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Futures Overview | Best Stock Trading Signals

What is Futures Trading?

Futures Trading is a form of investment which involves speculating on the price of a commodity going up or down in the future.

What is a commodity? Most commodities you see and use every day of your life:

  • the corn in your morning cereal which you have for breakfast,

  • the lumber that makes your breakfast-table and chairs

  • the gold on your watch and jewellery,

  • the cotton that makes your clothes,

  • the steel which makes your motor car and the crude oil which runs it and takes you to work,

  • the wheat that makes the bread in your lunchtime sandwiches

  • the beef and potatoes you eat for lunch,

  • the currency you use to buy all these things…

… All these commodities (and dozens more) are traded between hundreds-of-thousands of investors, every day, all over the world. They are all trying to make a profit by buying a commodity at a low price and selling at a higher price.

Futures trading is mainly speculative ‘paper’ investing, i.e. it is rare for the investors to actually hold the physical commodity, just a piece of paper known as a futures contract.

What is a Futures Contract?

To the uninitiated, the term contract can be a little off-putting but it is mainly used because, like a contract, a futures investment has an expiration date. You don’t have to hold the contract until it expires. You can cancel it anytime you like. In fact, many short-term traders only hold their contracts for a few hours – or even minutes!

The expiration dates vary between commodities, and you have to choose which contract fits your market objective.

For example, today is June 30th and you think Gold will rise in price until mid-August. The Gold contracts available are February, April, June, August, October and December. As it is the end of June and this contract has already expired, you would probably choose the August or October Gold contract.

The nearer (to expiration) contracts are usually more liquid, i.e. there are more traders trading them. Therefore, prices are more true and less likely to jump from one extreme to the other. But if you thought the price of gold would rise until September, you would choose a further-out contract (October in this case) – a September contract doesn’t exist.

Neither is their a limit on the number of contracts you can trade (within reason – there must be enough buyers or sellers to trade with you.) Many larger traders/investment companies/banks, etc. may trade thousands of contracts at a time!

All futures contracts are standardised in that they all hold a specified amount and quality of a commodity. For example, a Pork Bellies futures contract (PB) holds 40,000lbs of pork bellies of a certain size; a Gold futures contract (GC) holds 100 troy ounces of 24 carat gold; and a Crude Oil futures contract holds 1000 barrels of crude oil of a certain quality.

Futures Symbols

Futures and Futures Options can be obtained from the following exchanges: CME, CBOT, COMEX, KCBT, MGEX, ICE, NYMEX, and DME. Trade the Currencies, Energies, Financials, Grains, Indices, Meats, Metals, and Softs. Press CTRL-F on the keyboard to search down through the symbols

Futures Commodity symbols are created in three parts:
the root symbol, the month code, and the year code.

The month code is represented with a single letter as displayed below:

The year code is displayed as one digit:
2015 would be displayed as 5
2016 would be displayed as 6
2017 would be displayed as 7

For example, the E-mini S&P 500, December 2015 contract, would be -ESZ5
-ES is the root symbol
Z is the month of December
5 is for the year 2015

  • Sample Futures Symbols
  • -ESZ5     E-mini S&P 500, December 2015 contract
  • -NQH7     E-mini Nasdaq, March 2017 contract
  • -YMH6     E-mini Dow Jones, March 2016 contract
  • -ZCK6     Corn, May 2016 contract
  • -ZSX5     Soybeans, November 2015 contract
  • -ZWH6     Wheat, March 2016 contract
  • Root Symbols for several Futures Markets and Exchanges
  • CME E-mini Package (Globex)
  • -E7       E-Mini Euro FX
  • -E8       E-Mini Eurodollar 5-Year Bundle
  • -EA       E-Mini MSCI EAFE
  • -EB       E-Mini Eurodollar
  • -EO       E-Mini S&P 500 EUR
  • -ER       E-Mini MSCI EMI
  • -ES       E-Mini S&P 500
  • -EW       E-Mini S&P Midcap
  • -FN       E-Mini Xinhua 25
  • -J7       E-Mini Japanese Yen
  • -NB       E-Mini Nasdaq Bio
  • -NC       E-Mini Nasdaq Comp
  • -NQ       E-Mini Nasdaq 100
  • -PC       E-Mini S&P SmallCap
  • -SO       E-Mini S&P Asia 50
  • CBOT Mini Package
  • -YM       Mid-Sized ($5) Dow Industrials
  • -YC       Mini-Sized Corn
  • -XN       Mini-Sized Corn
  • -XW       Mini-Sized Wheat
  • -XK       Mini-Sized Soybeans
  • Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT Streaming)
  • -ZC       Corn
  • -ZO       Oats
  • -ZW       Wheat
  • -ZS       Soybeans
  • -ZR       Rough Rice
  • -ZM       Soybean Meal
  • -ZL       Soybean Oil
  • -ZA       Soybean South American
  • -ZK       Ethanol
  • -FZ       Ethanol OTC Swaps
  • -EG       Ethanol Gulf Coast
  • -EN       Ethanol Los Angeles
  • -EH       Ethanol New York
  • -CS       Soybean Crush
  • -CM       Southern Minnesota Corn Basis Swap
  • -CN       Eastern Nebraska Corn Basis Swap
  • -CO       Eastern South Dakota Corn Basis Swap
  • -CY       Northeastern Iowa Corn Basis Swap
  • -DO       Southern Iowa Corn Basis Swap
  • -FQ       Corn Calendar Swap
  • -FR       Soybean Calendar Swap
  • -FU       Wheat Calendar Swap
  • -ZB       30 Year T-Bond
  • -ZN       10 Year T-Note
  • -ZF       5 Year T-Note
  • -ZT       2 Year T-Note
  • -QS       30 Year Interest Rate Swap
  • -SR       10 Year Interest Rate Swap
  • -J8       7 Year Interest Rate Swap
  • -SA       5 Year Interest Rate Swap
  • -ZQ       30 Day Fed Funds
  • -F2       Fed Funds Binary Options
  • -ZD       Dow Industrials (E)
  • -DD       Big-Sized ($25) Dow Industrials
  • -AH       Dow Jones AIG Excess Return Index
  • -DH       Dow Jones Real Estate Index
  • -CX       Liquid 50 Swap Index
  • -DC       Dow Composite
  • -DT       Dow Transports
  • -DU       Dow Utilities
  • Chicago Mercantile Exchange (IMM)
  • -A6       Australian Dollar
  • -B6       British Pound
  • -D6       Canadian Dollar
  • -J6       Japanese Yen
  • -E6       Euro FX
  • -S6       Swiss Franc
  • -M6       Mexican Peso
  • -L6       Brazilian Real
  • -N6       New Zealand Dollar
  • -R6       Russian Ruble
  • -T6       South African Rand
  • -RP       Euro/Pound
  • -RY       Euro/Yen
  • -RF       Euro/Swiss
  • -SK       Swedish Krona
  • -NR       Norwegian Krone
  • -UA       Euro/Krona
  • -UB       Euro/Krone
  • -UC       Euro/Australian
  • -UE       Euro/Canadian
  • -UF       Canadian/Yen
  • -UG       Australian/Canadian
  • -UI       Australian/New Zealand
  • -UK       Australian/Yen
  • -UN       British Pound/Swiss Franc
  • -UR       British Pound/Yen
  • -UP       Swiss Franc/Yen
  • -WC       Czech Koruna
  • -WE       Euro/Czech Koruna
  • -WH       Hungarian Forint
  • -WP       Polish Zloty
  • -WU       Euro/Hungarian Forint
  • -WY       Iraeli Shekel
  • -WZ       Euro/Polosh Zloty
  • -KZ       Korean Won
  • -QR       Renminbi/Yen
  • -QV       Renminbi/Euro
  • -QT       Chinese Renminbi
  • -E4       Turkish Lira
  • -E5       Euro Turkish Lira
  • -MB       E-Micro GBP/USD
  • -MF       E-Micro EUR/USD
  • -MG       E-Micro AUD/USD
  • -MH       E-Micro USD/JPY
  • -MM       E-Micro USD/CAD
  • -MN       E-Micro USD/CHF
  • -CZ       CME $ Index
  • -GE       Eurodollar
  • -GP       Eurodollar Cal Spread
  • -F1       SPX Synth ED Cal SPD
  • -GJ       Euroyen Tibor
  • -EL       Euroyen Libor
  • -GH       1-Month Libor
  • -C7       Eurozone CPI Index
  • -JB       Japanese Bond
  • -FD       3-Month (OIS) Swaps
  • -S2       2-Yr Swap Rate
  • -S5       5-Yr Swap Rate
  • -S0       10-Yr Swap Rate
  • Chicago Mercantile Exchange (IOM)
  • -SP       S&P 500 Index
  • -ND       Nasdaq 100
  • -MD       S&P Midcap 400
  • -SG       S&P 500/Barra Growth
  • -SU       S&P 500/Barra Value
  • -PH       S&P SmallCap 600
  • -PP       S&P Depositary SPY
  • -PZ       Nasdaq 100 QQQQ
  • -PR       iShares Rus 2000
  • -LS       TRAKRS II Technology Index
  • -GA       Gold TRAKRS Index
  • -OO       LMC TRAKRS Index
  • -TA       Commodity TRAKRS Index
  • -XY       BXY TRAKRS Index
  • -XZ       PIMCO DJ TRAKRS
  • -YQ       ROGERS TRAKRS
  • -PI       PIMCO StockPLUS TRAKRS
  • -PE       Energy SCPTR
  • -PF       Financial SCPTR
  • -PT       Technology SCPTR
  • -NL       Nikkei 225 Yen
  • -NY       Nikkei 225
  • -GD       GSCI
  • -G7       GSCI Excess Return
  • -G8       GSCI Excess Return Swap Index
  • -C0       S&P GS Natural Gas ER
  • -LD       Lehman Aggregate
  • -F3       NonFarm Payroll
  • -OE       S&P 100 OEX
  • -SQ       S&P 500 Equal Weight
  • -OP       S&P 1000
  • Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)
  • -GF       Feeder Cattle
  • -LE       Live Cattle
  • -HE       Lean Hogs
  • -DB       Butter
  • -BD       Butter Cash-Settled
  • -DL       CME Class III Milk
  • -DF       CME Nonfat Dry Milk
  • -DN       CME Deliverable Nonfat Dry Milk
  • -DK       CME Class IV Milk
  • -JQ       BFP Midsize Options
  • -LS       Lumber
  • -DG       Dry Whey
  • -XP       NBSKP Pulp
  • -LP       Hardwood Pulp
  • Chicago Mercantile Exchange (Housing)
  • -J0       HPI Composite Index
  • -I0       HPI Boston
  • -I1       HPI Chicago
  • -I2       HPI Denver
  • -I3       HPI Las Vegas
  • -I4       HPI Los Angeles
  • -I5       HPI Miami
  • -I6       HPI New York
  • -I7       HPI San Diego
  • -I8       HPI San Francisco
  • -I9       HPI Washington DC
  • Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT)
  • -KE       Kansas City Wheat
  • -MV       Value Line Futures
  • Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX)
  • -MW       Spring Wheat
  • -IH       HRWI Hard Red Wheat
  • -IC       NCI Futures
  • -IS       NSI Futures
  • -IP       HRSI Spring Wheat Index
  • -IW       SRWI Soft Red Index
  • ICE Canada Winnipeg Commodity Exchange (WCE)
  • -RS       Canola
  • -AB       Western Barley
  • Commodities Exchange (COMEX)
  • -AL       Aluminum
  • -HG       High Grade Copper
  • -GC       Gold
  • -SI       Silver
  • -AM       Gold Asian
  • -YN       E-mini Gold Kilo
  • -YS       E-mini Silver 1000oz
  • New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
  • -CL       Crude Oil
  • -WS       Crude Oil (E)
  • -SC       Crude Oil Brent
  • -RE       Crude Oil REBCO
  • -CP       Crude Oil REBCO (E)
  • -QB       Ethanol Physical
  • -FH       Ethanol Swaps-New York
  • -FL       Ethanol Swaps-Chicago
  • -HO       Heating Oil
  • -BH       Heating Oil (E)
  • -RB       Gasoline RBOB
  • -RT       Gasoline RBOB (E)
  • -LR       Gasoline Gulf Coast
  • -LT       Diesel Gulf (ULSD)
  • -LL       Diesel NY (ULSD)
  • -PN       Propane
  • -NG       Natural Gas
  • -HP       Natural Gas (E)
  • -HH       Natural Gas LDay (E)
  • -QL       Coal
  • -PA       Palladium
  • -PL       Platinum
  • -AN       Platinum Asian
  • -AO       Palladium Asian
  • -JM       PJM Electricity
  • New York Mercantile Exchange – emiNY package (NYMI)
  • -QM       emiNY Crude Oil
  • -QH       emiNY Heating Oil
  • -QU       emiNY Gasoline Unleaded
  • -QG       emiNY Natural Gas
  • -QO       emiNY Gold
  • -QC       emiNY Copper
  • -QI       emiNY Silver
  • Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME)
  • -OQ       Crude Oil Oman
  • ICE New York Board of Trade (CSCE)
  • -KC       Coffee
  • -MK       Mini Coffee
  • -CC       Cocoa
  • -SB       Sugar #11
  • -SE       Sugar #14
  • -SD       Sugar #16
  • -RN       Robusta Coffee
  • ICE New York Board of Trade (NYCE)
  • -CT       Cotton #2
  • -OJ       Orange Juice FCOJ-A
  • -OD       Orange Juice Differential
  • -OB       Orange Juice FCOJ-B
  • ICE New York Board of Trade (NYFE)
  • -CR       CRB Futures Index
  • -CI       Continuous CRB Index
  • -YV       NYSE Composite
  • -RJ       Russell 2000 mini
  • ICE New York Board of Trade (FINEX)
  • -DX       U.S. Dollar Index
  • -EU       Euro Futures
  • -AU       Australian Dollar
  • -ZX       New Zealand Dollar
  •           Plus many other Currency Futures
  • ICE Europe Exchange (ICE)
  • -CB       Brent Crude Oil
  • -WI       Light Crude Oil
  • -LF       Gas Oil
  • -NF       Natural Gas
  • -LG       RBOB Blendstock
  • -LO       Heating Oil
  • -LM       Middle East Sour Crude Oil
  • -LU       Rotterdam Coal
  • -LV       Richard Bay Coal
  • -LQ       NewCastle Coal
  • -CK       ECX Carbon Financial
  • -CQ       ECX Carbon Emissions
  • CBOE Futures Exchange (Chicago Futures Exchange CFE)
  • -VI       Volatility Index VIX
  • -VM       Mini Volatility Index VIX
  • -VN       CBOE Nasdaq 100 VXN
  • -VJ       Russell 2000 RXN
  • -VE       DJIA 30 VXD
  • -VL       S&P 500 3M Variance
  • -VO       S&P 500 12M Variance
  • NYSE Liffe
  • -YG       Mini-sized Gold
  • -YI       Mini-sized Silver
  • -ZG       NYSE 100 oz Gold
  • -ZI       NYSE 5000 oz Silver

Note: Each Futures market symbol trades in specific contract months. For example, many of the currency and index symbols trade only in the H,M,U,Z months. Visit each futures exchange for details on a symbol’s trading hours and trading months.