ABOUT ELECTRONIC TRADING

E-mini® S&P 500® futures contracts are traded only one way: electronically on the CME® Globex® trading platform. This platform is an open access marketplace that allows the Emini day trader to participate directly in the trading process, view the book of orders and prices for the Emini and enter their own buy and sell orders globally nearly 24 hours a day. Speed of execution and confirmation (typically measured in milliseconds) transparency, anonymity and reliability of this electronic platform have all been instrumental to the contract's success among day traders.

In fact, electronic trading has become the execution of choice among traders. According to CME Group, electronically executed trading accounted for 86% of its total volume in 2009.

Trading on the Globex platform is generally available Sunday evening through late Friday afternoon. For the Emini S&P 500 day trader, the official close of trading for the day is at 3:15 p.m. CT. All open trades need to be closed out prior to the official close. Trading hours of the Emini S&P 500 futures on Globex are as follows (Central Time):

Opens Sunday and Holidays at 5:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. next day.
Trading for next trade date resumes:
Monday – Friday 3:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. next day with exception of daily maintenance shutdown from 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Emini day trader can use several types of orders on the Globex platform including limit, market-limit, market with protection, stop limit and stop with protection. During the trading session, these orders can be entered and, if not filled, modified or canceled. For other order types and functionality, please Ask a Broker.

According to a recent order execution study conducted by CME Group, approximately two-thirds of all Emini market orders consist of one to five contracts, and larger-size market orders tend to be placed in the time period corresponding to the open and close of the equity cash market. The study also notes that approximately 90 percent of all market orders of fewer than 50 contracts are being executed in 50 milliseconds or less.

The Globex platform is continuously enhanced to serve customers with high-speed, high-volume capacity. The CME Globex Control Center monitors trading activity and system performance around-the-clock to assure the orderly functioning of Emini S&P 500 futures as well as all other electronic markets.