The Small Exchange ("Smalls") was designed for retail traders without the complicated symbol codes, trading hours, different tick sizes, and tick values. In other words, if you're a seasoned options trader, then you'll find the uniformity of the Smalls a welcome change and a breath of fresh air to futures trading. You can view all available Small Exchange products by referring to the Futures: Small Exchange preset watchlist in the tastytrade platform. Below, we have a broad overview of the Smalls, but you can directly visit The Small Exchange by clicking here.

tastytrade has made a conscious choice to limit futures and futures options products to those which have adequate volume and liquidity for retail trading. Unfortunately, the volume and liquidity in some of the Small Exchange products has fallen to the point that they’re no longer supported, namely options on SFX and SPRE and futures on S420, SM75, SPRE, SFX, SMES, STIX. Said products will be set to closing only for the time being. Please contact the Trade Desk (support@tastyworks.com) if you have any questions.

Available Small Exchange Contracts

Below is a table of the Small Exchange products we support at tastytrade. If the area below is blank, then please give it one moment to load.

The roll period for each Smalls contract will begin on the third Wednesday of every month, except for /SMO.

Active month /SMO contracts cease trading the day before the second Friday of each month at 1:30 PM (Central). If the second Friday is a market holiday, settlement is on the Thursday prior to the Friday holiday, and the last trading day will be preceding business day.

Commissions and Fees for the Smalls

Smalls Commissions

$0.25 per smalls contract to open
$0.25 per smalls contract to close
Or, $0.50 per smalls contract, round-trip

Smalls Exchange Fees

Non-member: $0.15 per smalls contract, or $0.30 round-trip
Member: $0.07 per smalls contract, or $0.14 round-trip

NFA Fee

National Futures Association Fee: $0.02 per side or $0.04 round-trip

FCM Clearing Fee

$0.05 per smalls contract, or $0.10 round-trip. This passthrough fee covers expenses related to clearing trades assessed by our Futures Commissions Merchant (FCM).

OCC Clearing Fee

$0.02 per smalls contract, or $0.04 round trip. This passthrough fee covers expenses related to clearing trades at the exchange by the Options Clearing Corp (OCC).

Example of Total Trading Cost (per one-lot, round-trip)

*Any Small Exchange contract held to expiration and settles to cash will be subject to the same per contract costs surrounding a closing transaction. The total fee will vary if you are a Small Exchange community member or not.

Contract Uniformity

Tick Size and Tick Value

All Smalls contracts tick like an equity options contract. Every contract ticks in a penny increment or 0.01. Each tick or 0.01 equals $1. That means a 15-cent move or 15 ticks (0.15) equals $15. Furthermore, a full point or $1.00 equals $100.

Market Trading Hours for Smalls Contracts

All Small Exchange contracts trade Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central Time, except for expiring contracts (refer to the Settlement Time and Method section below).

Contract Months

All Small Exchange products will offer two consecutive months–an active front-month contract and a back-month contract.

Settlement Time and Method

All Small Exchange products are cash-settled on the third Friday of the month at 3 p.m. Central Time, except for /SMO*. A published settlement value determines the settlement value. Small Exchange contract(s) held to expiration settle to cash are subject to the standard per-contract closing transactions fees. Please refer to the Example of Total Trading Cost (per one-lot, round-trip) section above for total costs.

*Since /SMO ceases trading the day before the second Friday of each month at 1:30 PM (Central), any expiring contract will settle to cash. The settlement price publishes on Friday, but coincides with the prior day 1:30 PM settlement price of the front-month Light Sweet Crude Oil Future (/CL). To learn more about SMO settlement procedures, please click here.

Intraday Limits

Small Exchange products are futures, as a result, are subject to price limits. Price limits refer to an allowable price on an order ticket to be routed at an exchange. In short, price limits prevent prices from "whipsawing" that could occur otherwise if there were resting orders outside the price limit. Furthermore, all Smalls products have a 9% and 13% price limit during periods of heightened volatility from the previous day’s settlement price.

During a triggered intraday limit event, the market state is switched to “paused” for 3 minutes, and the following actions take place: 

• For the first minute, trading is paused, and only order cancelations are allowed.
• During the second minute, the market is in a pre-open state.
• In the final minute, the market is in a pre-open no cancel state and then reopens. After the market reopens, a new opening price is not calculated or published. 

Please visit the Info Hub at the Small Exchange by clicking here to learn more about Intraday Limits.

Smalls Contract Descriptions & Specifications

Below are descriptions of each available Small Exchange product. To view learn more about the index each Small futures contract tracks, please click here.

/SMO Small US Crude Oil

The Small US Crude Oil Futures is a cash-settled future whose underlying is a United States referenced Light Sweet Crude Oil having an API (American Petroleum Institute) Gravity between 38° and 43°, and a Sulfur content of less than 0.42%.

/S2Y Small 2 Year U.S. Treasury Yield Index

The Small 2 Year U.S. Treasury Yield Index is based on the U.S. 2-year Treasury yield to maturity of the on-the-run U.S. 2 Year Treasury Note. The Index is expressed as the computed yield multiplied by 1,000. 

/S10Y Small 10 Year U.S. Treasury Yield Index

The Small 10 Year U.S. Treasury Yield Index is an average of the constant maturity 10-year U.S. Treasury yield. The Index is expressed as the computed yield multiplied by 1,000. The Index creates a more exact way of participating in the interest rate market. 

/S30Y Small 30 Year U.S. Treasury Yield Index

The Small 30 Year US Treasury Yield Index is based on the U.S. 30-year yield to maturity of the on-the-run U.S. 30 Year Treasury Bond. The Index is expressed as the computed yield multiplied by 1,000.