Event Contract Trading
Event contracts are binary outcome contracts that let you trade on the outcome of real-world events — from economic indicators and politics to sports and weather.
Key Concepts
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Category | Broad classification grouping related series (e.g., Economics, Sports) |
| Series | A collection of related events within a category |
| Event | A collection of markets — the basic unit you interact with |
| Market | A specific binary outcome within an event (e.g., "Will the Fed cut rates 3 times?") with yes/no positions, prices, and settlement rules |
Supported Categories
Economics, Financials, Politics, Entertainment, Science & Technology, Climate and Weather, Transportation, Crypto, Sports.
Prerequisites
- Open an Event trading account via the Webull App
- Sign the required trading agreements or disclosures (can be done in-app, or via the signing URL returned in the API error response)
- Certain categories (e.g., Sports) require signing an additional agreement
Supported Order Types
| Order Type | Time in Force |
|---|---|
LIMIT | DAY |
Only LIMIT orders with DAY time-in-force are supported for event contracts. MARKET, GTC, and other order types will be rejected.
Trading Hours
Trading hours vary by contract type:
| Contract Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Crypto Event Contracts | Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM ET |
| Index Event Contracts | Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM ET |
| Economic Event Contracts | Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM ET |
| Sports Event Contracts (Cleared Swaps) | 24/7 (excluding maintenance windows) |
Crypto Event Contracts may also trade outside their standard hours. Trading hours are subject to change as new contracts are introduced.
Trading Rules
- Event contracts are not leveraged — buying "Yes" at $0.50 costs exactly $0.50 (plus fees)
- Not subject to Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rules
- Only buy to open and sell to close are allowed (selling to open is not permitted)
- You may buy the "No" position, which functions similarly to a put option
- Maximum quantity per order: 50,000 contracts
Request Example
Buy 5 "Yes" contracts at $0.10 per share on "Will the Fed cut rates 3 times?":
{
"account_id": "<your_account_id>",
"new_orders": [
{
"combo_type": "NORMAL",
"client_order_id": "<unique_id>",
"symbol": "KXRATECUTCOUNT-26DEC31-T3",
"instrument_type": "EVENT",
"market": "US",
"order_type": "LIMIT",
"limit_price": "0.10",
"quantity": "5",
"side": "BUY",
"time_in_force": "DAY",
"entrust_type": "QTY",
"event_outcome": "yes"
}
]
}
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
symbol | The event market symbol (e.g., KXRATECUTCOUNT-26DEC31-T3). Use the Event Contract Instruments endpoint to look up available symbols. |
instrument_type | Must be EVENT |
event_outcome | Required. yes or no — specifies which side of the binary outcome you are trading |
order_type | Must be LIMIT |
time_in_force | Must be DAY |
entrust_type | Must be QTY (amount-based orders are not supported) |
limit_price | Price per contract, between $0.01 and $0.99 |
Use the discovery endpoints to find tradable event contracts:
- Get Event Contract Categories — Browse available categories
- Get Event Contract Series — List series within a category
- Get Event Contract Instruments — Get tradable markets with symbols, conditions, and status
Settlement & Expiry
When a market is resolved:
- Holders of winning shares receive $1.00 per share
- Losing shares become worthless
- Trading of shares is no longer possible
You can monitor settlements by subscribing to position events via the Trade Event Subscription.
Event Market Data
Event market data is available via the Event Contract Series and Event Contract Instruments endpoints.
Fees
A $0.01 exchange fee and a $0.01 firm fee are charged per contract on both opening and closing trades. For details, see Webull Pricing.