Calculator
Futures Contract Risk Calculator
Futures risk is measured in ticks, not pips, not points, not whatever your forex broker told you. Each contract has its own tick size and tick value. One ES tick is $12.50. One NQ tick is $5.00. One wrong size on a CL contract and your $200 risk just became a $2,000 problem.
You need to know your exact dollar risk before you enter any futures trade. Not an estimate. Not a rough guess. The actual number that leaves your account if your stop gets hit. That is what this calculator does.
Why Ticks, Not Pips
Forex has pips. Futures have ticks. A pip is a standardized 0.0001 move on most currency pairs. A tick is whatever the exchange decided the minimum price increment should be for that specific contract.
ES moves in 0.25 point increments, and each increment is worth $12.50. CL moves in 0.01 increments, each worth $10.00. GC moves in 0.10 increments, each worth $10.00. They are all ticks. None of them are the same size. Welcome to futures.
This matters because you cannot copy your forex risk math into futures and expect it to work. The relationship between price movement and dollar value is completely different for every single contract. You have to calculate each one separately. Every time.
How One ES Tick Becomes $125
One ES tick is $12.50 per contract. If you trade one contract, that is $12.50. Ten contracts? $125 per tick. Your 8-tick stop is now a $1,000 stop, not $100.
This is where most new futures traders get absolutely wrecked. They size based on the margin requirement instead of the tick value. The margin tells you how much money you need to hold the position. The tick value tells you how much money you lose when the position moves against you. These are not the same thing.
Your risk per trade is always: stop loss in ticks times tick value times number of contracts. That formula never changes. Write it down. Tattoo it on your monitor. Do not size another futures trade without running that math first.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates US futures markets and warns that futures trading carries substantial risk. Contract sizing is where that warning becomes a number.
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On This Page
- Why Ticks, Not Pips
- How One ES Tick Becomes
25
Why Micro Futures Exist
ES vs MES for Prop Firm Sizing
Contract Specifications
Why Micro Futures Exist
Micro futures exist because the CME realized most retail traders cannot afford to risk $100+ per trade on a single E-mini contract. So they created MES and MNQ, which are exactly one-tenth the size of ES and NQ.
One MES tick is $1.25 instead of $12.50. One MNQ tick is $0.50 instead of $5.00. Same market, same price action, one-tenth the risk per tick. That is the entire point.
If you are trading a $25,000 prop firm account with a 1% risk rule, your budget is $250 per trade. On ES with an 8-tick stop, you can trade two contracts maximum ($200 risk). On MES with the same stop, you can trade 20 contracts and still be under budget. The micros give you granularity. They let you size properly instead of being forced into all-or-nothing positions.
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ES vs MES for Prop Firm Sizing
If you are on a $50,000 funded account with a 1% risk cap, ES gives you very few contracts to work with. An 8-tick stop means $100 per contract. Your $500 budget gets you 5 contracts maximum. That is fine for a single clean entry.
But what if your stop needs to be 12 ticks? Now you are at $150 per contract. Three contracts max. What if you want to scale into the position? What if the spread eats two ticks before you even fill? The E-mini math gets tight fast on smaller prop accounts.
MES solves this. Same 12-tick stop is $15 per contract instead of $150. Your $500 budget now allows 33 contracts. You can scale in, add to winners, manage the position in layers. You have room to actually trade instead of gambling on a single entry.
The downside is commissions. More contracts means more commission per tick of profit. On a prop account where you are paying the firm's commission rate, micros can eat into your returns faster than you expect. Run the numbers on commissions too, not just risk. Both matter.
Contract Specifications
| Contract |
Tick Size |
Tick Value |
Notes |
| ES |
0.25 pts |
$12.50 |
E-mini S&P 500. The king of index futures. |
| NQ |
0.25 pts |
$5.00 |
E-mini Nasdaq 100. More volatile than ES. Wider swings. |
| MES |
0.25 pts |
$1.25 |
Micro S&P 500. One-tenth of ES. Best for smaller accounts. |
| MNQ |
0.25 pts |
$0.50 |
Micro Nasdaq 100. One-tenth of NQ. Cheap exposure to tech. |
| CL |
0.01 |
$10.00 |
Crude Oil. 100 ticks per dollar move. Volatile. Respect the tick. |
| GC |
0.10 |
$10.00 |
Gold. 10 ticks per dollar move. Runs hard when it runs. |
| YM |
1 pt |
$5.00 |
E-mini Dow 30. 1 point = 1 tick = $5. Simpler math. |
| RTY |
0.10 pts |
$5.00 |
E-mini Russell 2000. Small caps, big moves. |
| ZB |
1/32 |
$31.25 |
30-Year Treasury Bond. Biggest tick value on this list. Trade small. |
| 6E |
0.0001 |
$6.25 |
Euro FX. 10,000 ticks per cent move. Currency futures exposure. |
Futures Risk by Contract: Quick Reference
Knowing the theory is one thing. Having a cheat sheet you can glance at before every trade is another. Here is the quick reference I keep on my second monitor when I am sizing futures trades on a funded account.
| Contract |
Tick Value |
Intraday Margin (approx) |
1% Risk on $50K |
Max Contracts (8-tick stop) |
| ES |
$12.50 |
$500 |
$500 |
5 contracts ($100 each) |
| NQ |
$5.00 |
$500 |
$500 |
12 contracts ($40 each) |
| CL |
$10.00 |
$1,000 |
$500 |
6 contracts ($80 each) |
| GC |
$10.00 |
$1,000 |
$500 |
6 contracts ($80 each) |
| YM |
$5.00 |
$500 |
$500 |
12 contracts ($40 each) |
Notice how different the contract counts are despite the same $500 risk budget. ES gives you 5 contracts with an 8-tick stop. NQ gives you 12. That is because NQ ticks are worth less individually, but NQ moves far more ticks in a typical session. A 20-point move on ES is a big day. A 200-point move on NQ is a Tuesday.
This table assumes an 8-tick stop, which is tight. If your strategy requires wider stops, the contract count drops fast. A 16-tick stop on ES means $200 per contract, so your $500 budget only allows 2 contracts. Two contracts is not much room to manage a position. This is why many prop firm risk management plans default to MES for smaller accounts.
Common Futures Sizing Mistakes
I have made every single one of these mistakes personally. Learn from my pain instead of repeating it yourself.
Overleveraging NQ. The Nasdaq is the contract that destroys more prop firm accounts than any other. It moves fast, it gaps hard, and its daily range can be twice what ES delivers. Traders see the $5.00 tick value and think NQ is cheaper to trade than ES. It is not. NQ moves so many ticks per session that your dollar risk per trade is often higher on NQ than ES with the same stop distance in ticks. A 20-tick stop on NQ is $100 per contract. A 20-tick stop on ES is $250. But NQ can move 200 ticks in an hour while ES moves 40. The net dollar movement is often larger on NQ.
Ignoring tick value differences. You cannot size CL the same way you size ES. CL has a tick value of $10.00 versus ES at $12.50. Close enough, right? Wrong. CL ticks are worth $10 each, but crude oil can move 200 ticks in a single session during volatile periods. That is $2,000 per contract. ES at 200 ticks is $2,500 per contract, but ES rarely moves 200 ticks in a day while CL does it regularly. Always calculate for the specific contract you are trading.
Sizing based on margin, not risk. Your broker's intraday margin for ES might be $500. Your risk budget might be $500. These are the same number but they mean completely different things. Margin is what you need to hold the position. Risk is what you lose if your stop hits. You could meet the margin requirement with 1 contract and still blow your daily loss limit if your stop is wide enough. Never conflate the two.
Not accounting for slippage on stops. In fast markets, especially during news events, your stop loss order may not fill at the exact price you set. A 2-tick slip on ES with 5 contracts is an extra $125 you did not plan for. On CL, a 5-tick slip with 3 contracts is $150 unplanned risk. Build a buffer into your sizing. If your calculator says you can trade 5 contracts, trade 4. That buffer absorbs the real-world messiness that the calculator cannot predict.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate risk on a futures trade?
Multiply your stop loss in ticks by the tick value of the contract, then multiply by the number of contracts. For example, 8 ticks on ES ($12.50 per tick) with 2 contracts equals 8 times $12.50 times 2, which is $200 total risk.
What is tick value in futures trading?
Tick value is the dollar amount you gain or lose for each one-tick price movement in a futures contract. Each contract has its own tick size and tick value. For ES (E-mini S&P 500), one tick (0.25 points) equals $12.50 per contract.
How many futures contracts should I trade?
Divide your risk amount (account balance times risk percentage) by the risk per contract (stop loss ticks times tick value). Round down to the nearest whole number. Never round up. If your account allows 2.7 contracts, you trade 2.
What is the difference between ES and MES?
ES is the E-mini S&P 500 with a tick value of $12.50. MES is the Micro E-mini S&P 500 with a tick value of $1.25, exactly one-tenth the size. MES lets you trade the same market with much less capital and risk per contract.
Why do futures use ticks instead of pips?
Futures contracts each have their own minimum price increment called a tick, which varies by contract. Unlike forex where a pip is standardized at 0.0001 for most pairs, futures tick sizes are set by the exchange and differ between contracts. ES moves in 0.25 point increments, CL moves in 0.01 increments, GC moves in 0.10 increments.
PropTrader1
Funded trader with 15+ years of experience trading forex and futures. CISI qualified. Formerly worked in London's Square Mile before going solo.
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Risk Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational purposes only. Tick values and contract specifications may change. Always verify contract specs with your broker and prop firm before trading.
