I'm new to futures. what is the difference between soybean (ZS) and soybean (S). i know ZS is traded on eCBOT and S is traded on CBOT. trading time is from 6:31 PM to 1:15 PM. and S is traded on CBOT and trading is from 9:30 AM to 1:15 PM. the trading hours are different. what else is different? what is similar or the same? if you trade, which one will you choose to trade? can anyone help me?
They are identical except for the method of trading. Soybean futures are traded in the pit, ECBOT (ZS) futures are traded electronically. I'm 99% sure the contracts are fungible, so you can offset a pit contract with an electronic contract. As for which to trade--it probably depends mostly on your size. If you want 100 contracts, you might get a better fill in the pit. If you want fewer than 10, electronic is so much faster and easier.
is it the same with currency futures? i noticed that currency futures also have electronic and pit contracts. one can offset another, right? thank you.
"CME FX products that trade side-by-side are the same contract in the pit as on CME Globex. Traders can offset an order entered on CME Globex by placing an order to the trading floor and vice versa. However, although the contracts are the same, they have different ticker symbols." http://www.cme.com/trading/prd/fx/sidebyside2483.html