Chicago, United States
Abbreviation
CME
Location
Chicago, United States
Region
Americas
Group
CME Group
Product Types
Meats, Currencies, Eurodollars, Equity Index, Interest Rate Futures
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is one of the world's most influential financial exchanges, founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board and renamed CME in 1919. Headquartered in Chicago and part of CME Group, CME offers futures and options across meats, currencies, Eurodollar interest rates, equity index products, and a range of financial instruments, providing global risk management solutions to participants in over 150 countries.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was founded in 2000 to digitize the energy markets and provide greater pricing transparency. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, ICE has grown into a global network of exchanges, clearing houses, and data services spanning energy, agricultural, financial, and emissions markets. ICE operates multiple regulated markets including ICE Futures U.S., ICE Futures Europe, and the NYSE, serving participants in over 100 countries.
HedgeStreet Exchange was a CFTC-regulated US derivatives exchange founded in 2004, offering small-denomination binary contracts (starting at $10) on economic events including crude oil prices, gold, natural gas, and macroeconomic indicators. Designed to democratise derivatives access for retail traders, HedgeStreet was one of the first exchanges to offer CFTC-regulated retail binary options on commodity prices. In 2008, the exchange was acquired and eventually rebranded as Cantor Exchange (part of Cantor Fitzgerald), which subsequently ceased operations.
The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX), founded in 1881, is the United States' primary futures market for Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSWW) — the high-protein wheat used in premium breads and noodles. MGEX also provides agricultural cash commodity trading and clearing services. Acquired by Miami International Holdings (MIAX) in 2020, MGEX continues to serve as an essential price-discovery and risk management platform for Spring Wheat, a crop critical to North American and global food production.
The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange, tracing its origins to 1872 as the Butter and Cheese Exchange of New York. Now a division of CME Group, NYMEX provides global benchmark pricing for energy and metals markets including WTI crude oil, natural gas, heating oil, gasoline, gold, silver, copper, platinum, and palladium. NYMEX contracts are widely referenced for international energy and metals price discovery.