Category
Agricultural
Exchange
CBOT (CME Group)
Contract Size
5,000 bushels of soft red winter wheat
Symbol
ZW
CBOT Wheat futures (ZW) track the price of soft red winter wheat, a major food staple. Wheat prices are sensitive to weather, geopolitical events (Black Sea region supply), and USDA inventory reports. Three types of wheat futures exist: SRW (CBOT), HRW (KC), and spring wheat (MGEX).
Loading chart…
Sun 19:00 – Fri 14:20 CT. Day session 08:30–13:20 CT.
Day trading margins ~$500–$1,000. Exchange maintenance margin ~$1,500–$2,000.
Lean Hog futures represent the pork market and are influenced by feed costs, disease outbreaks (African Swine Fever), consumer demand, and export dynamics (China is a major pork importer). The hog market exhibits strong seasonal patterns around grilling season and holiday demand.
ICE Cotton No. 2 futures are the global benchmark for cotton pricing. As a major textile input, cotton prices are affected by US planting data, Indian/Chinese production, consumer textile demand, and weather events in key growing regions (US Southern Plains, India, China).
ICE Sugar No. 11 futures are the world benchmark for raw cane sugar pricing. Sugar prices are influenced by Brazilian production (the largest producer/exporter), ethanol blend mandates (which divert cane from sugar to ethanol), monsoon seasons in India, and trade policies.
Live Cattle futures track the price of fed cattle ready for slaughter. The cattle market is influenced by feed costs (corn), consumer demand, and cattle-on-feed reports. Cattle futures can be volatile around USDA reports and seasonal demand shifts. The cattle crush (feeder cattle → live cattle) is a popular spread trade.