E-Mini

An electronically traded futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that represents a portion of the normal futures contracts. E-mini contracts are available on a wide range of indexes such as the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and Russell 2000.

For example, the E-mini S&P 500 futures contract is one-fifth the size of the standard S&P 500 futures contract. Advantages to trading E-mini contracts include liquidity, greater affordability for individual investors and around-the-clock trading.