what is globex 
globex is an electronic trading platform the first of its kind when it launched in 1992 used for derivatives like futures options and commodity contracts across a wide range of asset classes developed for the chicago mercantile exchange cme cme globex as it is officially known operates continuously unrestricted by geographic borders or time zones globex trades constitute 90 of cme group s total volume nine out of every 10 trades in other words the platform offers access from more than 150 countries and foreign territories understanding globexglobex is an open access marketplace operating nearly 24 hours a day from sunday evening through late friday afternoon which allows participants to directly trade and view orders prices and other data in real time to access globex customers must have a cme group clearing firm relationship and cme group certified trading application cme group is the parent company of the chicago mercantile exchange cme along with several other major commodity exchanges including commodity exchange inc comex the new york mercantile exchange nymex and the chicago board of trade cbot the start of the cme globex session which usually occurs in the afternoon or evening generally marks the beginning of the next trading day for example orders entered during monday s evening session are dated for and cleared on tuesday there are brief 30 to 60 minute breaks depending on the asset class in between the close and re opening of each of the five daily sessions more than 17 million contracts trade daily on globex on average 1the development of globexaccording to twenty years of cme globex a 2012 cme group report the idea for globex first arose in 1987 as a low impact means of providing after hours market coverage for futures and options trading 2 the platform finally launched on june 25 1992 running off of technology and network infrastructure used by the news and wire service reuters it began with three currency products and one treasury note product but quickly expanded into other assets and even invented some for example the e mini s p 500 futures contract debuted in 1997 an instrument intended to be traded exclusively on globex other special e mini contracts include the fortune e 50 index futures an e mini currency contract and an e mini nasdaq 100 contract cme group instituted an open access policy for globex in 2000 allowing customers to trade directly in the system without having to go through a broker as a result business soared in 2002 the globex average daily volume exceeded 1 million contracts for the first time and in 2004 globex volume exceeded physical pit volume for the first time globex is partnered with other global exchanges including the dubai mercantile exchange and the korea exchange notably 2007 marked the first year the system s volume exceeded 1 billion contracts by 2012 the platform s 20th anniversary 84 of the volume of the cme group s various markets was via electronic trading on globex 2globex is now also a site for trading in assets in the sectors of agriculture in 2008 the kansas city board of trade and minneapolis grain exchange moved their products to it energy stock indices foreign exchange interest rates metals real estate and even the weather some futures and options products are traded solely on globex while others are traded in the physical pits via open outcry as well 