How many E-mini shares are there?

[MagicBlueBalls]

Hi traders. Could someone answer this question? ... "How many E-mini shares are there?" if the price of a stock goes up and down because of supply and demand then what's the total supply of these future contracts? Is there a float for these guys? Cannot seem to find the answer anywhere.

Thank you.

 

[rottentrade]

"How many E-mini shares are there?"

Open interest is the total number of futures contracts held by market participants at the end of the trading day. More information can be found on the following link.

E-MINI S&P 500 FUTURES - VOLUME & OPEN INTEREST​

https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities/sp/e-mini-sandp500.volume.html

 

[BadBob]

Hi traders. Could someone answer this question? ... "How many E-mini shares are there?" if the price of a stock goes up and down because of supply and demand then what's the total supply of these future contracts? Is there a float for these guys? Cannot seem to find the answer anywhere.

Thank you.

You're thinking in terms of the stock market. In futures, there is no such thing as a set number of "shares". There is no "float". The number of contracts changes all the time. It's called open interest. If, for instance, I have no position in the e-mini, but decide to sell one contract, I have just changed the open interest by one contract. I have created an additional contract. If I cover it by buying it back, I have just reduced the supply of contracts.

 

[MagicBlueBalls]

You're thinking in terms of the stock market. In futures, there is no such thing as a set number of "shares". There is no "float". The number of contracts changes all the time. It's called open interest. If, for instance, I have no position in the e-mini, but decide to sell one contract, I have just changed the open interest by one contract. I have created an additional contract. If I cover it by buying it back, I have just reduced the supply of contracts.

So based on the link provided by @rottentrade ... Is it safe to assume that if the number of contracts being held/transacted is high then it is a bullish sign and vice versa? For example, yesterday was a bullish day while today was bearish. In the screenshot below, you can see the difference in the number of contracts being held/traded.

If my previous assumption is correct. Is there a way to utilize this information in real-time?

 

[BadBob]

I would not make that assumption. On a big down day the volume could be huge and OI could increase dramatically as sellers create new contracts. Additionally, remember that futures contracts are like options. They eventually expire. I haven't paid much attention to it but I would imagine that as the contract month gets close to expiration, open interest would decline as players roll over into the next contract month. But declining OI in this case would not denote a bearish sentiment.

 

[BadBob]

Thank you for the response. Good luck out there.

You too!

 

[rottentrade]

Is there a way to utilize this information in real-time?

The following video explains all the nitty-gritty in detail.

 

[BadBob]

This video is a good explanation. I didn't really want to try to explain all that in writing in my previous comment, but the vid confirms what was saying. OI going up or down DOES NOT, by itself, indicate a bullish or bearish sentiment. , personally, think trying to decipher what OI is telling you on a daily basis is a complete waste of time. Looking at the trend in OI and comparing it to the actual price trend over time might tell you something if you really want to deep dive.

 

[rottentrade]

Personally, I never look at OI. For me, everything is already baked into the price. When price is either exploding through the roof or falling off the cliff, I don't need to verify it with OI. Price itself is enough. But that might be different with others.

 

[BadBob]

Couldn't agree with you more Rotten! Trying to glean anything from OI is a waste of time.