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The sizing of a futures contract is not an administrative detail. It sets the practical floor for who can participate, and crude oil futures have long sat above that floor for most retail accounts.
Individual traders could track crude prices without being able to trade the underlying futures in any practical sense. CME Group is moving to change that.
The exchange plans to launch a 10-barrel crude oil contract, responding to a wave of retail bets on crude prices that the Iran conflict has already set in motion.
Why contract size is the access constraint Futures markets were structured around commercial hedging requirements. Producers and refiners need contracts sized to match their natural position scales.
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