Futures look into the future to "lock in" a future price or try to predict where something will be in the future; hence the name. Since there are futures on the indexes (S&P 500, Dow 30, NASDAQ 100, Russell 2000) that trade virtually 24 hours a day, we can watch the index futures to get a feel for market direction. What do Eurodollar futures measure? The underlying instrument in Eurodollar futures is a eurodollar time deposit having a principal value of $1,000,000 with a three-month maturity. Eurodollar futures provide an effective means for companies and banks to secure an interest rate for money it plans to borrow or lend in the future. Eurodollar Futures Trading Screen Hub Name ICEU Commodity Code. ED Contract Series. Mar, Jun, Sep and Dec quarterly expirations extending out 5-years and 1 additional quarterly expiration (21 quarterly expirations), plus the two (2) nearest serial monthly expirations (months that are not in the Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec quarterly cycle).