Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)

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This article describes a futures exchange on which futures contracts are traded. Click here to view articles referencing this exchange.

 

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This article is about the futures exchange. For the publicly traded company that operates the exchange, see CME Group (CME).

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is a futures exchange located in Chicago, Illinois. The parent company, CME Group (CME), also owns the Chicago Board of Trade, and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), though these operate as independent exchanges.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange began in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, so named because it only traded contracts in butter and eggs. In 1919 it became known as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The exchange expanded its product line over the years, beginning with the introduction of frozen pork belly futures in 1961. In 1964, the exchange began trading live cattle futures, in 1972 it issued the first futures on foreign currencies, and in 1982 stock index futures were added to its product list. The first international link between futures exchanges was established in 1984 between the CME and the Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading Ltd. (SGX). In 1992, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange introduced the first global electronic futures trading platform CME Globex. This system did not replace the traditional open outcry system, but was used alongside it in order to enhance trading efficiency and extend trading hours. Approximately 80% of the exchange’s daily volume of contracts traded in 2009 was attributed to CME Globex. In 2000, the CME demutualized, becoming a for-profit organization, and in 2001 it officially became the largest futures exchange in the U.S as a wholly owned subsidiary of CME Holdings.. In 2002, CME Holdings became the first exchange in the United States to issue shares, listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The CME’s 2007 merger with the Chicago Board of Trade resulted in the formation of the CME Group, which now has its primary stock listing on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol CME.

Products traded and cleared by the CME and its parent company, CME Group (CME), include interest rate swaps and futures, stock and real estate index futures, energy and environmental products, agricultural and weather products, metals, credit default swaps (CDS), and foreign exchange (FX), all listed either on their exchanges, through the over-the-counter (OTC) network CME ClearPort, or traded in private negotiation. In 2008, combined volumes on these exchanges exceeded 3.3 billion contracts – worth more than $1.2 quadrillion in notional values.

Basic Information

• Owner: CME Group (CME)
• Location: Chicago, Illinois
• Time Zone: US Central Time (CST) (GMT-6 hours)
• Currency: U.S. Dollar (USD)

Exchange Symbols

• Thomson Reuters: CM
• Yahoo! Finance: .CME

Trading Hours

• Normal Trading Session: Unique for each futures contract, though generally sometime between 9:00 am and 1:30pm Central Time (GMT - 6 hours)
• Electronic Trading Sessions: 9:05am - 4:00pm, then 5:00pm - 4:00pm, with a Friday close at 1:30pm

Creating Articles for Futures Contracts Trading on the CME

To create an article for a futures contract listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, follow these steps:

• Type the name of the futures contract with the word "futures" at the end end (e.g. "Pork Belly Futures") into the Wikinvest search box and click Search.
• Assuming the article doesn't exist, click on the link adjacent to Be the first person to create the page.
• Type {{commodity}}, [[category:CME Commodities]] and any other categories appropriate for the context (e.g. [[category:Grain Commodities]] or [[category:Energy Commodities]]) on separate lines into the text box and click Save page to create the article.
• For a full list of categories, see the page on commodities.

See Also

• The CME website
• Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)
• New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)

Futures Contracts Traded on the CME