TRADING STOCK INDICES

Futures are the best vehicle for a trader who wants to take advantage of the movements, both up and down, of a stock index. Stock index futures are also highly suitable for hedging stock portfolios against lower stock prices.

A future is an agreement to buy or sell the index at a specific price on a given date in the future. Stock index futures are "cash settled" - this means that no delivery of actual stocks takes place when the contract expires. Instead the current holder of the future receives /pays the difference between the entry price of the position and the expiration price (assuming that the position has not been closed prior to expiration). The futures expire four times a year; always on the third Friday of the month in March, June, September and December. You can trade the major stock index futures traded on the Eurex and CME futures exchanges via the Tradegate trading-platform.

Futures are traded on margin. The margin requirement for the futures offered by us varies between 10-20% of the underlying position's value. For a complete list of margin requirements click here. For more detailed information about the futures contracts click here.

UB Tradegate currently offers trading in following stock index futures:

• Dow Jones
• Nasdaq
• S&P 500
• Eurostoxx 50