Interactive Brokers Launches 24-Hour Trading for Forecast Contracts

Interactive Brokers expands Forecast Contracts trading to nearly 24/5, allowing global clients to act on real-time events.

Key Points:

• IBKR now offers nearly 24-hour trading, Sunday–Friday, for Forecast Contracts tied to major global events.
• Unlike rivals, IBKR avoids sports-related contracts, focusing instead on economic, government, and climate outcomes.

Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR), the global online brokerage powerhouse, has announced a significant expansion to its Forecast Contracts offering, allowing nearly round-the-clock trading from Sunday through Friday. Furthermore, this move enables eligible clients to trade on the outcome of key economic, governmental, and climate events almost 24 hours a day, aligning with the increasingly global and real-time nature of financial markets.

Forecast Contracts—also known as Event Contracts—are a form of binary option that let traders speculate on yes-or-no outcomes of future events. These could range from questions like “Will the U.S. enter a recession by the end of Q2 2025?” to potential climate milestones or government policy shifts. The contracts are priced between $0.02 and $0.99, depending on market-implied probabilities, with a $1.00 payout for correct predictions and $0.00 for incorrect ones.

Interactive Brokers Launches 24-Hour Trading for Forecast Contracts

“Today’s markets react instantly to events happening across geographies and time zones,” said Steve Sanders, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at Interactive Brokers. “By extending trading hours for Forecast Contracts, we’re offering clients the flexibility to act on critical market developments as they unfold, regardless of when they happen.”

The contracts are accessible through all major IBKR platforms, including IBKR Mobile, IBKR Desktop, Trader Workstation (TWS), Client Portal, and the dedicated IBKR ForecastTrader platform. These tools also provide traders with seamless, real-time access to global markets and critical events.

Unlike some competitors, Interactive Brokers is notably steering clear of sports-related Forecast Contracts. Rival brokerage Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD), which is expanding its suite of Event Contracts to include sports outcomes, faced regulatory backlash earlier this year. Financial and gaming regulators shelved their attempt to launch a Super Bowl-related contract, highlighting the murky legal terrain at the intersection of finance and betting.

Forecast Contracts are offered through ForecastEx LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Interactive Brokers and regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The contracts are currently available to qualified clients in the U.S., Canada, and Hong Kong.

So, with the trading world becoming more reactive and interconnected, Interactive Brokers‘ move underscores a growing demand for tools that allow traders to respond to news in real time, be it from central banks, legislative bodies, or environmental developments.

As geopolitical and economic uncertainties continue to dominate headlines, expanded access to Forecast Contracts may prove to be a powerful tool for risk management and market expression across the investor spectrum.

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