Futures calculator
How many contractsshould you trade?
Pick an account, a contract and your stop. The calculator sizes the trade against your 3% drawdown and its position limit.
$300 of your $1,500 drawdown
Contracts to trade
4
Dollar risk at stop
$100
Risk per contract
$25
Full stop-outs to breach
15
Your budget allows 12 MES, but $50,000 accounts are capped at 4 contracts.
The formula
Contracts = risk budget ÷ (stop in ticks × tick value), rounded down. On a $50K account with a $1,500 drawdown, risking 20% ($300) with a 20-tick stop on MES ($1.25 a tick, $25 per contract) gives 12 contracts - capped at 6. The same stop on ES ($12.50 a tick, $250 per contract) gives 1.
Tick values
| Contract | Tick | Tick value |
|---|---|---|
| ES - E-mini S&P 500 | 0.25 index points | $12.50 |
| MES - Micro E-mini S&P 500 | 0.25 index points | $1.25 |
| NQ - E-mini Nasdaq-100 | 0.25 index points | $5 |
| MNQ - Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 | 0.25 index points | $0.50 |
| YM - E-mini Dow ($5) | 1 index point | $5 |
| MYM - Micro E-mini Dow | 1 index point | $0.50 |
| RTY - E-mini Russell 2000 | 0.10 index points | $5 |
| M2K - Micro E-mini Russell 2000 | 0.10 index points | $0.50 |
| CL - Crude Oil (WTI) | $0.01 per barrel | $10 |
| MCL - Micro WTI Crude Oil | $0.01 per barrel | $1 |
| NG - Henry Hub Natural Gas | $0.001 per MMBtu | $10 |
| GC - Gold | $0.10 per troy ounce | $10 |
| MGC - Micro Gold | $0.10 per troy ounce | $1 |
| SI - Silver | $0.005 per troy ounce | $25 |
| 6E - Euro FX | 0.00005 USD per EUR | $6.25 |
| ZN - 10-Year T-Note | 1/64 of a point | $15.63 |
Questions
How do you calculate futures position size?
Divide the dollars you are willing to lose by the dollar risk of one contract. One contract's risk is your stop in ticks multiplied by the contract's tick value. Round down.
How much of a prop firm drawdown should I risk per trade?
Most funded traders risk 10-25% of the maximum drawdown per trade, so that four to ten losing trades in a row are needed to breach the account.
Should I use micros or minis?
A micro is one tenth of the mini. If one mini at your stop risks more than your budget, the micro lets you take the same trade at a size you can afford.
Launching 12 Nov
Your futures accountis two weeks away
See the plans now and pick your size. Checkout opens on launch day - or buy any forex challenge today and get the same-size futures account free.
100% profit split
Weekly payouts
No daily loss limit
One-time fee