E-mini

E-minis are futures contracts that represent a fraction of the value of standard futures. They are traded primarily on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. As of April, 2011, CME lists 44 unique E-mini contracts,[1] of which approximately 10 have average daily trading volumes of over 1,000 contracts.[2]

Some E-mini contracts provide trading advantages, including high liquidity (and therefore tight spread), greater affordability for individual investors due to lower margin requirements than the full-size contracts, and round-the-clock trading 23.25 hours a day from Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon. Under U.S. tax law, E-minis may qualify as 1256 Contracts, and benefit from several tax advantages as well.

The risk of loss is also amplified by the higher leverage.

Symbology

Most E-mini futures expire quarterly (with the exception of agricultural products), in March, June, September, and December. An E-mini future symbol is formed by starting with the root symbol and adding the expiration month letter (the same as for futures) and the last digit of the expiration year. For example, the E-mini S&P 500 expiring in December 2012 has the symbol ESZ2.

E-mini contracts

The table below lists some of the more popular E-mini contracts, with the initial and maintenance margins required by CME.[1] Note that individual brokers may require different margin amounts (also called performance bonds).

E-minis
E-mini contract Exchange Ticker symbol Multiplier Tick size Tick value Initial margin Maintenance margin Average Daily Volume in 2018[2]
E-Mini S&P 500 (Dollar) CME ES $50 0.25 $12.50[3] $13,200 $12,000 1,766,663
Micro E-mini S&P 500[4] CME MES $5 0.25 $1.25 $1,320 $1,200
E-Mini S&P 500 (Euro) CME EME €50 0.25 €12.50[5] €6,188 €4,950
E-mini Dow ($5) Futures CME YM $5 1 $5[6] $13,200 $12,000 239,382
Micro E-mini Dow[4] CME MYM $0.50 1 $0.50 $1,320 $1,200
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 Futures CME EMD $100 0.10 $10[7] $7,500 $6,000 19,647
E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 Futures CME SMC $100 0.10 $10[8] $3,250 $2,600 0
E-mini NASDAQ-100 Futures CME NQ $20 0.25 $5[9] $16,500 $15,000 492,839
Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100[4] CME MNQ $2 0.25 $0.50 $1,500 $1,500
E-mini NASDAQ Composite Futures CME QCN $20 0.50 $10[10] $4,000 $3,200
E-mini NASDAQ Biotechnology Futures CME BIO $50 0.10 $5[11] $3,750 $3,000
E-mini S&P CNX Nifty (Nifty 50) futures CME EMF $10 0.5 $5[12] $3,125 $2,500 216
E-mini FTSE/XINHUA China 25 Futures CME FXN $5 5 $25[13] $13,750 $11,000
E-mini JPY/USD Futures CME J7 6,250,000 Japanese yen $.000001 $6.25[14] $3,038 $2,250 648
E-mini EUR/USD Futures CME E7 62,500 euro $.0001 $6.25[15] $2,025 $1,500 4,859
E-mini Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Futures CME XAY $100 0.10 $10[16] $3,125 $2,500 944
E-mini Consumer Staples Select Sector Futures CME XAP $100 0.10 $10[17] $1,750 $1,400 1,335
E-mini Energy Select Sector Futures CME XAF $250 0.05 $12.50[18] $6,500 $5,200 1,823
E-mini Health Care Select Sector Futures CME XAV $100 0.10 $10[19] $2,500 $2,000 1,207
E-mini Industrial Select Sector Futures CME XAI $100 0.10 $10[20] $3,125 $2,500 1,094
E-mini Materials Select Sector Futures CME XAB $100 0.10 $10[21] $3,125 $2,500 668
E-mini Technology Select Sector Futures CME XAK $100 0.10 $10[22] $1,750 $1,400 1,945
E-mini Utilities Select Sector Futures CME XAU $100 0.10 $10[23] $2,500 $2,000 2,057
Mini-Sized Corn Futures CME (formerly CBOT) YC 1,000 bushels (~ 25 Metric Tons) $0.00125 $1.25[24] $473 $350 472
Mini-sized Soybean Futures CME (formerly CBOT) YK 1,000 bushels (~ 27 metric tons) $0.00125 $1.25[25] $945 $700 1,086
Mini-sized Wheat Futures CME (formerly CBOT) YW 1,000 bushels (~ 27 metric tons) $0.00125 $1.25[26] $810 $600 349
E-mini Light Sweet Crude Oil (Financial) CME (formerly NYMEX) QM 500 barrels $0.025 $12.50[27] $3,375 $2,500 18,621
E-mini Natural Gas Futures CME (formerly NYMEX) QG 2,500 million BTUs $0.005 $12.50[28] $1,013 $750 1,718
E-mini Heating Oil - Financial Futures CME (formerly NYMEX) QH 21,000 gallons $0.001 $21[29] $3,206 $2,375 0
E-mini New York Harbor RBOB Gasoline Futures CME (formerly NYMEX) QU 21,000 gallons $0.0001 $2.10[30] $3,881 $2,875 0
COMEX E-Mini Gold Futures CME (formerly COMEX) QO 50 troy ounces $0.25 $12.5[31] $3,376 $2,500 383
E-mini Silver Futures CME (formerly COMEX) 6Q 1,000 troy ounces $0.005 $5[32] $2,349 $1,740 53
COMEX miNY Copper CME (formerly COMEX) QC 12,500 pounds $0.002 $25[33] $2,869 $2,125 21
Russell 1000® Index Mini Futures ICE (formerly NYBOT) RF $100 $0.10 $10[34] 727
Russell 2000® Index Mini Futures ICE (formerly NYBOT) TF $50 $0.10 $5[35] 150,100
Micro E-mini Russell 2000[4] CME M2K $5 0.10 $0.50

E-mini options

Options on E-minis exist for the E-mini S&P 500[36] and the E-mini NASDAQ-100.[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Outright Margins / Performance Bond Requirements". CME Group.
  2. ^ a b "CME Group Exchange ADV Report (Dec 2018)" (PDF). Archive of all monthly, open interest and average daily value reports year-to-date. CME Group. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  3. ^ "E-mini S&P 500 Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d Trade Micro E-mini Futures - Active Trader – CME Group
  5. ^ "E-mini S&P 500 Euro Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  6. ^ "E-mini Dow ($5) Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  7. ^ "E-mini S&P MidCap 400 Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  8. ^ "E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  9. ^ "E-mini NASDAQ-100 Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  10. ^ "E-mini NASDAQ Composite Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  11. ^ "E-mini NASDAQ Biotechnology Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  12. ^ "E-mini S&P CNX Nifty (Nifty 50) futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  13. ^ "E-mini FTSE/XINHUA China 25 Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  14. ^ "E-mini JPY/USD Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  15. ^ "E-mini JPY/USD Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  16. ^ "E-mini Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  17. ^ "E-mini Consumer Staples Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  18. ^ "E-mini Energy Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  19. ^ "E-mini Health Care Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  20. ^ "E-mini Industrial Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  21. ^ "E-mini Materials Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  22. ^ "E-mini Technology Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  23. ^ "E-mini Utilities Select Sector Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  24. ^ "Mini-Sized Corn Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  25. ^ "Mini-sized Soybean Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  26. ^ "Mini-sized Wheat Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  27. ^ "E-mini Crude Oil Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  28. ^ "E-mini Natural Gas Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  29. ^ "E-mini Heating Oil - Financial Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  30. ^ "E-mini RBOB Gasoline - Financial Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  31. ^ "COMEX miNY Gold Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  32. ^ "E-mini Silver Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  33. ^ "E-mini Copper Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  34. ^ "Russell 1000® Index Mini Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  35. ^ "Russell 2000® Index Mini Futures - Contract specifications". CME Group. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  36. ^ "E-mini S&P 500 Options". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  37. ^ "E-mini NASDAQ-100 Options". CME Group. Retrieved 16 April 2011.