Calculate futures position size from your risk amount, stop distance and contract value. Compare micro and larger contracts, then check account limits and trading costs separately.
Whole contracts = risk amount divided by (stop distance in points × dollar value per point), rounded down. A tick is the minimum price increment; it is not always one point. For outright NQ and MNQ futures, 20 points equals 80 ticks of 0.25 points.
With a hypothetical $300 risk amount and a 20-point stop, one NQ contract has $400 of modeled price risk: 20 × $20. Zero whole NQ contracts fit that input. Rounding up to one would exceed it.
Select NQ in the calculatorWith the same $300 input and 20-point stop, one MNQ contract has $40 of modeled price risk: 20 × $2. Rounding $300 / $40 down gives 7 contracts and $280 of price risk before costs. Eight contracts would model $320.
Select MNQ in the calculatorThese inputs illustrate the calculation, not a recommended risk budget or stop. The $20 difference in the MNQ example is not a verified allowance for costs. Commissions, slippage, existing positions, margin and firm contract limits can reduce the usable size. A stop order does not guarantee the modeled loss.
Official contract specifications (English), checked October 12, 2026: CME NQ · CME MNQ
Tick sizes, tick values, and point values for the contracts prop firm traders size most often. Pick a symbol to preload it into the calculator above — ES, NQ, and their micro counterparts MES and MNQ share the same tick size but move ten times less per contract.
| Contract | Tick Size | Tick Value | Value per Point | Calculate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESE-mini S&P 500 | 0.25 | $12.5 | $50 | Calculate |
| MESMicro E-mini S&P 500 | 0.25 | $1.25 | $5 | Calculate |
| NQE-mini Nasdaq 100 | 0.25 | $5 | $20 | Calculate |
| MNQMicro E-mini Nasdaq 100 | 0.25 | $0.5 | $2 | Calculate |
| CLCrude Oil | 0.01 | $10 | $1,000 | Calculate |
| MCLMicro Crude Oil | 0.01 | $1 | $100 | Calculate |
| RTYE-mini Russell 2000 | 0.1 | $5 | $50 | Calculate |
| M2KMicro E-mini Russell 2000 | 0.1 | $0.5 | $5 | Calculate |
| YME-mini Dow Jones | 1 | $5 | $5 | Calculate |
| MYMMicro E-mini Dow Jones | 1 | $0.5 | $0.5 | Calculate |
| GCGold | 0.1 | $10 | $100 | Calculate |
| MGCMicro Gold | 0.1 | $1 | $10 | Calculate |
| SISilver | 0.005 | $25 | $5,000 | Calculate |
| SILMicro Silver | 0.005 | $5 | $1,000 | Calculate |
| 6EEuro FX | 0.00005 | $6.25 | $125,000 | Calculate |
Need margins, trading hours, or the full list? Browse the 140+ contract tick value & margin reference.
Divide your risk amount by the risk per contract. Risk per contract equals your stop loss in points multiplied by the contract's point value. For example, risking $500 on ES (E-mini S&P 500) with a 10-point stop: each point is worth $50, so one contract risks $500 — you can trade 1 contract. This calculator does the math automatically for all major futures contracts.
Tick size is the minimum price increment a contract can move, while tick value is how much money one tick is worth. For ES, the tick size is 0.25 points and the tick value is $12.50, which makes one full point worth $50. For NQ, the tick size is 0.25 and the tick value is $5.00, so one point is worth $20.
One point is worth $50 on ES (E-mini S&P 500), $20 on NQ (E-mini Nasdaq 100), $1,000 on CL (Crude Oil, i.e. $10 per 0.01 move), and $100 on GC (Gold). Micro contracts are worth one-tenth of these amounts: $5 per point on MES, $2 on MNQ, $10 on MGC.
Micro contracts provide smaller dollar exposure per price move than their larger counterparts. For Nasdaq-100 futures, MNQ is $2 per point and NQ is $20 per point; ten MNQ contracts therefore have the same price exposure as one NQ contract. Smaller contracts allow finer sizing increments, but adding more contracts increases total exposure. Contract value does not establish the margin your broker requires or the limits of your prop firm account.
There is no universal risk amount for a futures prop firm account. Start with the distance to your current breach threshold and any remaining daily loss allowance, not the advertised account size. Include existing positions, commissions and possible slippage when assessing exposure. For illustration, $500 of planned price risk would consume half of a $1,000 remaining loss allowance before costs. This calculator models position size from your inputs; it does not recommend a risk budget or guarantee that stops will prevent a breach.
Many day traders aim for at least 1:1.5 to 1:2 — risking one unit to make one-and-a-half to two. The ratio only matters together with your win rate: a 1:2 ratio is profitable above roughly a 34% win rate, while a 1:1 ratio needs better than 50%. Enter a profit target in this calculator to see the risk-reward ratio of your planned trade before you take it.
The remaining daily loss allowance is one constraint on position size; the overall breach threshold and existing positions can leave less room. Entering a daily limit caps the modeled contract count, but touching a firm’s threshold may itself breach the account. Commissions, slippage and actual fills can differ from the inputs. The calculator does not guarantee that a stop or calculated size will protect the account.
Account size alone does not determine the contract count. Using a hypothetical $500 risk input, a 10-point stop on ES models 1 contract; a 25-point stop on MES models 4 micro contracts. These examples exclude costs and slippage. Check your actual remaining loss allowance, existing exposure and the firm’s contract limits before using any calculated size.
Yes. It has one-tap presets for 15 popular contracts — E-mini and Micro index futures (ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, RTY, M2K, YM, MYM), energy (CL, MCL), metals (GC, MGC, SI, SIL), and Euro FX (6E) — a search across 140+ listed futures markets (grains, financials, currencies, softs and more), and a custom option where you can enter any tick size and tick value manually.
With a $250 risk budget and a 20-tick ES stop, each contract risks $250 before fees and slippage, so the arithmetic allows one contract. Check that this risk fits your remaining drawdown and the firm’s contract limit. A calculator result is not permission to trade that size.
Check remaining drawdown and losing streaksVest perpetuals use market units and leverage-based margin. Calculate their quantity separately from exchange-traded futures contracts.
Use the perpetual position size calculator