CME launched 55 standard single-stock futures and 22 Micro versions on July 27, reviving a product that first appeared in 2002 but fizzled out by 2020. The contracts cover heavily traded names like Apple, Amazon, and Nvidia, and trade for 23 hours a day during the Sunday-to-Friday futures week, with a one-hour daily pause.
A second attempt at single-stock futures
The first US single-stock futures debuted in November 2002, backed by CME, Cboe, and the Chicago Board of Trade. But the product never took off. OneChicago, the exchange that handled them, ceased operations in September 2020. At its peak in 2015, OneChicago traded about 11.7 million contracts for the year. For context, the US options market averaged 61 million contracts per day a decade later.
One big reason for the early failure: a jurisdictional fight between the SEC and CFTC over who regulated single-stock futures. That was resolved by the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, but the product still struggled to gain traction.
What's changed since OneChicago
The market looks very different now. Crypto trading, brokerage apps, same-day options, and demand for 24/7 asset availability have reshaped investor behavior. CME believes the timing is better this time. The exchange is betting that retail traders, used to round-the-clock crypto markets, will want similar access to single-stock futures.
The Micro format is a direct play for that crowd. Each Micro contract represents 10 shares, so at a $200 stock price the notional value is about $2,000 — small enough for retail accounts. The standard contracts represent 100 shares, aimed at institutions.
The weight behind the launch
The 55 underlying companies generate more than $200 billion in average daily notional activity. They account for roughly 55% to 65% of both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100. That's a lot of liquidity to tap into.
The contracts started trading on July 27. The first few sessions will show whether retail appetite matches CME's expectations — or if single-stock futures remain a niche product for another decade.
