Single Stock Futures Are Here. And They Change Everything.

There is a version of futures trading that most retail traders have never had access to. Not index futures, not commodities, and not crypto derivatives. 

The version where you take a futures contract on a single stock: NVIDIA, Tesla, Meta, Alphabet, the names you already follow, already research, already have a view on. The version where you go long or short on that specific name with futures-grade capital efficiency, without touching your equity account, without borrowing shares, without waiting for the market to open.

That version has existed for years. It just wasn’t built for you.

Until now.

Single Stock Futures are live on EdgeClear, CME Group-listed contracts on 50+ top U.S. stocks, and they represent one of the most significant expansions in retail futures trading in recent memory. If you trade equities, options, or futures and you haven’t heard of them yet, this article is your starting point.

What Are Single Stock Futures, and Why Have You Never Heard of Them?

Single Stock Futures (SSFs) are exactly what the name suggests: standardized futures contracts in which the underlying asset is a single company’s stock rather than a broad index or commodity.

You’re not buying shares or an options premium. You’re entering a futures contract on the price of a specific stock, with an expiration date, a margin requirement, and daily settlement, just like you would with ES or NQ, except the underlying is Apple, or NVIDIA, or Tesla.

Single Stock Futures settle financially, so you never receive or deliver physical shares. On the last trading day, the contract is financially settled, and the clearinghouse credits or debits your account with gains and losses. Clean, simple, futures mechanics.

So why haven’t most retail traders heard of them? Because for a long time, Single Stock Futures lived almost exclusively on institutional desks. The exchange provided the contract structure, infrastructure, and margin mechanics, but developers never built the retail on-ramp. Equity traders stayed in equities. Futures traders stayed in indices. The gap between those two worlds remained wide.

CME Group changed that this summer. And EdgeClear is bringing it directly to your account.

The Real Reason Equity Traders Should Pay Attention

Here is the honest case for Single Stock Futures, made without hype.

If you trade individual stocks or options on individual stocks, you already do the hard part: you research the company, you follow the earnings, you build a thesis. The conviction is yours. What Single Stock Futures change is the instrument you use to act on that conviction.

How SSFs Compare to What You’re Already Using

Versus Buying Shares: When you buy stock, you own the asset outright. That’s capital-intensive, and going short requires borrowing shares, with fees, restrictions, and availability that can work against you. A single stock futures contract lets you express the same directional view with a fraction of the capital, long or short, with no borrowing logistics.

Versus Options: Options are powerful, but they come with complexity that works against straightforward directional trades. You’re managing theta decay, delta, and implied volatility. A lot of traders buy calls or put on a stock because they have a simple directional view, and then watch time erode their position while they’re right about the direction, but early on the timing. SSFs have no premium, no time decay, no Greeks. You’re trading the price. That’s it.

Versus Index Futures: If you already trade ES or NQ, you understand futures mechanics. But index exposure means you’re taking on the whole basket. Single Stock Futures let you isolate the single name you have conviction on without the noise of 499 other companies riding along with it.

None of this is a criticism of those tools. Shares, options, and index futures all have their place. Single Stock Futures are a different instrument for a specific job: clean, capital-efficient, directional exposure on an individual stock, long or short, with nearly 24-hour market access and no equity account required.

What You Can Trade on EdgeClear

The Single Stock Futures contracts now live on EdgeClear and cover 50+ of the most actively traded U.S. stocks from the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, and Russell 1000. We’re talking about the names that move markets and dominate headlines: Alphabet, Meta, NVIDIA, Tesla, and dozens more.

Every contract is listed on CME Group, the same exchange infrastructure that underpins ES, NQ, CL, and GC. There are no synthetic products here, no proprietary contracts. This is the real thing, on the real exchange, accessible through your existing EdgeClear account.

How to Get Started

If you’re already an EdgeClear customer, your existing account already includes SSF access. To move forward, review the Security Futures Risk Disclosure Statement and confirm that EdgeClear has approved your account for Single Stock Futures trading. Our team is here to walk you through contract specs, margin requirements, and the process for placing your first trade.

If you’re new to EdgeClear: The same account that gives you access to index futures gives you access to Single Stock Futures. You don’t need a second platform, a second login, or a second application process. Open your EdgeClear Account.

The path from where you are today to your first Single Stock Futures trade is shorter than you think, and our team at EdgeClear is here to make it as clear and frictionless as possible.

Ready to explore Single Stock Futures? Visit our Single Stock Futures page → or Contact our team → and we’ll walk you through everything.

Disclaimer: Derivatives trading involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Security futures products are not suitable for all customers. For the full Security Futures disclaimer, read it here: myed.ge/security-disclosure