Emini Trading Data

Question:

How can I track what the future markets (i.e. S&P, DOW and NAS) are doing pre-market open? Do they trade throughout the night? I was told by Scottrade that they don't provide access to futures. Do I need / do you recommend I open an account with an on-line service like Interactive Brokers?

Answer:

Hello!

Yes, the index futures trade nearly 24 hours a day and begin trading at18:00 ET on Sunday evenings.

The S&P 500 symbol is ES. You must then select the current active month and year. For instance, September futures under the symbol ESM are currently trading with 8 as the year. Different platforms will have somewhat different ways in which this data is entered. They change once a quarter with September expiration followed by December, then March, then June. Some platforms have continuous contracts so you do not have to change once a quarter. The Nasdaq 100 symbol is NQ and the Dow Jones. Ind. Ave. is YM.

In order to monitor futures trading afterhours and in premarket trade, you need to have a charting platform that provides this data. You must also be subscribed to the exchange and be permissioned to view the data.

There are many brokers and charting platforms that allow this and IB is one of them. If you plan on trading futures, I would suggest test-driving a few of the more popular platforms and see what works best for you.

All my best,
Toni