futuresspecs

CBOT · Interest Rates · Futures

5-Year U.S. Treasury Note Futures (ZF)

5-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures (ZF): $100,000 face value, quoted in points and 32nds of a point, physically delivered.

Tick size / value
¼/32 pt = $7.8125
Point value
$1,000 / pt
Active contract
ZFZ26 Dec 2026
Next roll
Nov 24 in 56 days
Globex right now
Checking…
01

Contract specifications

Exchange
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT, CME Group)
Underlying
U.S. Treasury notes with a remaining maturity of 4 years 2 months to 5 years 3 months
Contract unit
$100,000 face value
Minimum tick
1/4 of 1/32 of a point ($7.8125) = $7.8125 per contract
Point value
$1,000.00 per full point (32/32) · 128 ticks per pt
Price quotation
Points and 32nds of a point; 1 point = $1,000
Contract months
Quarterly: March (H), June (M), September (U), December (Z)
Settlement
Physical delivery
Final settlement
Delivery of eligible Treasury securities via the Federal Reserve book-entry system
Termination of trading
Last business day of the delivery month
Globex code
ZF

Source: CME Group contract specifications · reviewed Sep 30, 2026

02

Roll dates, first notice & expiration

ContractRoll dateFirst noticeLast trading dayDays left
ZFU26 Sep 2026 Wed, Aug 26, 2026 Mon, Aug 31, 2026 Wed, Sep 30, 2026 1
ZFZ26 Dec 2026 Active Tue, Nov 24, 2026 Mon, Nov 30, 2026 Thu, Dec 31, 2026 93
ZFH27 Mar 2027 Tue, Feb 23, 2027 Fri, Feb 26, 2027 Wed, Mar 31, 2027 183
ZFM27 Jun 2027 Tue, May 25, 2027 Fri, May 28, 2027 Wed, Jun 30, 2027 274
ZFU27 Sep 2027 Thu, Aug 26, 2027 Tue, Aug 31, 2027 Thu, Sep 30, 2027 366
ZFZ27 Dec 2027 Wed, Nov 24, 2027 Tue, Nov 30, 2027 Fri, Dec 31, 2027 458

Roll. The quarterly roll runs over roughly a week before first notice. The date shown is three business days before first notice.

First notice day. Last business day of the month before the delivery month. Brokers require speculative longs to exit before first position day (one business day earlier).

Last trading day. Last business day of the delivery month.

US exchange holidays ahead: Nov 26 · Dec 25 · Jan 1 · Jan 18 · Feb 15 · Mar 26 · May 31 · Jun 18

Calculated from exchange rules and the US exchange holiday calendar. Confirm with the CME Group expiration calendar.

03

Trading hours (ET / CT)

SessionEastern (ET)Central (CT)Your time
CME Globex (electronic)Sun–Fri 6:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.Sun–Fri 5:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. –
Daily maintenance breakMon–Thu 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.Mon–Thu 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. –
US session (reference)Mon–Fri 8:20 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.Mon–Fri 7:20 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. –
Daily settlement3:00 p.m.2:00 p.m. –

Holiday hours differ – check the exchange holiday calendar before trading around US holidays. ET is New York time, CT is Chicago time (always one hour behind ET).

04

Margins

CME Group maintenance margin per contract, outright position · as of Sep 30, 2026
ContractMaintenance
Sep 2026 – Mar 2027 Active $1,250

Exchange margins are the minimum your clearing firm must collect for positions held overnight. Brokers may require more – and usually offer much lower day-trading margins for positions closed before the session ends. A neutral broker day-margin comparison is coming soon.

05

COT positioning

CFTC Traders in Financial Futures (TFF), futures only · positions as of Tue, Sep 22, 2026 · released Sep 25, 2026

Dealers / Intermediaries

−933,316 net contracts

−77,974 vs. prior week · −14.1% of OI

COT Index 26 wk 0
COT Index 3 yr 8

Movement (6 wk): −21

Banks and dealers on the other side of client flow. Tend to act contrarian – selling strength, buying weakness.

Asset Managers

+2,716,937 net contracts

−71,512 vs. prior week · +41.2% of OI

COT Index 26 wk 16
COT Index 3 yr 50

Movement (6 wk): −8

Pension funds, insurers and bond funds – large structural holders of duration; read changes against their own range.

Leveraged Funds

−1,858,062 net contracts

+128,866 vs. prior week · −28.2% of OI

COT Index 26 wk 100
COT Index 3 yr 89

Movement (6 wk): +19

Hedge funds and CTAs. Includes the cash-futures basis trade, which shows up as large net shorts – compare against its own history, not zero.

Net positions, last 3 years contracts, long minus short
Dealers / IntermediariesAsset ManagersLeveraged Funds
COT Index, 3-year window 0 = most net short in 3 years, 100 = most net long · shaded: extreme zones
Dealers / IntermediariesLeveraged Funds
Traders in Financial Futures (TFF) · open interest 6,599,737 (+235,477 w/w)
GroupLongShortNet Δ 1 wkΔ 4 wkIndex 26 wkIndex 3 yrMove 6 wk
Dealers / Intermediaries 96,0051,029,321−933,316 −77,974−4,291 08−21
Asset Managers 3,874,5501,157,613+2,716,937 −71,512−197,544 1650−8
Leveraged Funds 649,4032,507,465−1,858,062 +128,866+253,748 10089+19
Other Reportables 203,891170,281+33,610 +12,775+20,050 165−3
Nonreportables 410,015369,184+40,831 +7,845−71,963 5026+6
Legacy Report · open interest 6,599,737 (+235,477 w/w) · WILLCO (26 wk, commercials vs. OI): 0
GroupLongShortNet Δ 1 wkΔ 4 wkIndex 26 wkIndex 3 yrMove 6 wk
Commercials 5,184,8734,344,851+840,022 −124,358−306,245 00−21
Non-Commercials 779,3861,660,239−880,853 +116,513+378,208 100100+14
Nonreportables (small) 410,015369,184+40,831 +7,845−71,963 5026+6
Weekly net positions, last 12 reports (Traders in Financial Futures (TFF))
Report dateDealers / IntermediariesAsset ManagersLeveraged FundsOther ReportablesNonreportablesOpen interest
Sep 22, 2026−933,316+2,716,937−1,858,062+33,610+40,8316,599,737
Sep 15, 2026−855,342+2,788,449−1,986,928+20,835+32,9866,364,260
Sep 8, 2026−855,908+2,847,361−2,066,289+23,122+51,7146,309,810
Sep 1, 2026−814,435+2,928,019−2,202,688+21,591+67,5136,339,584
Aug 25, 2026−929,025+2,914,481−2,111,810+13,560+112,7947,012,385
Aug 18, 2026−829,053+2,927,114−2,169,814+43,235+28,5186,604,060
Aug 11, 2026−819,024+2,883,977−2,147,744+60,358+22,4336,442,950
Aug 4, 2026−817,171+2,963,254−2,211,439+45,663+19,6936,380,428
Jul 28, 2026−815,799+2,896,249−2,108,638+16,965+11,2236,193,040
Jul 21, 2026−747,027+2,850,125−2,131,428+23,495+4,8356,153,513
Jul 14, 2026−773,419+2,894,918−2,156,750+19,802+15,4496,180,967
Jul 7, 2026−848,301+2,968,222−2,174,862+26,332+28,6096,215,683
How to read these numbers
  • Net position = long minus short contracts (spread positions excluded).
  • COT Index = where today's net position sits within its range over the window: 100 × (net − min) / (max − min). It is a stochastic, not a percentile. Readings above 80 or below 20 are commonly treated as positioning extremes (after Stephen Briese and Larry Williams).
  • Movement Index = change of the 3-year COT Index over 6 weeks. Moves of ±40 points mark unusually fast repositioning.
  • WILLCO (Legacy report) = COT Index of commercials' net position as a share of open interest, 26-week window.
  • Positions are as of Tuesday and released Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET. COT data shows positioning, not timing – it is context, not a trading signal. Open-interest-based indicators are left out for stock index futures because quarterly expirations distort open interest.

Source: CFTC Public Reporting Environment · contract market code 044601 (UST 5Y NOTE - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE)

06

ZF profit & loss calculator

Price change– Ticks– Profit / loss–

Before commissions and exchange fees. Prices round to the nearest tick of ¼/32. Enter prices in points and 32nds, e.g. 110'16.5 or 110-165 (= 110 + 16.5/32), or as decimals.

07

FAQ

What is the tick value of ZF futures?

One tick is 1/4 of 1/32 of a point, worth $7.8125 per contract. A full point is worth $1,000.

How are ZF prices quoted?

In points and 32nds of a point, e.g. 108'16.25 = 108 + 16.25/32. Platforms often write fractions as a third digit (108-162).

What does the COT Index show?

The COT Index places a group's current net position within its own range over a lookback window: 100 = the most net long in that window, 0 = the most net short. It measures positioning extremes, not timing.