S&P futures contracts are based on the S&P 500 stock index and traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).The S&P 500 index is a market valued weighted index of 500 large capitalized stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq National Market Executive System (NASDAQ) and American Stock Exchange (AMEX). S&P Futures are the most popularly traded stock index futures contract.
The S&P index was introduced in 1957. S&P 500 stock index is currently the investment industry’s standard for measuring portfolio performance. Majority of the portfolio managers measure their performance relative to the S&P 500 index. It has become the benchmark for the financial industry. The S&P 500 is made up of 400 industrial companies, 40 financial companies, 40 utilities and 20 transportation companies. S&P 500 index offers a fairly diversified view of the US economy.
The original S&P 500 futures contracts were valued at $500 times the index in the beginning. As the stock market began to surge higher in those days, the index more than doubled in three years. The value of the S&P futures contract neared $500,000. A 10 point change on the S&P 500 index was worth $5,000 with the index approaching the 1000 level.
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Margin requirements for the S&P futures contract trading were very high. Many traders were ruled out of the futures market with the margin requirements for that sized contract. CME introduced an S&P futures contract that was worth $250 times the value of the index in 1997. The value of the contract was halved in order to make the S&P futures contract more accessible to traders. Now, a move of a full point is worth $250 only. Suppose the S&P 500 index value is at 1350. The value of the S&P futures contract will be ($250) (1350) = $337,500.
Earlier in that same year CME introduced another mini S&P futures contract. This news mini contract became highly popular with individual traders instantly and was a hit with the investing public. E-mini S&P futures contract is worth only $50 times the S&P 500 index and the value of this new E-mini S&P futures contract brought the initial margin requirements down to around $4,000 at that time.
With the S&P futures $250,000 contract, the rising stock market put the initial margin at $15,000. This was keeping the S&P futures contract out of the reach of many individual speculators even with a margin requirement of only about 6 percent of the contract’s value. By introducing the E-mini CME put the S&P 500 Index within the capabilities of many individual accounts. E-mini S&P futures contract in fact revolutionized trading. Today many individual traders make a living by day trading E-mini S&P futures.
Another important decision that the CME officials took was giving traders direct access to the market without going through an order handler. Now trading orders could take place entirely on a trade matching computer with no human intervention. This was the real innovation that allowed small orders of this new E-mini market trade entirely on an electronic platform and not in the traditional open-outcry pits.
E-mini S&P futures contracts would no longer be limited to after-hours trading or to supplement the primary pit contract. As the allowable number of contracts was increased over time, electronic trading became the mainstream market for the E-mini S&P futures contracts.
The radical move caught the wave of online trading and day trading that was revolutionizing the stock market at the same time. CME also decided it might as well keep the market open almost 24 hours a day as long as trading was all computer-based.
S&P futures contracts are another example of how 24 hours a day trading enables traders to respond to economic news releases in pre-market and after-market sessions. Regular trading hours for S&P futures contracts are from 8:30 A.M to 3:15 PM. S&P futures contracts are valued in ticks worth 0.1 index points or $25.
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The evening session continues on the Globex until 8:15 AM overnight. It starts at 3:30 PM (15 minutes after the close at 3.15 PM). Individual S&P futures contract holders are limited to no more than 20,000 net long or short contracts at any one time.
A procedure is set in place to halt trading if the index experiences major declines or increases beyond certain limits. Circuit breakers are triggered if these price limits are crossed. The limits are set on quarterly basis. A price limit is how far an S&P futures contract can rise or fall in a single trading session.
Collar Rule:
What the collar rule does is limit the chance of huge gains or losses as a result of futures trading. The collar rule limits the traders from piling buy or sell orders in an attempt to exaggerate the gains or losses of the market. It addresses price swings related to program trades that move the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) more than 2% by requiring index arbitrage orders, or orders that bet on the spread between the futures and the cash of stock indexes to be stabilizing.
It’s time to learn how an S&P futures contract ticks once you have mastered futures basics such as the performance bond margins, the mark to market requirements and the account specifics. Especially during slow seasons in the stock market such as summer, fall and around the winter holidays, overnight or pre-market trading can be thin and dangerous.
CME’s most actively traded contracts are S&P futures including the E-minis and Eurodollar futures. There are hundreds of futures contracts that trade on the federally regulated futures exchanges in the United States. Each of these exchanges trade futures contract that are somewhat unique to it.
E-mini S&P Futures Contracts:
Because of high intraday price volatility and major price swings on a daily basis, E-mini S&P futures contracts (ES) are the favorites of the day traders. Because they enable you to trade the market’s trend with only one fifth of the requirement, E-mini S&P futures contracts (ES) are among the most popular stock index futures contract.
The value of the E-mini S&P futures contract is $50 times the value of the S&P 500 stock index. One tick on E-min S&P futures contract is equal to 0.25 of the index point or $12.50. The E-mini S&P futures contract can be very volatile and can move even more aggressively during times of extreme market volatility.
E-mini S&P futures contract are quarterly like all futures contracts. The monthly identifiers for the E-mini S&P futures contracts are H for March, M for June, U for September and Z for December. The E-mini S&P futures contract trade almost 24 hours per day. However, there is a 30 minute maintenance break in trading from 4:30 to 5:00 PM daily.
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In case you lose at the end of the day you are likely to pay in a big way. If you are a new E-mini trader you be careful as traders are expected to pay for the difference between the margins for the entry and exit points. The day trading margin is less than the margin to hold an overnight position in S&P 500 E-mini Futures contract. The margin requirements for E-minis are much less than the normal contract.
Like all futures contracts, S&P futures contracts including E-minis are settled daily. The values of all positions are marked to the market each day after the official close based on the settlement price. At the end of the trading day they are assigned a final value price. Cash will either come into your account or leave your account based on the change in the settlement price from day to day as long as your positions remain open. In other words, based on how well your positions fared in that day’s trading session, your account is then either debited or credited.
It is this mechanism that brings integrity to the marketplace. As losses are not allowed to accumulate without some response being required, this system gives futures trading a rock-solid reputation for creditworthiness.
Leverage:
Leverage can produce large profits in relation to the amount of your initial margin if you speculate in futures and the market moves in your favor. However, you also could lose your initial margin if the market moves against your position. The effect of price changes is magnified because futures markets are highly leveraged. You typically pay the price in full with stocks (without leverage) or on margin (50 percent leverage).
Suppose you buy one E-mini S&P 500 index futures contract when the index is trading at 1000 and you have decided to put $10,000 into your futures account. Your initial margin requirement for that one contract is $3,500.
You could realize a profit of $2,500 (50 points × $50) if the index increases 5 percent, to 1050 from 1000. Conversely, a 50-point decline would produce a $2,500 loss. Each one-point change in the index represents a $50 gain or loss because the value of the futures contract is $50 times the index. The $2,500 increase represents a 25% return on your initial investment of $10,000. It is a 71% return on your initial margin deposit of $3,500.
An increase or decrease of only 5 percent in the index could result in a substantial gain or loss in your account in either case. That’s the power of leverage. Similarly a decline would eat up 25% of your original $10,000. It is 71% of your initial margin.
Indeed, leverage is the key distinctive aspect of futures trading as compared with stock trading. It makes your money work harder and produces more in a shorter period of time when everything’s going your way, than if you paid for everything in full, up front. In such a situation leverage can be a beautiful thing.
Now suppose you buy an E-mini S&P 500 contract worth $50,000 by using $5,000 in your account. However, the contract’s value drops to $45,000 as the prices fall by 10 percent instead of going up. This is the dark side to leverage. Your $5,000 is completely gone. Leverage is the one ingredient that can produce either horror stories or happy endings. You’ll be obligated to put up even more money if the market keeps moving against you unless you get out of the position with an offsetting sale when your maintenance margin level is violated. It is extremely important that you fully understand the power of leverage and how to manage it well to get the happy ending.
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