A brokerage is allowing bets on economic and climate events

Interactive Brokers Group is launching a new trading platform, IBKR ForecastTrader, on July 8, allowing users to place yes-or-no bets on future economic and climate-related events, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the platform will offer contracts on indicators like the consumer price index (CPI), the Federal Reserve’s interest rate, US consumer sentiment, national debt, retail sales and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

These event contracts, priced between 2 cents and 99 cents, will conclude based on specific outcomes. Correct predictions are valued at $1, and the incorrect ones at nothing.

What are event contracts?
They are financial instruments that allow people to trade shares based on the outcome of future events.

These contracts typically have binary yes-or-no results that allow users to wager on future events like political elections, sports outcomes and economic indicators.

Event contracts surged during the pandemic, with more listed in 2021 than in the previous 15 years combined.

Interactive Brokers aims to establish collective views on controversial issues and offer insurance against potential economic and weather-related events.

With nearly three million client accounts, the firm includes individual investors, hedge funds and financial advisers among its customers.