Forecast and Event Contracts enable investors to trade their opinion on specific yes-or-no questions on economic indicators such as the Consumer Price Index and the Fed Funds Rate, climate indicators including temperatures and atmospheric CO2, key futures markets including energy, metals, and equity indexes.
For each contract you hold that expires "in the money", in reference to the settlement value,
you receive a fixed payout.
Choose from ForecastEx Forecast Contracts on economic indicators, climate indicators, or CME Event Contracts on futures markets.
Trade YES or NO positions based on your view of whether the event will happen. The "YES" price is determined by the probability that an event will happen.
You can earn the difference between the purchase price and the closing price for each contract you own.
Contract Specs | ForecastEx | CME |
---|---|---|
Markets |
Economic or Climate Indicators |
Select Futures markets |
Market hours |
Monday through Friday Sunday through Thursday |
All Contracts: CME Globex Pre Open: Sunday 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Monday - Thursday 4:45 - 5:00 p.m. ECES; ECNQ; ECRTY; ECYM; ECBTC EC6E ECSI ECHG ECCL; ECNG Next Day's Event Contract will list at 5:00 p.m. All times are in Central Prevailing Time (CPT) |
Contract term |
Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly |
Daily |
Price quotation |
USD |
USD |
Contract size |
1 contract = $1.00 |
1 contract = $100.00 |
Minimum price increment |
$0.01 |
$1.00 |
Final settlement |
$0 or $1.00 |
$0 or $100.00 |
Forecast Contracts let you trade your view on the outcomes of various economic and climate indicators.
Each contract pays USD 1.00 and your max profit per contract is USD 1.00 minus the contract cost. Forecast Contracts are quoted in USD 0.01 increments.
Indicator | Source Agency | Frequency |
---|---|---|
US Fed Funds Target Rate |
U.S. Federal Reserve |
Irregular |
US Consumer Sentiment |
University of Michigan |
Monthly |
US Housing Starts |
U.S. Census Bureau |
Monthly |
US Retail Sales |
U.S. Census Bureau |
Monthly |
US Building Permits |
U.S. Census Bureau |
Monthly |
US Consumer Price Index |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Monthly |
US Payroll Employment |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Monthly |
US Unemployment Rate |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Monthly |
US Corporate Profits |
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis |
Quarterly |
US Initial Jobless Claims |
U.S. Department of Labor |
Weekly |
US National Debt |
U.S. Treasury |
Yearly |
US Real GDP |
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis |
Quarterly |
US Government Shutdown |
U.S. Office of Personnel Management ("OPM") |
As Appropriate |
US Debt Ceiling |
The Public Laws of the United States |
As Appropriate |
US Social Security Retirement Age |
The Public Laws of the United States |
Every Four Years |
Global Temperature |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |
Yearly |
US Temperature |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |
Yearly |
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |
Yearly |
Commentary, analysis, and insight on US economic indicators from Interactive Brokers’ senior economist Jose Torres.
Learn About Key Economic Events
As a trader, you will come across many factors that you must consider before entering or exiting the markets. Some of the most important aspects to look for are economic events that can move the markets drastically one way or another.
Monetary Measures, Economic Output and Corporate Profits (US)
This course covers the central banking system, the government bond system, fiscal budgets, economic growth calculations, and corporate profitability's importance. Some of the indicators include the money supply, yield curve, gross domestic product, and corporate profits.
Course Lessons:
Business and Consumer Activity and Confidence (US)
This course covers indicators that provide insight into economic activity and confidence like confidence, sales, incomes, production, and more.
Course Lessons:
Employment and the Labor Market (US)
This course explores a variety of labor market indicators that shed light on the composition of human work like participation, unemployment, employment, and wages.
Course Lessons:
Construction and Real Estate (US)
This course covers indicators that track the real estate market and its many different aspects such as mortgage rates, mortgage applications, spending, prices, shovels in the ground, permitting and more.
Course Lessons:
CME event contracts let you trade your view on whether the price of key futures markets will move up or down by the end of each day's trading session.
Each contract pays USD 100.00 and your max profit per contract is USD 100.00 minus the contract cost, fees and commissions. CME event contracts are quoted in USD 1.00 increments.
View all CME event contracts, and to trade simply choose YES or NO.
Interactive Brokers clients can use their existing login credentials to access IBKR ForecastTrader. If you already have Futures trading permission, you are permissioned for Forecast Contracts.
If you do not have Futures trading permission but would like to trade Forecast Contracts:
Trading permissions are usually approved overnight.
Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR) is an automated global electronic broker that serves individual investors, hedge funds, proprietary trading groups, registered investment advisors and introducing brokers.
Our four-decade focus on technology and automation allows us to provide our clients with a uniquely sophisticated, low-cost global platform for managing investments.
Our clients enjoy low-cost access to stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds and funds from a single unified platform.
Forecast Contract positions are available for review from any of our trading platforms.
You can also seamlessly access IBKR ForecastTrader from our other trading platforms. Click a trading platform to learn how.
Forecast and Event Contracts are only available to eligible clients of Interactive Brokers LLC, Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited, and Interactive Brokers Singapore Pte. Ltd.