1. Futures contracts trading hours
According to the Exchange rules,
the trading hours of each future products vary differently; please refer to the
details in the Tiger Trade App. You may take Exchange announcement as
confirmation.
2. Minimum futures contract trading
unit
The trading unit of futures
contract is different from trading stock. In futures trading,
"Contract" is the trading unit, and the minimum trading unit of
futures is a standard contract which is normally called one standard lot. The
contract size of different futures contracts varies differently.
3. Futures price changes
The range of futures price change is
considerably large. Some contracts have no intraday price change limit,
investors are strongly advised to manage your own trading risk.
4. Futures trading methods
The futures contracts are traded in
margin, investors can enter a futures contract after fulfilling the initial margin
requirement which is a certain percentage of contract value (margin ratio less
than 50%, usually about 10%). Exchange will conduct the settlement for investors’
position contracts in daily basis, and issue margin call to investors whose account
cash collateral fails to meet the margin requirement requirements; futures merchant
may require a higher overnight margin requirement.
5. Futures contract delivery mechanism
When the futures contract approaches
to its delivery date, the contract will be delivered in a designated manner required
by the Exchange, and the manner of delivery usually are physical delivery or
cash delivery.
The cash delivery refers to a
manner of delivery that, for the due and open position futures contract is
delivered, the profit and loss is calculated based on its settlement price and settle
the contract by paying cash.
While the physical delivery is such
a manner of delivery that, for the futures contract is due, the buyer and the
seller transfer the physical underlying of the futures contract according to the
Exchange rule to settle the contract.
6. Futures trading market
(1) CME Group (Chicago Mercantile
Exchange Group Inc.)
CME Group (Chicago Mercantile
Exchange Group Inc.) owns four Exchange brands, i.e. CME (Chicago Mercantile
Exchange), CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade), NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange),
COMEX (New York Commodity Exchange), which are in Chicago and New York, and the
varieties of futures contract cover hundreds of futures and option contract across
seven categories, i.e. energy, precious metal, base metal, agricultural
product, exchange rate and interest rate.
(2) SGX (Singapore Exchange Limited)
SGX (Singapore Exchange) is a major
financial products trading center in the world. SGX provides world class
trading products across foreign exchange futures, stock index futures, interest
rate derivatives (futures, option, forward, interchange, etc.). Besides, due to
the special geographic location of Singapore, A50, iron ore, and natural rubber
contracts provided by SGX are very influential trading products in the world.
(3) HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and
Clearing Limited)
HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and
Clearing Limited) is one of the principal exchange groups in the world, and its
Hong Kong Futures Exchange provides various futures and option contract trading,
such as stock index futures, precious metal, foreign exchange rate, interest
rate.
(4) CBOE (Chicago Board Options
Exchange)
CBOE established the option trading
marketplace and standardized contracts, revolutionarily changing the option
trading activities. In addition to option trading, CBOE also provides futures
trading, of which the most famous one is the volatility futures of S&P500
index.
7. Last trading day and first
notice day of futures
The last trading day means the last
trading day of the contract, and usually the settlement date is also the last
trading day. Open futures positions held to the last trading day will be delivered.
n order to avoid any delivery risk, Tiger Brokers does not offers physical
delivery, and the contract herein may be liquidated three trading days prior to
the last trading. Commodities that follows the cash delivery can be held until the
closing of last trading day, and Exchange processes the delivery and settlement
based on the settlement price and converts the position into cash.
The first notice day means: in the futures
market, some financial or commodity futures are available for a physical
delivery, after the first notice day, the futures seller is entitled to notice
the buyer to conduct a physical delivery. In order to avoid the delivery risk,
Tiger Brokers does not allow physical delivery. Open futures contract position held
to the first notice day, may be forced liquidated three trading days prior to
the date due.