OneChicago, an electronic exchange for trading single-stock futures, has launched trading of futures on the PowerShares QQQ and iShares Russell 2000 exchange-traded funds, adding to a rost
OneChicago, an electronic exchange for trading single-stock futures, has launched trading of futures on the PowerShares QQQ and iShares Russell 2000 exchange-traded funds, adding to a roster of futures on ETFs including the Diamonds Trust Series 1 and Sector Select SPDR Fund. The Diamonds Trust contract has a 100-share contract size while the others all trade with a 1,000 multiplier.
‘Adding these highly liquid products to our platform is part of OneChicago’s strategy of rethinking single-stock futures,’ says chief executive David Downey. ‘These new listings permit approved portfolio margining customers to realise substantial savings on initial margin requirements for hedged positions using broad-based index futures.’
OneChicago recently launched a comparison calculator that enables users to compare the costs of buying stocks on margin against the returns for using equivalent single-stock futures positions.
The exchange lists 492 futures on single stocks, one ETF contract of a 100-share size and seven with a 1,000-share contract size, as well as 10 OneChicago Select Indexes, a series of customer-designed narrow-based security index futures.
OneChicago rules permit block trading and exchange of futures for physical (EFP) transactions, and the exchange says a substantial proportion of its trading volume results from such trades.
OneChicago is a joint venture between IB Exchange, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and CME Group. All products are electronically traded on the CBOEdirect match engine and are accessible through the CBOEdirect and CME Globex platforms. Security futures can be traded out of either securities or futures accounts.
