CME Group’s new Ultra Bond traded more than 12,000 contracts on Wednesday Jan. 27, its 12th day of trading. Open interest has surpassed 26,000 for the contract that is highly correlated to 30-year Treasury bond. The Ultra Bond has the same specs as the traditional 30-year except the deliverable basket for them are cash Treasuries with 25 years or more remaining to maturity as opposed to 15 years for the traditional 30-year. The need for the longer maturity bond arose from the roughly seven-year period when the Treasury did not auction any new 30-year bonds. See the numbers.
ELX Futures also offers an ultra bond contract.
