Many times you will notice E-mini along with "S&P 500." E-mini S&P 500 (ES) is the full name, and is one example of an emini contract. Although it is just one example, it is also the most popular out of them all.

S&P is an emini contract that is traded on the GLOBEX platform of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. S&P was not always an emini. Before 1997 the S&P contract was way too expensive for traders, at $500 times more than the index. In order to meet the requirements of all day traders, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange applied the new value to that of $50 times the S&P 500 index.

This was much more doable for those who are trading eminis, which are much smaller. The advantage of this is that traders can track the market direction rather than the success of individual stocks. This allows traders to take advantage of any movement up, down, or sideways in the market, and buy when they want and sell when they want. They are a bit more in charge, as opposed to just seeing how the individual stocks are performing on their own.

Like many other eminis, the S&P 500 follows a 3-month expiration cycle, which begins in March. The other three important months of the cycle are June, September, and December. ES trades 5 days weekly for 23.25 hrs daily.

Some popular eminis include things like 30 year US Treasury Bond, mini silver, mini gold, E-mini Nasdaq 100 Index, E-mini Dow Jones Industrial average, E-micro Australian Dollar, E-micro Eurodollar, and mini Russell 200 Index. The eminis range from currency to bonds to oils and much more.

This type of trading offers a lot more benefits, which is evident in the fact that the market adjusted the value of a stock particularly to meet the needs of emini traders. Working from home with only a computer and an internet connection is very convenient. The ability to have control over sales and purchases provides emini traders more confidence in the money they are investing. Another benefit of eminis is that the trading happens only during the day, so you watch the market, make your purchases and sales, and wrap up for the day. The next day you start fresh, this means you don't have to be worried about any major happening while you're asleep that affects your actions.

Many investors are including Emini trading into their strategies simply because of the ease and trading profit potential the Emini segments provide. If you might be considering investing in eminis, consider also putting a little capital into in your trading training to avoid irregular trading returns or even a decrease in your trading financing as well as your self respect.