Office for Futures and Options Research
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL & CONSUMER ECONOMICS		Home | Contact Us

Futures Contract Ideas

The Office for Futures and Options Research is delighted to provide the following list of new futures contract ideas.  Listing these new futures and options contracts on regulated exchanges would enhance the public good. 

As claimed by Acting Chairman Sharon Brown-Hruska, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, at the Futures Industry Association International Derivatives Conference in Boca Raton, Florida, on March 17, 2005:

"The CFMA (Commodity Futures Modernization Act) has also sped up the processes by which new exchanges can come on line—and eight have done so since the passage of the Act in 2000. The competition sparked by these new exchanges introduced new types of contracts and has driven down trading costs and helped forge new clearing alliances. In short, the state of the industry is strong."

1. EVENT-DRIVEN
   1. ECONOMIC INDICATORS
      1. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
      2. U.S. International Trade - Goods and Services
      3. Money Supply
      4. Personal Income and Outlays
      5. U.S. Employment Statistics
      6. Unemployment Claims
      7. Durable Goods Orders
      8. Manufacturing Index
      9. New Residential Sales
      10. Existing Home Sales
      11. Consumer Price Index
      12. Investor Confidence Index
      13. Consumer Confidence Index
   2. EQUITIES
      1. Earnings Reports
      2. Mergers & Acquisitions
      3. New Issues of Stock
      4. Initial Public Offering
      5. IPO Lockup Expirations
   3. INTEREST RATES
      1. Federal Reserve announcements
      2. Mortgages
      3. Refinancing
      4. Other Bond Offerings
         1. Treasurys
         2. Corporate
         3. Municipals
   4. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
   5. COMMODITY
      1. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Reports
      2. World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report
      3. U.S. Agricultural Export Sales
      4. Soybean Rust Detection
      5. BSE "Mad Cow" Detection
      6. Crop Insurance
   6. TRADES AT SETTLEMENT
   7. HIGH/LOW OF DAY/WEEK/MONTH/CONTRACT
2. INDICES
   1. ECONOMIC INDICATORS
      1. Producer Price Index
      2. Wholesale Price Index
      3. Consumer Price Index
      4. Inflation Index
   2. REAL ESTATE
   3. COMMODITIES
      1. By-Products
      2. Crush
      3. Boxed Beef
      4. Pork Cut-out
      5. Fruits
      6. Vegetables
      7. Ornamentals
      8. Poultry
      9. Dairy
      10. Cheese
      11. Edible beans
      12. Palm Oil
      13. Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
          1. Soybeans
          2. Corn
          3. Wheat
          4. Rice
          5. Cotton
      14. Computer Memory
      15. Steel
   4. FREIGHT
   5. WEALTH
   6. COST OF PRODUCTION
   7. WEATHER
   8. ELECTRICITY
   9. ENVIRONMENTAL
      1. SO2
      2. CO2
      3. Mercury
   10. WATER
   11. FOOD SECURITY
   12. WHITE BOX FUND
       1. Dual Moving Average
       2. Stochastic indicators
       3. Commitment of Traders
3. SECURITIZATION
   1. PERPETUAL FUTURES
   2. DAILY FUTURES
4. BASIS CONTRACTS
5. COMPOUND OPTIONS
   1. DELIVERY OPTIONS
      1. Location
      2. Quality
   2. PORTFOLIO OPTIONS
      1. Crush (soybeans, meal and oil)
      2. Mash (corn, ethanol and DDG)
      3. Feedlot (feeder cattle, corn, and live cattle)
   3. CALENDAR SPREAD OPTIONS (CSO)
   4. FIXED RETURN OPTIONS (FRO)
      European-style, binary options, settled for a fixed amount
   5. VOLATILITY OPTIONS
   6. SWING OPTIONS
      fixed premium, variable strike price spread interval