Futures FAQ
What can I trade online?
Keytrade Pro offers direct, online trading of a number of popular commodity futures including gold, silver, crude oil and natural gas.
Direct online trading of financial futures on live streaming prices is available through your trading platform. The financial futures available include:
- Stock indices
- Interest rates
- Foreign currencies
- Currently trading over 400 contracts on 16 exchanges
What Exchanges are available?
Futures trading through some of the world's major exchanges including CBOT, CME, LIFFE and DTB.
What types of futures orders are available?
Market, limit and stop orders can be placed through Keytrade Pro, and are available for all futures contracts tradable through the platform. In addition, clients can use trailing stop orders to lock-in profits in case the market moves against their futures position. Stop-limit orders are available subject to support by the exchange on which the contract is traded. The order types available are noted on the Futures trading rates and conditions pages.
What is Initial Margin?
Futures contracts are traded on margin enabling you to leverage a small margin deposit for a much greater market effect. The initial margin is the collateral per contract that you must have in your account to open a position.
What is Maintenance Margin?
In addition to the Initial Margin, open futures positions require that you maintain a Maintenance Margin (per contract) on your account at all times. If the funds in your account fall below this margin, you will be subject to a margin call to either deposit more funds to cover your positions or close positions – normally you will be notified through our trading platform and via email. If your margin situation is not remedied, we may close positions on your behalf.
Expiry of Futures Contracts
Please note that Keytrade Pro does not support physical delivery of the underlying security upon expiry of a futures contract. We therefore advise you to be aware of the expiry and first notice dates (FND) of any futures contracts you invest in and ensure that you close your position before the appropriate day, as described below.
If the FND is before the expiry date, positions need to be closed the day before the FND. If the expiry date is before the FND positions need to be closed no later than on the expiry date.
If you do not close a futures position before the relevant date, the platform will automatically close your position for you at the first available opportunity at the prevailing market rate. In most cases, positions are closed around 6 pm (CET). Any resulting costs, gains or losses will be passed on to you.
If you require any assistance or clarification regarding the expiry of futures contracts, please contact Keytrade Pro.
