E-Mini futures
E-minis are stock market index futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Globex electronic trading platform.
CME E-mini S&P 500 tracks the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the key benchmark for large-capitalization U.S. stocks
With the success of the S&P500 Emini the CME (and other exchanges) decided to launch other “Emini” futures contracts covering additional US indices and commodities.
These other varieties include:
- NASDAQ 100 (symbol NQ, 100 largest NASDAQ companies)
- NASDAQ Composite (symbol QN, all 3,000+ NASDAQ companies)
- NASDAQ Biotech (symbol BQ)
- S&P Midcap 400 (symbol EMD)
- Dow (symbol YM, traded on CBOT exchange)
- Russell 2000 (symbol TF, traded on NYBOT/ICE exchange, small cap index, formerly ER2 traded on CME)
- Russell 1000 (symbol RF2, traded on NYBOT/ICE exchange, 1,000 largest cap companies, formerly RS traded on CME)
- Natural gas, light sweet crude, heating oil and unleaded gasoline
- CME E-mini NASDAQ-100 tracks the NASDAQ-100 Index, a key benchmark of technology, telecom and biotechnology issues
- CME E-mini Russell 2000 tracks the Russell 2000 Index, one of the major benchmarks for small-capitalization U.S. stocks
- CME E-mini S&P MidCap 400 tracks the Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index, the key benchmark for mid-size U.S. companies
- CME E-mini Russell 1000 tracks the 1,000 largest cap companies in the U.S. based on total market capitalization
However, the S&P500 Emini continues to dominate index futures as the chart above of monthly trading volumes shows.
Tick Trading
The minimum price movement the S&P 500 Eminis can make is called a TICK. A Tick is worth $12.50 (per contract). 4 ticks make a complete point in the S&P Eminis, meaning one point is worth $50.00 (per contract). You can trade as many contracts as you like, providing you have the trading capital to do so.
Trading the Emini’s
Trading cash contracts based on the S&P 500 index. There is no physical commodity to buy or sell, as it’s strictly a cash contract.
Basically that means you buy for cash and sell for cash, the difference is your profit. There is no delivery on these contracts; they are traded on a cash settlement basis.
Think of it as “in and out”. That’s called a “round turn trade” or “in and out”. You can get in first by buying, and then get out by selling. The difference is your profit. Or you can get in first by shorting (selling first) and then get out by buying. Again the difference is your profit.
The emini S&P is called the ES. That is its trading symbol. To complete the symbol we need to add the month and year of the symbol. Example would be ESU8
E-minis trade on a quarterly basis, March, June, September and December. Expiration time/day is 8:30am CST, on the third Friday of the expiration month.
Prior to expiration, there is a rollover period in which the expiring month is phased out and the next month is brought in as lead month. Typically, trading in the new quarterly month becomes active 2 weeks prior to expiration. The new contract becomes the lead contract on the Thursday, one week prior to expiration.
This rollover period provides customers with positions the opportunity to roll their positions to the next month, i.e. June to Sept.
We as futures traders buy and sell the same day, so we are really not concerned about rolling over to the next month. However, we do need to change our contract symbol on our trading window at each rollover period.
E-mini S&P Select Sector Index Futures
E-mini S&P Select Sector Index futures. Representing nine distinct market categories that make up the S&P 500 Index, these new futures enable you to:
- Hedge portfolio risk associated with a specific equity market sector or sectors
- Trade sector-specific strategies
- Capitalize on correlations between equity market sectors or versus the broader U.S. stock market
Sector | Types of Companies Tracked by the Underlying Indices |
| Consumer Discretionary | Automotive companies, consumer electronics, luxury goods, retailers, hotels and restaurants |
| Consumer Staples | Food and staple retailers, beverages, food products, tobacco, household and personal staple industries |
| Energy | Energy equipment and services, as well as the oil, gas and consumable fuel industries |
| Financial | Commercial banks, diversified financial service companies, thrift and mortgage, real estate investment trusts and consumer finance companies |
| Health Care | Health care providers, equipment and services, health care technology companies, biotech companies, pharmaceuticals and life science services industries |
| Industrial | Companies involved in capital goods such as aerospace and defense, machinery, construction and engineering, industrial conglomerates, as well as commercial service providers and transportation industries |
| Materials | Chemicals, construction materials, containers and packaging, metals and mining, and paper and forest industries |
| Technology | Information technology and telecommunication services, companies included in Global Industry Classification Standards (GICS® classifications), including office electronics, semiconductors and wireless service providers |
| Utilities | Major utility industries such as electric, gas, water and multi-utility companies, as well as independent power producers and energy traders |
Futures Ticker | Index Ticker | |
| E-mini Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Futures | XAY | IXY |
| E-mini Consumer Staples Select Sector Futures | XAP | IXR |
| E-mini Energy Select Sector Futures | XAE | IXE |
| E-mini Financial Select Sector Futures | XAF | IXM |
| E-mini Health Care Select Sector Futures | XAV | IXV |
| E-mini Industrial Select Sector Futures | XAI | IXI |
| E-mini Materials Select Sector Futures | XAB | IXB |
| E-mini Technology Select Sector Futures | XAK | IXT |
| E-mini Utilities Select Sector Futures | XAU | IXU |
E-minis E-mini contract | Exchange | Ticker symbol | Multiplier | Tick size |
E-Mini S&P 500 (Dollar) | CME | ES | $50 | 0.25 |
E-Mini S&P 500 (Euro) | CME | EME | 50 € | 0.25 |
E-mini Dow ($5) Futures | CME | YM | $5 | 1 |
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 Futures | CME | EMD | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 Futures | CME | SMC | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini NASDAQ-100 Futures | CME | NQ | $20 | 0.25 |
E-mini NASDAQ Composite Futures | CME | QCN | $20 | 0.5 |
E-mini NASDAQ Biotechnology Futures | CME | BIO | $50 | 0.1 |
E-mini S&P CNX Nifty (Nifty 50) futures | CME | EMF | $10 | 0.5 |
E-mini FTSE/XINHUA China 25 Futures | CME | FXN | $5 | 5 |
E-mini JPY/USD Futures | CME | J7 | 6,250,000 Japanese yen | $0.00 |
E-mini EUR/USD Futures | CME | E7 | 62,500 euro | $0.00 |
E-mini Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Futures | CME | XAY | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini Consumer Staples Select Sector Futures | CME | XAP | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini Energy Select Sector Futures | CME | XAF | $250 | 0.05 |
E-mini Health Care Select Sector Futures | CME | XAV | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini Industrial Select Sector Futures | CME | XAI | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini Materials Select Sector Futures | CME | XAB | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini Technology Select Sector Futures | CME | XAK | $100 | 0.1 |
E-mini Utilities Select Sector Futures | CME | XAU | $100 | 0.1 |
Mini-Sized Corn Futures | CME | YC | 1,000 bushels (~ 25 Metric Tons) | $0.00 |
Mini-sized Soybean Futures | CME | YK | 1,000 bushels (~ 27 metric tons) | $0.00 |
Mini-sized Wheat Futures | CME | YW | 1,000 bushels (~ 27 metric tons) | $0.00 |
E-mini Light Sweet Crude Oil (Financial) | CME | QM | 500 barrels | $0.03 |
E-mini Natural Gas Futures | CME | QG | 2,500 million BTUs | $0.01 |
E-mini Heating Oil – Financial Futures | CME | QH | 21,000 gallons | $0.00 |
E-mini New York Harbor RBOB Gasoline Futures | CME | QU | 21,000 gallons | $0.00 |
COMEX miNY Gold Futures | CME | QO | 50 troy ounces | $0.25 |
E-mini Silver Futures | CME | 6Q | 1,000 troy ounces | $0.01 |
E-mini Copper Futures | CME | QC | 12,500 pounds | $0.00 |
Russell 1000® Index Mini Futures | ICE | RF | $100 | $0.10 |
Russell 2000® Index Mini Futures | ICE | RF | $100 | $0.10 |