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Contract Specifications

Every futures contract has an underlying asset, the quantity of the asset, delivery location, and delivery date. For example, if the underlying asset is light sweet crude oil, the quantity is 1,000 barrels, the delivery location is the Henry Hub in Erath, Louisiana and the delivery date is December 2017.When a party enters into a futures contract, they are agreeing to exchange an asset, or underlying, at a defined time in the future. This asset can be a physical commodity like crude oil, or a financial product like a foreign currency.When the asset is a physical commodity, to ensure quality, the exchange stipulates the acceptable grades of the commodity.For example, WTI Crude Oil contracts at CME Group is for 1,000 barrels of a grade of crude oil known as “light, sweet” which refers to the amount of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide the crude oil contains.

Futures contracts for financial products are understandably more straightforward: the U.S. dollar value of 100,000 Australian dollars is the U.S. dollar value of 100,000 Australian dollars.Each futures contract specifies is the quantity of the product delivered for a single contract, also known as contract size. For example: 5,000 bushels of corn, 1,000 barrels of crude oil or Treasury bonds with a face value of $100,000 are all contract sizes as defined in the futures contract specification.

The exchange defines the contract size to meet the needs of market participants. For example, participants who wish to take a speculative or hedging position in the S&P 500 futures contract but cannot risk the exposure of that size contract ($250 x the S&P 500) can instead use the E-mini S&P 500 futures contract to gain that exposure ($50 x the S&P 500 Index). A futures contract also specifies where the asset will be delivered upon execution.

Delivery is an important consideration for certain physical commodity markets entailing significant transportation costs. For example, the random-length lumber contract at CME Group specifies that delivery must occur in a specific state and in a certain type of boxcar.Finally, every futures contract is referred to by its delivery month. Traders refer to the March Corn contract or the December WTI contract since this point in the future is germane to the value and execution of the contract position.

Depending on the contract market, delivery can be anywhere from one month to several years in the future. The exchange specifies when delivery will occur within the month and when a given contract initiates and terminates trading. Typically, trading for a contract is halted a few days before the specified delivery date.

Contract Name Symbol Months Tick Size Quoted Units Trading Unit Min Fluc
Soybeans S FHKNQUX 1/4 cent/bu ($12.50/contract) US $ per bushel 5,000 bu 1/4C ($12.50)
Wheat W HKNUZ 1/4 cent/bu ($12.50/contract) US $ per bushel 5,000 bu 1/4C ($12.50)
Contract Name Symbol Months Tick Size Quoted Units Trading Unit Min Fluc
Australian Dollar AD HMUZHMUZ $.0001 AD ($10.00/contract) US $ per Australian Dollar 100,000 Australian Dollars .0001 ($10)
British Pound BP HMUZ $0.0001 BP = $6.25 US $ per British Pound 62,500 British Pounds .0001 ($6.25)
Brazilian Real BR FGHJKMNQUVXZ .5 point = $.00005 per Brazilian real = $5.00 per contract US $ per Brazilian Real 100,000 Brazilian reals 0.00005=$5.00 (half tick)
Canadian Dollar CD HMUZ $.0001 CD ($10.00/contract) US $ per Canadian Dollar 100,000 Canadian Dollars .0001 ($10)
US Dollar Index DX HMUZ .01 of a U.S. Dollar Index point = $10.00/contract usdx index points, expressed to three decimals $1,000 times the U.S. Dollar Index .01 pt($10)
Euro Emini E7 HMUZ $.0001 Euro = ($6.25 per contract) US $ per Euro 62,500 Euro 0.0001=$6.25
Euro EC HMUZ $.0001 EC ($12.50/contract) US $ per Euro 125,000 Euro .0001 ($12.50)
Euro / Japanese Yen EJ HMUZ Euro per Japanese Yen 100,000 Euro .01 or 1,000 yen per contract)
Euro Futures EU HMUZ 1/2 ticks on spread trades are permitted US $ per Euro 200,000 A. dollars .0001 or 20 U.S. dollars per c
British Pound / Euro GB HMUZ 1/2 ticks on spread trades are permitted BP per Euro 100,000 Euro .0001 or 10 pound per contract
Japanese Yen Emini J7 HMUZ $.000001 JY ($6.25/contract) US $ per Japanese Yen 6,250,000 Japanese yen $.000001 JY ($6.25)
Japanese Yen JY HMUZ $.000001 JY ($12.50/contract) US $ per Japanese Yen 12,500,000 Japanese Yen .000001 ($12.50)
US Dollar / Swedish Krona KU HMUZ US $ per Swedish Krona 200,000 U.S. dollars .0001 or 20 krona per contract
New Zealand Dollar NE HMUZ Euro per Swedish Krona 100,000 Euro .0005 or 50 krona per contract
Euro / Japanese Yen RY HMUZ Euro per Japanese Yen 125,000 Euro
Euro / Swiss Franc RZ HMUZ Euro per Swiss Franc 100,000 Euro .0001 or 10 S. francs per cont
Swiss Franc SF HMUZ $.0001 SF = ($12.50/contract) US $ per Swiss Franc 125,000 Swiss Francs .0001 ($12.50)
US Dollar / Japanese Yen YY HMUZ US $ per Japanese Yen 200,000 U.S. dollars .01 or 2,000 yen per contract
Contract Name Symbol Months Tick Size Quoted Units Trading Unit Min Fluc
Live Cattle LC GJMQVZ 1 point = .01 cents per pound = $4.00 US $ per pound 40,000 pounds 2.5 pts ($10)
Contract Name Symbol Months Tick Size Quoted Units Trading Unit Min Fluc
Cocoa CC HKNUZ $1/ ton = $10 US $ per metric ton 10 metric tons $1/ton
Cotton #2 CT HKNVZ 1/100 of a cent (one US $ per pound 50,000 lbs .001 ($5)
Coffee KC HKNUZ 0.05cwt = $18.75 (point value = $3.75) US $ per pound 37,500 lbs. .0005 ($18.25)
Lumber LB FHKNQX $.10 per 1,000 bd. ft. ($11.00/contract) US $ per 1,000 board feet 110,000 bd. feet .10/1K ($11)
Sugar #11 SB FHKNV $.0001/lb = $11.20 US cents per pound 112,000 lbs. .0001 ($11.20)
Sugar #14 (delisted) SE FHKNUX $.01/lb = $11.20 US $ per pound 112,000 lbs.
Contract Name Symbol Months Tick Size Quoted Units Trading Unit Min Fluc
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJ HMUZ 1 Point ($10.00/contract) DJIA index points $10 x the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index .01 pt ($10)
S&P 500 E-mini ES HMUZ .01 index points = $0.50 index points, expressed to two decimals $50 x S&P 500 Stock Index .05 pt ($2.50)
London FT-SE 100 LZ HMUZ 0.1 = P1.00 index points, expressed to one decimal P10 per index point 0.5 (P5.00)
Nasdaq 100 ND HMUZ 0.5=$50.00 index points, expressed to two decimals $100 times the Nasdaq 100 index .01 per indx pt = $1
Nasdaq 100 E-mini NQ HMUZ 1pt=$0.5 index points, expressed to two decimals $20 times the Nasdaq-100 Index .50 pt ($10.00)
S&P 500 SP HMUZ 0.10 (10 pt.) ($2.50/pt.) ($25.00) index points, expressed to two decimals $250 x S&P 500 Stock Index .10 pt ($25)
Dow Jones E-mini ($5) (Globex) YM HMUZ One point ($5.00 per contract) DJIA index points ($5.00) times the Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM Index. 1 pt = $5.00
Contract Name Symbol Months Tick Size Quoted Units Trading Unit Min Fluc
Light Crude Oil (Pit) CL FGHJKMNQUVXZ $0.01 (1c) per barrel ($10 per contract) US $ per barrel 1,000 U.S. barrels (42,000 gallons) .01/bbl. ($10
Natural Gas NG All 12 $0.001 (0.1 c) per MMBtu ($10 per contract) US $ per mmBtu 10,000 million British thermal units (mmBtu) .10 ($10)
Natural Gas miNY QG FGHJKMNQUVXZ U.S. cents per mmBtu US $ per mmBtu 2,500 million British thermal units (mmBtu) 0.5c per mmBtu = $12.50
Crude Oil EmiNY QM FGHJKMNQUVXZ U.S. dollars and cents per barrel US $ per barrel 500 barrels (2.5c) per barrel ($12.50)
Contract Name Symbol Months Tick Size Quoted Units Trading Unit Min Fluc
Gold GC All 12 $.10/oz. = $10.00 US $ per troy ounce 100 troy ounces 10 pts=$10
Copper High Grade HG All 12 0.05 c/lb. = $12.50 US $ per pound 25,000 pounds 5 pts=$12.50
Palladium PA All 12 $0.05 (5 cents) per troy ounce ($5 per contract) US $ per troy ounce 100 troy ounces 5 pts=$5
Platinum PL All 12 $0.10 (10 cents) per troy ounce, $5 per contract US $ per troy ounce 50 troy ounces 10 pts=$5
Copper miNY (Globex) QC FGHJKMNQUVXZ US $ per pound 12,500 pounds $0.0020 per pound.
Silver miNY (Globex) QI FGHJKMNQUVXZ US $ per troy ounce 2,500 troy ounces $0.0125 per ounce.
Silver 5000 oz SI All 12 $.001/oz. = $5.00 US $ per troy ounce 5,000 troy ounces 50 pts=$25
Gold, NY Mini YG All 12 10 cent/fine troy oz US $ per troy ounce 33.2 fine troy oz. 10 cent/fine troy oz
Silver NY Mini YI All 12 $.001/troy oz. US $ per troy ounce 1,000 troy ounces. $.001/troy oz.
Gold 100 oz. ZG All 12 10 cent/fine troy oz US $ per troy ounce 100 fine troy ounces 10 cent/fine troy oz
Silver 5000 oz ZI All 12 $.001 per troy ounce US $ per troy ounce 5,000 fine troy ounces $.001 per troy ounce

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