E-mini
E-minis are futures contracts that represent a fraction of the value of standard futures. They are traded primarily on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's Globex electronic trading platform. E-mini contracts were first launched in 1997 for the S&P 500 index with great success, and are now available on a wide range of stock market indexes, commodities and currencies. As of April, 2011, CME lists 44 unique E-mini contracts, of which approximately 10 have average daily trading volumes of over 1,000 contracts.
Some E-mini contracts provide trading advantages, including high liquidity, greater affordability for individual investors due to lower margin requirements than the full-size contracts, and round-the-clock trading 23.25 hours a day from Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon. Under U.S. tax law, E-minis may qualify as 1256 Contracts, and benefit from several tax advantages as well.
The risk of loss is also amplified by the higher leverage.
Symbology
Most E-mini futures expire quarterly, in March, June, September, and December. An E-mini future symbol is formed by starting with the root symbol and adding the expiration month letter and the last digit of the expiration year. For example, the E-mini S&P 500 expiring in December 2012 has the symbol ESZ2.E-mini contracts
The table below lists some of the more popular E-mini contracts, with the initial and maintenance margins required by CME. Note that individual brokers may require different margin amounts.| E-mini contract | Exchange | Ticker symbol | Multiplier | Tick size | Tick value | Initial margin | Maintenance margin | Average Daily Volume in 2018 |
| E-Mini S&P 500 | CME | ES | $50 | 0.25 | $12.50 | $13,200 | $12,000 | 1,766,663 |
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 | CME | MES | $5 | 0.25 | $1.25 | $1,320 | $1,200 | |
| E-Mini S&P 500 | CME | EME | €50 | 0.25 | €12.50 | €6,188 | €4,950 | |
| E-mini Dow Futures | CME | YM | $5 | 1 | $5 | $13,200 | $12,000 | 239,382 |
| Micro E-mini Dow | CME | MYM | $0.50 | 1 | $0.50 | $1,320 | $1,200 | |
| E-mini S&P MidCap 400 Futures | CME | EMD | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $7,500 | $6,000 | 19,647 |
| E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 Futures | CME | SMC | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $3,250 | $2,600 | 0 |
| E-mini NASDAQ-100 Futures | CME | NQ | $20 | 0.25 | $5 | $16,500 | $15,000 | 492,839 |
| Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 | CME | MNQ | $2 | 0.25 | $0.50 | $1,500 | $1,500 | |
| E-mini NASDAQ Composite Futures | CME | QCN | $20 | 0.50 | $10 | $4,000 | $3,200 | |
| E-mini NASDAQ Biotechnology Futures | CME | BIO | $50 | 0.10 | $5 | $3,750 | $3,000 | |
| E-mini S&P CNX Nifty futures | CME | EMF | $10 | 0.5 | $5 | $3,125 | $2,500 | 216 |
| E-mini FTSE/XINHUA China 25 Futures | CME | FXN | $5 | 5 | $25 | $13,750 | $11,000 | |
| E-mini JPY/USD Futures | CME | J7 | 6,250,000 Japanese yen | $.000001 | $6.25 | $3,038 | $2,250 | 648 |
| E-mini EUR/USD Futures | CME | E7 | 62,500 euro | $.0001 | $6.25 | $2,025 | $1,500 | 4,859 |
| E-mini Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Futures | CME | XAY | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $3,125 | $2,500 | 944 |
| E-mini Consumer Staples Select Sector Futures | CME | XAP | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $1,750 | $1,400 | 1,335 |
| E-mini Energy Select Sector Futures | CME | XAF | $250 | 0.05 | $12.50 | $6,500 | $5,200 | 1,823 |
| E-mini Health Care Select Sector Futures | CME | XAV | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $2,500 | $2,000 | 1,207 |
| E-mini Industrial Select Sector Futures | CME | XAI | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $3,125 | $2,500 | 1,094 |
| E-mini Materials Select Sector Futures | CME | XAB | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $3,125 | $2,500 | 668 |
| E-mini Technology Select Sector Futures | CME | XAK | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $1,750 | $1,400 | 1,945 |
| E-mini Utilities Select Sector Futures | CME | XAU | $100 | 0.10 | $10 | $2,500 | $2,000 | 2,057 |
| Mini-Sized Corn Futures | CME | YC | 1,000 bushels | $0.00125 | $1.25 | $473 | $350 | 472 |
| Mini-sized Soybean Futures | CME | YK | 1,000 bushels | $0.00125 | $1.25 | $945 | $700 | 1,086 |
| Mini-sized Wheat Futures | CME | YW | 1,000 bushels | $0.00125 | $1.25 | $810 | $600 | 349 |
| E-mini Light Sweet Crude Oil | CME | QM | 500 barrels | $0.025 | $12.50 | $3,375 | $2,500 | 18,621 |
| E-mini Natural Gas Futures | CME | QG | 2,500 million BTUs | $0.005 | $12.50 | $1,013 | $750 | 1,718 |
| E-mini Heating Oil - Financial Futures | CME | QH | 21,000 gallons | $0.001 | $21 | $3,206 | $2,375 | 0 |
| E-mini New York Harbor RBOB Gasoline Futures | CME | QU | 21,000 gallons | $0.0001 | $2.10 | $3,881 | $2,875 | 0 |
| COMEX E-Mini Gold Futures | CME | QO | 50 troy ounces | $0.25 | $12.5 | $3,376 | $2,500 | 383 |
| E-mini Silver Futures | CME | 6Q | 1,000 troy ounces | $0.005 | $5 | $2,349 | $1,740 | 53 |
| COMEX miNY Copper | CME | QC | 12,500 pounds | $0.002 | $25 | $2,869 | $2,125 | 21 |
| Russell 1000® Index Mini Futures | ICE | RF | $100 | $0.10 | $10 | 727 | ||
| Russell 2000® Index Mini Futures | ICE | TF | $50 | $0.10 | $5 | 150,100 | ||
| Micro E-mini Russell 2000 | CME | M2K | $5 | 0.10 | $0.50 |