There's an interesting phenomenon—more and more traditional financial giants are starting to engage in prediction trading. As a well-known online broker in the United States, Interactive Brokers has recently officially launched its own prediction market product, Forecast Contracts, allowing traders to make "YES/NO" binary trades on various major events through its platform IBKR ForecastTrader.

Honestly, this product covers a wide range. You can trade US elections, economic indicators, central bank policies, inflation trends, and even global climate change. Moreover, trading is available from Monday to Saturday, 24 hours a day, which is very convenient for those who want to express their market views at any time.

The mechanism is actually not complicated. Each contract price fluctuates between $0.02 and $0.99. If your prediction turns out to be correct, the contract is settled at $1 at expiration—that is, your profit equals $1 minus your purchase cost and fees. Conversely, if your prediction is wrong, the contract simply becomes worthless. From another perspective, your risk is limited to your initial investment, while the potential profit remains relatively certain.

Interestingly, you don't have to wait until the contract expires to take profit or cut losses. Changed your mind? No problem—just buy a contract in the opposite direction to close your position. For example, if you initially believed a certain event (holding a YES contract), but later the market changed, buying a NO contract on the same issue can hedge your position. This flexibility is quite attractive to active traders.