Quote from mTrader09:
Yes.
On Thursday June 11th, the September 2009 contract (SPU9) trades on the Top Step of the trading pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
This is a quarterly ritual that is implemented on the second Thursday of the contract month, in advance of the quarterly expiration of the contract which occurs on the third Friday of the contract month. The trading "pit" is an octagon shape about 50 feet across, the first three steps ascend, the front month contracts are traded on the "Top" step, all other contracts are traded in the interior of the pit on the descending steps of which there are five (the center is deeper than the surrounding floor hence the term "Pit").
Institutions with global financial reach, DeutschBank, Solomon, JP Morgan, First Boston, Credit Suisse and others, man the telephones at the desks around the pit. These insitutional players are taking orders from around the globe and in turn, communicate their orders using a variety of hand signals to the traders on the "Top Step" for a fair execution. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week you can expect choppy and uneven trade as traders reposition into the Sept. 09 contracts in advance of quarterly expiration Friday June, 19th.
Please begin trading the Sept. 09 Mini S&P contracts ES U9 on Thursday June 11th . The same is true for the Mini Nasdaq, Mini Russell and Mini Dow. Begin trading Sept. 09 on Thursday June 11th!