Single Stock Futures: CME 2026 Contracts Explained

Single stock futures na contracts wey dey trade for exchange to buy or sell fixed number of shares for one company, for agreed price and set future date. On July 27, 2026, CME Group list new set: na first one for major US exchange since OneChicago close for 2020. E get 55 standard contracts of 100 shares and 22 micro contracts of 10 shares. All of dem settle for cash based on the stock official closing price, and traders fit trade dem about 23 hours every day. SpaceX dey the list, and na the worked example below.

Wetin CME list on July 27, 2026?

SpaceX don dey public for about six weeks when its contract start trading alongside names from S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. As of September 2026, CME contract specification page set the terms below, and e remain the reference for anything wey you trade.

• Contract unit: 100 shares for each standard contract, 10 for each micro.
• Settlement: cash, based on the stock official closing price for its primary exchange.
• Expirations: two consecutive quarterly months (March, June, September, December); trading end on the third Friday of the contract month.
• Minimum price increment: $0.01 per share, or $1.00 for each standard contract and $0.10 for each micro.
• Trading hours: CME Globex from 6:00 p.m. ET Sunday reach 5:00 p.m. ET Friday, with one-hour maintenance break every day at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The 23-hour clock na the main change from every previous US attempt. SpaceX future fit trade at 2:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, when the stock no dey trade at all. Contract codes follow CME usual root-plus-month-plus-year format (see how to read a futures symbol).

How dem price single stock future?

Futures price na spot price adjusted for the cost of carrying the shares reach expiry. E no be forecast. Money wey tie down inside shares fit earn interest otherwise, so dem add that financing. Whoever hold the shares go collect any dividend before expiry, but futures long no go collect am, so dem subtract the expected payout. Written out, futures price = spot + financing cost - expected dividends.

Take SpaceX at purely illustrative $100 per share. Na round number, no be quote. Its listing prospectus talk say e no expect to pay cash dividends for foreseeable future, so dividend leg na zero. The panel below run the arithmetic with 4% annual financing rate, next to hypothetical stock wey get the same $100 price and $0.50 dividend wey go trade ex-dividend before expiry.

SELECT
    days_to_expiry,
    round(100 * 0.04 * days_to_expiry / 365, 2) AS financing_usd,
    round(100 + 100 * 0.04 * days_to_expiry / 365, 2) AS fair_price_no_dividend,
    round(100 + 100 * 0.04 * days_to_expiry / 365 - 0.50, 2) AS fair_price_with_050_dividend
FROM (SELECT arrayJoin([30, 60, 90, 180, 365]) AS days_to_expiry)
ORDER BY days_to_expiry

After 90 days, carry na about $0.99, so fair futures price near $100.99. The dividend-paying stock price near $100.49 instead. On its ex-dividend date, stock go open lower by the payout, while the future, wey don already carry am, no go move. Basis, wey be the gap between futures and spot, go reduce to zero as expiry dey near. So contract wey you hold reach the end go pay the full financing leg even if the stock no move.

How margin for security future different from Reg T?

Buying shares on margin na loan. Under Federal Reserve Regulation T, broker fit lend maximum 50% of the purchase, and borrowed half go attract interest at broker margin rate. FINRA maintenance minimum na 25%.

Security future no be loan. Nobody borrow anything, so no interest dey charge; the financing dey inside the price. Margin here na performance bond against adverse price movement. Joint SEC and CFTC rule set the minimum at 15% of the contract current market value for each long or short position, as both initial and maintenance level. That floor na 20% from 2002 until the two agencies reduce am, effective December 24, 2020. CME Rule 930 adopt the 15% figure, with lower requirements for recognized offsets.

The next panel put the percentages side by side for the illustrative SpaceX contract: 100 shares at $100, or $10,000 notional.

SELECT
    regime,
    margin_pct,
    round(10000 * margin_pct / 100, 0) AS deposit_usd,
    round(100 / margin_pct, 1) AS leverage_x
FROM (
    SELECT 'Reg T initial' AS regime, 50 AS margin_pct
    UNION ALL SELECT 'Reg T maintenance', 25
    UNION ALL SELECT 'OneChicago era floor', 20
    UNION ALL SELECT 'CME security futures floor', 15
)
ORDER BY margin_pct DESC

Reg T ask for $5,000 upfront. Security-futures floor ask for $1,500, meaning about 6.7 times leverage against 2 times. E work both ways: 15% move against the position fit use the whole $1,500 deposit. Na flat percentage of notional, no be risk-model (SPAN-style) margin for index futures. That one dey change with volatility and often dey well below 15%. Daily settlement work like e dey work for any future; see how futures margin works and, for securities side, Reg T versus portfolio margin.

Single stock futures dey get 60/40 tax treatment like index futures?

No. Section 1256 of Internal Revenue Code give regulated futures contracts and broad-based index options blended 60/40 treatment: 60% of any gain na long-term and 40% na short-term, no matter how long you hold am. Section 1256(b)(2)(A) then exclude “any securities futures contract or option on such a contract unless such contract or option is a dealer securities futures contract.” Retail trader no be dealer, so CME single stock future dey completely outside Section 1256.

Section 1234B fill the gap. Gain or loss on securities futures contract take the character of the underlying stock. For investor, that mean capital gain or loss, and e become long-term only if you hold the contract for more than one year. Contract to sell, meaning a short, always short-term under Section 1234B(b). Wash-sale rule under Section 1091 mention securities futures contracts by name. See why index options are taxed 60/40 for where dem draw that line. None of this na tax advice.

Single stock futures versus shares versus options

Compared with owning shares, futures long give up four things: dividend, vote, open-ended holding period, and 50% Reg T deposit. In exchange, e get 15% floor and 23-hour session. Contract also get expiry. Since two quarterly months dey listed, position wey last one year go roll three times. Each roll na spread between the expiring month and the next one (see continuous futures contracts). Position wey reach expiry become final cash credit or debit. No shares go arrive.

Compared with options, the difference dey for the shape of the exposure. A call option lose value as time pass, known as theta, and e move with implied volatility as well as the stock. Future get none of those. E pay straight $1 per standard contract for every cent wey the stock move. That linear movement na also the risk: call buyer loss dey capped at the premium, but futures long or short get no such cap. The 15% deposit na the first 15% of loss, no be the last.

Why OneChicago single stock futures fail?

Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 remove ban wey date back to 1982, and US single stock futures start trading on November 8, 2002. OneChicago carry the product for almost eighteen years and hold its last session on September 18, 2020. Five conditions remain throughout the whole period: physical delivery, where expiring long receive 100 shares through Options Clearing Corporation; daytime hours only; 20% margin floor for the whole lifespan, with reduction to 15% taking effect three months after the last trade; same tax carve-out we describe above; and dual SEC and CFTC registration for every broker, which few retail brokers accept.

Three of those five conditions don change in 2026. New contracts settle for cash, with no delivery and no borrow. Dem trade 23 hours every day on Globex. 15% floor don dey in place before the first trade. Retail access to futures also wide pass how e be for 2002. Tax carve-out and dual regime no change. Whether this mix go change the outcome still be open question. Our coverage of the SpaceX lockup expiration and the SpaceX Nasdaq-100 index add dey track the stock wey those first contracts settle against.

FAQ

Wetin be single stock future?

Na exchange-traded contract to buy or sell set number of shares for one company, at agreed price on fixed date. CME contracts cover 100 shares for standard or 10 for micro, and dem settle for cash based on the official closing price on the third Friday of the contract month.

Single stock futures dey pay dividend?

No. Futures long never receive dividend and never vote. Instead, dem subtract the expected payout from futures price. Futures short no owe dividend the way person wey short-sell the stock owe am.

How much margin single stock futures require?

Joint SEC and CFTC rules set minimum at 15% of the contract current market value for each long or short position, as both initial and maintenance margin. Brokers fit require more. Buying shares under Regulation T require 50% upfront.

Single stock futures dey taxed 60/40 like index futures?

No. Section 1256(b)(2)(A) exclude securities futures contracts from 60/40 rule unless dem be dealer contracts. Under Section 1234B, gains take the character of the underlying stock, while short position always be short-term.

The terms above na September 2026 snapshot. CME specification page na the live reference. The carry and margin arithmetic above dey run as plain SQL on Strasmore terminal.