Single Stock Futures Margin and Contract Specs

The core spec is contract size. A standard single stock future represents 100 shares of the underlying; a micro represents 10 shares. That multiplier, times the current share price, gives the contract’s notional value — the full economic exposure you control.

For example, the notional of a standard contract on a stock is simply the share price times 100. Notional matters because your real exposure — and the size of your gains and losses — is based on it, not on the smaller margin you post to open the position. Always size against notional, not against margin.

Futures use a two-tier margin system. Initial margin is the amount you must have to open a contract; maintenance margin is the lower threshold your account must stay above to keep it open. If your balance falls below maintenance, you face a margin call to top up or the position is reduced.

The exchange sets these levels as a fraction of notional, and brokers can require more. Because you control a full 100-share exposure while posting only a fraction of its value, single stock futures are leveraged — a modest adverse move can wipe out the posted margin and more. Treat published margins as minimums, not as a safe risk budget.

Many brokers offer a reduced day-trade margin for positions opened and closed within the same session, which can be well below the exchange initial margin — sometimes a small fraction of notional, as of our last check. Positions held past the session close revert to full overnight (initial) margin.

Lower day-trade margin increases effective leverage, which magnifies both gains and losses. It is a tool for well-capitalized, disciplined intraday traders, not a reason to trade larger size. Confirm each broker’s exact day-trade and overnight requirements before relying on them, because they vary by firm and can change with volatility.

Each contract has a defined minimum price increment (tick) and a corresponding dollar value per tick, derived from the 100-share (or 10-share) multiplier. Because a standard contract represents 100 shares, a one-cent move in the underlying equals about a dollar per standard contract, and roughly a tenth of that for a micro.

Knowing the dollar value per tick and per point lets you translate a stop distance in the stock into a precise dollar risk per contract — the foundation of position sizing. Check the exact tick specification for each product on the exchange’s contract page, as increments can differ across names.

CME single stock futures are cash-settled — there is no delivery of shares. At quarterly expiry, any open position is marked to the underlying stock’s official closing price and settled in cash, so the difference between your entry and the final settlement price is credited or debited to your account.

Because the product settles in cash on a fixed quarterly cycle, a position you want to keep beyond expiry must be rolled into the next contract — closing the expiring one and opening the next. Most active traders close or roll well before expiry rather than let a position settle, avoiding any final-settlement surprises.

Single stock futures trade electronically on CME Globex roughly 23 hours a day, far beyond the regular equity session. That extended access lets you manage positions around earnings, overnight news, and overseas moves rather than waiting for the cash market to open.

Liquidity is deepest during U.S. cash hours and thinner overnight, so spreads can widen outside core sessions — factor that into entries and stops. Overall, the specs make single stock futures capital-efficient and flexible, but they are leveraged instruments with substantial risk; size conservatively. This is educational information, not financial advice.