Which E-minis Trade After Hours?

• E-minis are round-the-clock electronically traded futures contracts. A trader has access to moving markets at any time. The closure of the United States markets for the day marks the beginning of after-hours trading for E-minis. The freedom of trading at any time provided by the E-minis futures contracts is often seen as advantageous over other stock instruments. E-minis came into existence in 1997 with the opening of a full electronic mini S&P market that was followed by Nasdaq two years later.

Standard & Poor's 500 E-minis

• The S&P 500 futures, the most popular among E-minis, is denoted as ES. It is an electronically traded edition of the S&P 500 stock index. It is about one-fifth of the larger institutional-traded contracts on the Globex exchange on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The advantage of this form of market compared to regular trading is the chance to make large profits with less amounts of margin requirements and low commission. One reason some experienced traders have switched from the big S&P to minis is because of the immediate fills and minimal slippages. Slippages distinguish the calculated price for an order in trading from the actual price level. The S&P is larger than the rest of all U.S. E-minis index futures combined.

E-mini NASDAQ-100 Futures

• The E-mini Nasdaq 100 provides trade-lucrative opportunities, particularly in the technology sector. The E-mini Nasdaq 100 futures contracts are a smaller electronic version of the NASDAQ 100 stock index. Like the S&P 500, Nasdaq electronically traded futures are one-fifth the size of the larger institutional contracts. One of the main benefits is their volatility, which provides the opportunity to earn more profits with lower account balances. You also enjoy broad market exposure at a low cost and can make a profit regardless of the market direction.

Russell 2000 Index Mini Futures

• The E-minis are futures contracts on the Russell 2000 index traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It is considered to be the most dynamic E-mini index future. It is based on small-cap stocks and is a leading indicator of the direction of all the index markets. E-mini index futures are beneficial to discretionary traders who only trade under specific situations, such as a major announcement from the Federal Reserve Board that moves the markets. If you are such a trader, you invest because you know, for instance, that when the Federal Reserve Board announces a reduction in interest rates, markets are bound to react positively.