05/11/2026
Even Warren Buffett, who resisted stock splits for 30+ years, eventually launched Berkshire Class B at 1/1500 the size of Class A. Today, the smaller version trades 500x the daily volume of the larger.
Futures markets are running the same play on a much faster cycle. As the S&P and gold have outgrown their original contract sizes, CME has rolled out mini and micro contracts that bring precise position sizing to allocators who'd otherwise be stuck with clumsy round-number exposures.
A Micro E-mini S&P today has a notional of ~$35k, roughly the size of the original full-size S&P contract from 1982, despite being 50x smaller. The original "big" contract now exceeds $1.75M.
What this means for your allocation, plus what's coming from CME (including the new QSPX):
Outside of Warren Buffett, most companies actively endeavor to keep the price of shares reasonable for a wide audience, which can increase adoption rates and make their stock more desirable. Futures markets run into similar constraints. As contract values grow, they become harder to trade. Just like...