As with any futures contracts, trading cattle futures contracts also requires an initial performance bond followed by maintenance margin. This can vary from one futures brokerage to another, but on average, the initial margin required is around $1225 for Globex Feeder cattle and about $825 for Globex Live cattle. Feeder Cattle Futures The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) offers a futures contract that settles into 50,000 pounds (23 metric tons) of feeder cattle. The contract trades globally on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and has eight expiration months: January, March, April, May, August, September, October and November. Live cattle futures opened with near limit gains, but fell to limit losses at the close. Expanded limits will stick around on Monday. The front month feeder cattle futures closed $5.82 to $6.42 lower but hit expanded limit losses in deferred contracts. The 03/12 CME Feeder Cattle Index from was down $3.13 to $127.91.