Migration of Trading and the Introduction of Single Stock Futures on the Underlying U.S. Stocks
This study investigates where liquidity and informed trading takes place following the introduction of single stock futures (SSF) contracts on the OneChicago futures exchange. Specifically, we analyze the size and composition of proportional spreads for two sets of stocks, those that have single stock futures contracts and a matched control sample that does not have such contracts. We find that, after controlling for changes in spread determinants, the average proportional spreads, on average, decrease significantly after SSF are introduced. For NYSE stocks, while the average daily trading volume in the cash market is reduced by 389,000 shares, we find a corresponding increase in the average percentage of the adverse selection component in the spread of the cash asset. This pattern indicates a migration of liquidity trading to the SSF market as fund managers appear to adjust their portfolio positions in the secondary SSF market rather than in the primary stock market