Mutual funds and institutional investors do most of the index futures trading.

Stock futures of the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow Indexes trade from 4:45 pm to 9:15 am EST, closing 15 minutes before the market opens in New York.

If you listen to the business news early in the morning, before the market opens, you will here that the “futures are up” or the “futures are down”.

Studies have concluded that the market will generally follow the direction of the futures at the very beginning of the day (60% of the time), but there is no set trend once trading gets rolling.

Other Stock Market Basics Topics:

1. Stock Market Investing – the Right Way
2. More Stock Marketing Investing
3. How to Pick Winning Stocks
4. The Golden Rule of Investing
5. Avoid Psychological Traps to Have Successful Investing
6. Changes in Stock Values Can Be Big Numbers
7. How to Invest Smart
8. Stock Advice - Important Selling Rules
9. Poor Stock Buying Decisions
10. Market Indicators
11. Stock Market Cycles
12. When a bear stock market may not be a bear market
13. Stock Index Futures
14. Four Things that Affect Stock Valuation
15. What is a P/E ratio?
16. Value Investing
17. Cheap Stocks
18. What is a Financial Statement?
19. Analyzing Financial Statements
20. Stock Market Tip - Red Flags to Look For When Investing?
21. The Annual Report – How to Read
22. Stock Market Analysts – Stock Market Advice and Tips