What one ZB contract is worth
The 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond trades on CBOT in increments of 0.03125. Because its point multiplier is $1,000.00, one tick is worth $31.25 and a full point is worth $1,000.00 — per contract, in both directions. Multiply by your contract count for the position.
The number that catches people out is notional value: price × $1,000.00, which is the exposure one contract actually carries, not the margin you posted to open it. Change the price above to see it for the level you're trading.
What a ZB round turn costs
We publish exchange, clearing and NFA rates only where we've verified them against a real broker cash ledger, and ZB isn't one of them yet — so the calculator says so rather than showing $0.00. That distinction matters: treating an unverified rate as zero is exactly how a futures account can look profitable on paper and shrink in reality. ExpectancyIQ can derive your own rates from your broker's Cash History export at import time.
Who trades ZB and when
Quarterly cycle, same expiry months as the other CME/CBOT financial futures. The longest-duration Treasury future on offer, so it's the most sensitive of the group to shifts in long-term rate expectations — Fed decisions and long-bond auctions tend to move it hardest.
Sizing a ZB position
Contract value is only half the question. How many ZB contracts you should trade depends on your account size and stop distance — the position size calculator works that out, and the expectancy calculator tells you whether the resulting trades pay over time.