Trade CME Event Contracts on Tradovate
Want to trade CME's yes/no event contracts on Tradovate? They live in a separate mobile app. Here's how to download it, fund an account, and place your first over/under trade with your risk capped upfront.
Event contracts are the simplest thing Tradovate offers, and also the easiest to get wrong before you start. They're daily yes/no bets on where a major market closes. Pick gold, crude, the S&P 500, whatever. Decide if it finishes the day above or below a price you choose. If you're right, the contract pays out. If you're wrong, you lose what you paid and nothing more.
Here's the part that trips people up: you don't trade these inside the regular Tradovate Trader web or desktop app. Event contracts live in their own separate mobile app, with their own account. If you've been hunting for them on the DOM or in your futures workspace, that's why you can't find them.
What a CME Event Contract Actually Is
Each contract is a single question with a yes-or-no answer: will this market close over your chosen level today? These are listed by CME Group, so you're trading a real exchange product, not a house book.
Pricing is what makes them click. A contract costs somewhere between $0 and $1, and that price roughly tracks the odds. Something the market sees as a coin flip sits near $0.50; a long shot sits closer to a few cents. If your prediction lands, the contract settles at $1. If it doesn't, it settles at $0. So the price you pay is your maximum loss, and the gap between that price and $1 is your maximum profit. Both numbers are shown before you commit.
Ten markets are available across four groups:
| Group | Markets |
|---|---|
| Equity indices | E-mini S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Russell 2000, Dow |
| Metals | Gold, Silver, Copper |
| Energy | WTI Crude Oil, Natural Gas |
| FX | EUR/USD |
How to Trade Event Contracts on Tradovate
Download the Event Contracts App
Grab the dedicated Event Contracts app from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android). It's a different download from Tradovate Trader, and it's built for phone screens. If you already use Tradovate for futures, this is still a separate install.
Open and Fund a Separate Account
Open the app and tap the wallet icon to start the online application. You're opening a standalone event contracts account here, not reusing your futures login, so plan to complete the short application and fund it from inside the app before you can place anything live.
Pick a Market and a Price Level
Choose one of the ten markets, then pick the day's price level you want to trade around. Think of that level as the line in the sand: everything from here is just deciding which side of it the market lands on by the close.
Choose Yes or No and Set Your Size
Now answer the question. Over means you think it closes above your level; under means at or below it. Set how many contracts you want. Before you confirm, the app shows the price per contract (your max loss) and the payout if you're right (your max profit). Read those two numbers every time. That's the whole risk picture, laid out before you click.
Submit and Let It Settle
Submit the order and you're in. Each market settles at its own daily close, and the app resolves the contract automatically once that close prints. There's no stop to manage and no rollover to babysit. Win or lose, it's decided at the close, and the payout hits your account.
Fees, Risk, and a Few Honest Caveats
Event contracts are commission-free, but that doesn't mean free. Exchange, clearing, and NFA fees apply to every trade, so a winning contract nets slightly less than the full dollar, and those fees matter more when you're trading a lot of cheap contracts. Factor them in.
Your risk really is capped at the price you pay, which is the honest appeal of these things. There's no margin call, no liquidation, no drawdown spiral. But capped risk isn't the same as low risk. Buy enough contracts at fifty cents that never hit, and the losses add up like anything else. Trade these with the same size discipline you'd use anywhere.
Settlement times differ by market, and exact cutoffs can shift with exchange schedules and holidays. Confirm the current close time for your market inside the app before you rely on it.
Automate Your Futures Trades with PickMyTrade
Event contracts are a manual, tap-it-yourself product. For your regular Tradovate futures trading, you can automate entries and exits straight from TradingView alerts, no coding, no sitting at the screen.
Automate Your Regular Futures Trades
Event contracts are tap-it-yourself, but your regular Tradovate futures trading doesn't have to be. Automate entries and exits straight from TradingView alerts, no coding required.
Start Your Free 5-Day TrialThis guide is for educational and informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading futures and other leveraged products carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. PickMyTrade is an independent third-party automation platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tradovate, Inc. "Tradovate" and all related names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Platform features and steps change over time, so always confirm the current process in the official Tradovate platform and documentation before acting.