Dow Jones Futures

Futures are brighter than ever at optionsXpress!

Discover a new way to play your hunch on the stock market or hedge your stock portfolio with Dow Jones futures. Our user-friendly trading platform and exceptional customer service make trading Dow futures a snap. Open an account to trade futures at optionsXpress.

About CBOT Dow Jones Futures

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the world's most widely followed stock index and the leading U.S. stock market benchmark. The Dow is comprised of 30 blue-chip U.S. companies representing nine different economic sectors. This is a price-weighted index, which means that a Dollar change in any of the 30 stocks has an equal impact on the index. The Chicago Board of Trade's Dow futures provide traders with an efficient way to gain exposure to the U.S. stock market, or they may be used to hedge stock portfolios against overall market risk. Dow futures may also be spread against other popular stock index futures, like S&P 500 futures, or against futures on individual stocks.

Dow futures trade in the pit during the day and on the exchange's eCBOT overnight. Substantial volume and open interest make for a highly liquid market, and extremely tight bid/ask spreads mean reduced transaction costs.

The Dow has long been the undisputed measure of U.S. stocks, and trading CBOT Dow futures is a great way to profit from the ups and downs of the U.S. stock market.

CBOT Dow Jones Futures Specifications

• Dow Jones Industrial Average futures, Chicago Board of Trade, symbol DJ. The contract size is $10 x Dow Jones Industrials Index. The minimum tick is 1.00 worth $10 per contract.
• Open-outcry trading in Dow futures is conducted from 8:20 AM EST until 4:15 PM EST. After-hours Dow futures trading takes place from 7:15 PM EST until 8:00 AM EST the following morning.
• Dow futures trade on a quarterly cycle, with the primary contracts being March, June, September, and December