Futures contract

“ A contract is an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing. The law binds him to perform his undertaking, and this is, of course, the obligation of his contract. * * * Any law which releases a part of this obligation must, in the literal sense of the word, impair it. * * * But it is not true that the parties have in view only the property in possession when the contract is formed, or that its obligation does not extend to future acquisitions. Industry, talents, and integrity constitute a fund which is as confidently trusted as property itself. ”

“ In my opinion no one will understand the true theory of contract or be able even to discuss some fundamental questions intelligently until he has understood that all contracts are formal, that the making of a contract depends not on the agreement of two minds in one intention, but on the agreement of two sets of external signs—not on the parties' having meant the same thing but on their having said the same thing. ”

“ The ideal that we want, so far as price adjustment is concerned, is to keep prices stable, so that a contract which is payable in one year from now can be paid with just the amount of commodities which will then represent the value stated in the contract of to-day.... ”

“ Extra expenditures to get subcontracts necessarily add to government costs in cost-plus-a-fixed-fee and other cost reimbursable contracts. And this is also true where the prime contract is a negotiated fixed-price contract with a price redetermination clause, such as the prime contract is here. The kickbacks here are passed on to the Government in two stages. The prime contractor rarely submits his bid until after he has tentatively lined up his subcontractors. Indeed, as here, the subcontractors frequently participate in negotiation of the prime contract. ”

“ We must not at this point overlook the great fact in every contract, that it is always made in view of and subject to the natural or legal contingencies which may affect it, or to which the contracting parties may be subject. If a contract be made with a corporation, to be executed in the future, the contingency of existence must be regarded as having been in view as much as between man and man. ”

“ It goes without saying that if changes in the value of the standard due to natural causes take place during the continuance of a contract, it is not the business of government to indemnify either party to the contract. This is a matter on which every individual who enters into time obligations must bear his own responsibility. ”

“ If A agree to advance B a sum of money, for which B is to be answerable, but at the same time it is expressed upon the undertaking, that C will do some act for the security of A, and enter into an agreement with A for that purpose; it would scarcely seem a case of a mere collateral undertaking; but rather, if one might use the phrase, a trilateral contract. The contract of B to repay the money, is not coincident with, nor the same contract with C to do the act. Each is an original promise, though the one may be deemed subsidiary, or secondary to the other. ”

“ It was seen to be not an infringement of justice that one man should gain from another on account of fluctuations in the money standard; for the contract is a free one in which normally each should assume whatever risk there may be of loss for the sake of whatever chance there may be of gain. ”

“ In ordinary cases the seller’s duty to deliver the goods is satisfied if he puts them at the disposal of the buyer at the place of sale. The normal contract of sale is represented by a cash sale in a shop. The buyer pays the price and takes away the goods: “ Unless otherwise agreed, delivery of the goods and payment of the price are concurrent conditions” (§ 27) . But agreement, express or implied, may create infinite variations on the normal contract. ”

“ In the case before us, the contract of the surety is not in the alternative, but consists of two terms: one, that the principals shall perform their engagement, not merely by the delivery of some machinery, but of such machinery as the contract includes; the other, that if there be a non-performance, whether excusable or not, the money advanced on the contract shall be secured to the plaintiffs to the extent for which their principals are liable. ”

“ In implied contracts, acts and circumstances are the symbols of the same ingredients which are symbolised, in express contracts, by words; and whether a man employs one set of symbols or the other must be a matter of indifference so far as concerns the theory of agreement. But a Quasi-Contract is not a contract at all. The commonest sample of the class is the relation subsisting between two persons one of whom has paid money to the other through mistake. ”

“ Yet a requirement contract may escape censure if only a small share of the market is involved, if the purpose of the agreement is to insure to the customer a sufficient supply of a commodity vital to the customer's trade or to insure to the supplier a market for his output and if there is no trend toward concentration in the industry. ”

“ Did it occur to you that if so scandalous a spirit of jobbing as you describe had actuated the Board of Admiralty, you might have put them completely in the wrong by offering a contract from parties competent to perform the service for £60,000, which you laid down as the proper sum?—I can answer the question in this way: it is all very well to say, “Why did you not send in a contract?” but it is a contract that required a large capital and great arrangements. ”

“ In the petition you object not to one contract in particular, but to the system of contracts altogether?—We object not to the whole system of contracts, but to the system under which it has been carried on; in the first place, there are put into the contracts conditions which are never acted upon; that I consider extremely wrong; it keeps all honest men away. ”

“ As business boomed throughout our growing country giving more States than one an interest in what a contract meant and how it should be enforced for the benefit of the citizens who made it or for whose benefit it was made, practical men began to see that there could not be one single rule of law to govern a contract in which the citizens of many States were interested. ”

“ But as soon as Friday came along they could make contracts, trade, and cheat each other as much as they pleased. A contract, therefore, is one of the incidents of society. A person sailing in a balloon alone could not make a contract, but if two were in the basket they might amuse themselves by swapping jack-knives or neckties, and these exchanges would be completed or executed contracts and would possess, as we shall soon see, every element of a contract. ”

“ It is unnecessary to hold that the contractor might not be personally bound upon his promise made before the performance of the contract to transfer a portion of his profits to any third party. Whatever liabilities he might assume by such a promise, it would be an independent promise on his part, and would not let the promisee into an interest in the contract. ”

“ If language is to be interpreted in its natural and ordinary sense, the contract means that, and means nothing more nor less. The purchases, it says, shall be made during the present year. The sale shall be made within five years from that time, and one-half the profits from such purchase and sale, not from purchases or sales made at any other time, shall be paid to Price, not as profits, but as compensation for his services. ”

“ When a contract, agreement, or arrangement of any kind is challenged as a combination in restraint of trade or commerce, the court will look at the form of the agreement, and if it appears on its face to have as a necessary and direct result the effect of restraining trade or commerce, no inquiry into the intention or motives of the parties is requisite. ”

“ An investment contract thus came to mean a contract or scheme for 'the placing of capital or laying out of money in a way intended to secure income or profit from its employment.' State v. Gopher Tire & Rubber Co., 146 Minn. 52, 56, 177 N.W. 937, 938. This definition was uniformly applied by state courts to a variety of situations where individuals were led to invest money in a common enterprise with the expectation that they would earn a profit solely through the efforts of the promoter or of some one other than themselves. ”

“ THE elements of fact necessary to call a contract into existence, and the legal consequences of a contract when formed, have been discussed. It remains to consider successively the cases in which a contract is said to be void, and those in which it is said to be voidable,—in which, that is, a contract fails to be made when it seems to have been, or, having been made, can be rescinded by one side or the other, and treated as if it had never been. ”

“ In such a case it frequently happens, however, that not only are stockholders impatient of delay, but very serious injustice may result to any who might be forced to give up their holdings before the completion of the contract. Moreover, a fair method of making payment on the contract is usually in force, the sale price often being on the basis of units of work accomplished, so that the contingencies giving rise to the objection mentioned are greatly minimized. ”

“ Purchase contracts for future delivery, if made at a fixed price, may be disregarded unless at the date of the balance sheet market value is lower than cost, when a reserve should be set up. A fuller statement of the facts shows the transaction among both assets and liabilities. If the contract, being speculative, is not at a named price, the showing of the reserve is prudent and conservative. ”

“ If a vendor is to manufacture goods, and during the process of manufacture the contract is repudiated, he is not bound to complete the manufacture, and estimate his damages by the difference between the market price and the contract price, but the measure of damage is the difference between the contract price and the cost of performance. ”

“ That was their reason and now, why did your company contract? Because they wanted to assure themselves of a market for a certain per cent of their pack so that their operations would not be so speculative.
You know, no business that is purely speculative is fundamentally sound.
Now this contract arrangement between your company and the jobber was not philanthropic on either side. For years this custom has existed in the industry and has been found to be fashioned along the lines of sound economics. ”

“ This is best illustrated by taking a bilateral contract between A and B, where A's undertaking is conditional on B's doing what he promises to do, and where, after A has got a certain distance in his task, B breaks his half of the bargain. For instance, A is employed as a clerk by B, and is wrongfully dismissed in the middle of a quarter. In favor of A, the contract is conditional on B's keeping his agreement to employ him. Whether A insists on the condition or not, he is not bound to do any more. ”

“ Debasing the standard chiefly affects permanent contracts, The variations of the standard affect chiefly those who are engaged in permanent contracts, which is not the case of trading men: the obligations they contract are in a perpetual fluctuation, and by the assistance of their pen, they avoid the inconveniences which other people, who do not calculate, are liable to. ”

“ A voidable contract is one which is good until the option of avoiding it is availed of by the party who has the option. For example, an infant with an income of $2000 a year contracts for the delivery of a Packard automobile on June 1. The car, being a luxury, makes the contract with the infant voidable on his part, and he may, before June 1, repudiate the contract and not be liable in a suit for breach of contract, or he may, if he choses, abide by the contract, take the car, and pay the purchase price when it is delivered. ”

“ The contract created by the indorsement and delivery of a negotiable note, even between the immediate parties to it, is a commercial contract, and is not in any proper sense a contract implied by the law, much less an inchoate or imperfect contract. ”

“ Where the unit of work is large, conditions are somewhat different, however. The necessary estimates are not based on so many uncertainties, and, oftentimes, financial considerations and an equitable treatment of stockholders demand the determination of profits on work in progress. Thus, one contract extending over a number of years may occupy the entire attention and facilities of a concern. ”

“ Where a regular current ratio exists between a paper currency and specie or other lawful money, of course it ought to be used as the rule to ascertain the true value of contracts. But when no such regular marketable value does exist, then the next best mode of getting at the value of the contract, or of the currency mentioned therein, is to ascertain the true value of the subject-matter about which the contract was made. ”

“ A past consideration will not support a contract. By a past consideration, is meant a benefit received in the past, for which no legal liability was incurred or exists. A gives B, his son, five hundred [18] dollars. One year later, in consideration of the past gift, B promises to construct a dam for A. The consideration is past and does not support the attempted contract.
A consideration, to be valuable and sufficient to support a contract, need not be adequate. A mutual promise, no matter how slight or trivial, or the payment of anything valuable to the promisor, is sufficient. ”