Many people are very concerned about the rapid increase in worldwide use (and abuse) of financial derivatives. Meltdowns at companies like Long Term Capital Management, Barings Bank, and Amaranth LLC are evidence of the ways in which billions can be lost quickly in the derivatives market. At the same time, forward contracts are financial derivatives, and we know they have many good uses. Provide some balance to the discussion of derivatives by explaining some good business uses of forward contracts and some bad business uses.