Hours outside of 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, are considered "overnight" hours for block trading. During the hours of 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., higher minimum thresholds are required for block trading. The new minimums for block trading of Eurodollars are summarized in the following table:
|
|
Futures |
Options |
|
6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays – Fridays on Regular Business
Days |
4,000 contracts – or 1,000 contracts provided that a
minimum of 1,000 contracts are assumed in yrs 6-10 |
4,000 contracts |
|
All Hours Outside of 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays – Fridays
on Regular Business Days |
500 contracts |
500 contracts |
Block trades are privately negotiated futures or option transactions executed apart from the public auction market. Block transactions may be executed by eligible parties on or off CME trading floors. They must be priced at "fair and reasonable" levels in light of the size of the transaction and the circumstances of the parties to the transaction and must be reported to the exchange within 15 minutes of execution.
CME’s Eurodollar futures, introduced in 1981, are currently the most heavily traded futures contract in the world. Eurodollars, bank deposits denominated in U.S. dollars held outside of the United States, have been a pricing benchmark in corporate funding for decades. The Eurodollar futures contract represents an interest rate on a three-month deposit of $1 million.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is an international marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX® around-the-clock electronic trading system. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moves about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments and manages $30.1 billion in collateral deposits. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.
