ZB ZN ZF Question

I am watching @US, @TY and @FV in tradestation, and ZB, ZN and ZF in IB, expecting them to be the same, but they appear not to be. My months are all the same. I was under the impression @US was electronic and @US.P was pit, so @US should be the same as March ZB right now. Can anyone advise on the difference here between the TS and IB symbols?

If @US is not the same market as March ZB, what is the right symbol for March ZB in tradestation

Thanks

 

Maybe quotes of one side are delayed ?

 

yeah, that could explain it. they would be the same or pretty much the same, but then get off by quite a bit at times. in my experience with very rare delays on my system, i am more inclined to think i was looking at different markets, but maybe not?

anybody who trades these chime in here possibly?

 

The various combinations of pit, electronic, and combination symbols can get kinda hairy. ZB is the electronic contract, whereas, I believe US is the pit traded contract for the bonds.

Likewise, ZN is the electronic notes, and TY is the pit traded notes. I'm doing this off the top of my head, so check with the CBOT web site to be sure.

 

oops, sorry, didn't see the part about tradestation. Can't help you there.

 

correct, @US = ZB, @TY = ZN and @FV = ZF

hypothetically

but why the different B/A?

something is not right

I am using the 'electronic' contracts in tradestation, not the 'pit' contracts (pit example @US.P, electronic @US). seems March ZB should be the same as @US but they aren't

 

If the difference is large -- 5 pts or so. You might be looking at the cash contract in comparison to the futures. Don't know what you are looking at so can't say but just a thought.

 

Doesn't TS use the ZB symbol? I'm not familiar with the ".P" thing, but I"m wondering if maybe in this case US and US.P are really the same thing. ZB is not IB specific, it's used by the CBOT itself, so I"d guess TS also has a ZB symbol.

 

pit contract could be closed and your looking at last bid/ask

 

Remember that pit traded contracts have the transactions recorded by clerks by hand. This data then goes out to the data vendors. So it's not unusual for there to be a slight delay between that and the electronically traded equivalent.

I don't compare the bonds electronic vs. pit that often, but watch sp vs. es all the time and they are sometimes off by a point for a few seconds.