the level of the relevant equity index at the second reference time when the second reference time is the time at or around which the settlement price of the equity index future is determined and ii the yield corresponding to the price of an interest rate future at the first reference time and the relevant interest rate at the second reference time when the second reference time is the time at or around which the settlement price of the interest rate future is determined also within the scope of this invention is a contract as described herein which incorporates some averaging and or rounding truncation of the level of the underlying at or around the first and or second reference time or of.