A company that agrees today on a price for something it will buy or sell later needs to know the other side will pay. CME Group runs markets for such contracts, called futures and options, including ones tied to the S&P 500 (an index of large US companies) and to interest rates. It also runs the clearing house that guarantees them, acting as buyer to every seller and seller to every buyer. At least twice each business day, it collects from firms whose positions lost value and pays those whose positions gained. It earns mainly a fee on each contract.
Loading page…