The professional fees mentioned below will affect users with MORE THAN TWO concurrent logins. Professional fees will incur traders about $105 per exchange. Please consider the number of devices (platforms) you are using.
The purpose of this post is to help our customers save money on CME market data fees. As a futures trader, certain costs are fixed regardless of which platform and/or broker you trade with. Our goal is to present you with the facts and make sure you understand all your options to potentially help you save on trading costs before opening a live account.
A data fee is a flat fee charged by the CME Group for streaming real-time market data to the trader. Fees are charged per standard market data policy, on a per Device, per Exchange, per month basis. The CME Group comprises of 4 exchanges: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and Commodity Exchange (COMEX).
The following are the monthly fees charged by CME Group to access market data for non-professional futures traders:
CME - $10.00
CBOT - $10.00
NYMEX - $10.00
COMEX - $10.00
CME Market Data Bundle - ALL 4 CME Markets $30.00
Some data providers may add their own fees to the above in the form of service or billing.
Please note that Optimus Futures does not charge for data and does not participate with the CME Group or any data providers (data feeds) in any revenue form. Data fees only apply to traders that access live quotes and charts through their trading platforms.
Our goal is to reduce the fees you need to trade the markets. So please consider the following factors when deciding on what type of data you need.
What markets do you trade?
The CME/ Globex trades the Stock Index Futures, Currencies, and Meats.
So, if you trade any of the following markets, you need to subscribe to CME/Globex data
- E-Mini S&P (ES)
- E-Mini NASDAQ (NQ)
- E-Mini Russell (RTY)
Or the micro version of these contracts
- Micro E-mini S&P 500 Futures (MES)
- Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures (MNQ)
- Micro E-mini Russell 2000 Futures (M2K)
The CME also includes the FX pairs like
- Euro Currency (6E)
- British Pound (6B)
- Japanese Yen (JY)
THE CBOT/Globex includes financial debt instruments such as
- 30-year Bonds (ZB)
- Ultra Bonds (UB)
- 10 Year Note (ZN)
- Mini Dow Jones (YM)
- Micro Dow Jones (MYM)
The CBOT also covers grains, such as
- Corn (ZC)
- Wheat Futures (ZW)
The NYMEX trades the Energy sector, which includes crude oil (CL) contract, one of the most traded amongst day traders.
The COMEX trades the metals sector and includes
- Gold (GC)
- Micro Gold (MGC)
- Silver (SI)
For full exchange listings, please look at the list of products included with each exchange here. Futures Trading Commissions | As low as $.10/Side | Optimus Futures
Your first step is to decide what sectors and market you wish to trade. If you are looking at a minimum of the three sectors/exchanges, then the CME Bundle makes the most sense.
However, if you need one or two sectors/markets, then consider which one you wish to remove. Your consideration in eliminating a market is not only whether you trade in these markets but also whether they help you make decisions on the other markets that you do trade. For example, if you trade the Micro ES, do you also look at Bonds activity?
I am very comfortable telling you that most day traders look at one market and make decisions based on the activity of that market alone. However, this is your individual decision.
What type of data do you need for your trading style?
Once you determine which markets you trade, you must decide what type of data you need: Top of Book (Level 1) or Market Depth (Level 2) data.
Top of Book (Level I) displays the best bid-offer-volume quotes in real-time. On the other hand, Level II, also known as Order Book or Market Depth, displays all Limit Orders that have been sent to the exchange. Limit orders are orders to buy or sell a futures contract at a specific price. When you enter a limit order, your order gets placed in a queue behind all the other limit orders entered at that price. The DOM shows each possible price, and how many Limit buy or sell orders have been placed at that price.
Learn More about Level II Data Here: Level II Market Data | Analyzing Trading Activity on the DOM
In short, Top-of-Book only shows the price, providing the best bids and offers, and does not show the entire DOM display (10 Levels). It does not affect your charts, time and sales, or quotes. The Top of Book display is only $3 per exchange. Pro accounts cannot use Top-of-Book.
If you trade using charts and/or standard order entry, Top of Book data is fine. But if you rely on Order Flow analysis and changes in the order book (DOM), we suggest you subscribe to Level II data.
The tables below summarize the monthly fees charged by CME Group to access market data for non-professional futures traders.
| Non-Professional | CME | CBOT | COMEX | NYMEX | Bundle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live Quotes and Charts Top of Book Level 1 Data | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $3 |
| Live quotes, Charts and DOM Market Depth (Level 2) Data | $10 | $10 | $10 | $10 | $30 |
How many platforms do you login to?
Lastly, the CME will start charging for multiple usernames and passwords for each device (3rd party screen, trading platform) you are logging in to. CME Group defines Device as any display unit (fixed or portable), piece of software or method, which may access, receive, process, or display the Information, whether in whole or part, through the Service. CME reserves the sole right to determine what constitutes a Device.
For example, if you need to log into two platforms at the same time, we will need to increase your concurrent logins and charge you twice for each set of credentials. At this point, if you are logging into several devices, you need to decide whether it is worth it to pay for two platforms or whether you can trade on one and save on market data fees.
Rithmic is currently working to ensure anyone logging into its API through one username can potentially use it on other machines. However, it depends on whether your platform has conformed to the Rithmic protocol requirements.
We’ve created an additional post on the following thread which discusses how to avoid additional market data feeds using R Trader Pro as a plug-in, who this will be affecting specifically, and what you can expect starting May, 1st:
At Optimus Futures, we always respect your choices in terms of platform and datafeed connectivity, providing you with the same level technical support regardless of your trading set-up.
This objectivity, combined with our universal support for all platforms, is the foundation of our brokerage and continued growth. However, please take a moment to check out our latest platform offering - Optimus Flow.
The development of Optimus Flow had constant input from our customers, experienced traders, and technology partners, ensuring an integrated trading experience with DOM and Chart executions, Order Flow, and all essential technical analysis tools.
Our customers get free access to the platform, which is powered by Rithmic, and conforms to all its API protocols.
Find out more about CME Market Data Fees on our Support Portal here: What are the CME Market Data Fees?
Please let us know below if you have any questions.
Matt Z
Optimus Futures