CQG News | The Rise in Equity Options Trading Extends to Futures

▤ Summary

“The $5 multiplier option for Micro E-mini S&P 500 options on futures, for instance, is more accessible for investors looking to express a market view with as little as $1,000 to trade these popular indices.” The product is an important element of the industry-wide drive to make equities more accessible, another instance of which is equities platforms that allow investors to buy small fractions of individual stocks. The ability to access smaller-sized options on the suite of Micro E-minis – available on the S&P 500, and Nasdaq-100 – allows retail investors to customize their risk defined strategies based on the size of their portfolios, adds Mackenzie. On February 11, micro options in Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 combined to trade nearly 40,000 contracts, a single day record, as the Consumer Price Index, the key measure of inflation in the U.S., reached a 40-year high of 7.5%. With the vast number of clients working from home during the early stages of the pandemic, TD Ameritrade noticed a significant increase in the use of its investor education offerings, which largely continued through 2021. The firm has also observed that those clients utilizing its investor education resources and the TD Ameritrade Network have become more confident about following sophisticated strategies such as micro options.

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