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Futures position size calculator
How many contracts can you trade for the risk you accept? Pick the market, enter your risk in dollars or as a share of your balance, and your stop in points or ticks. It works for NQ, MNQ, ES, MES, YM, MYM, GC, MGC, CL and MCL.
Result
2 × 10.00 points × $20.00 a point = $400.00 if the stop is hit, before commissions and slippage.
How the calculator works
Contracts = your risk ÷ (stop in ticks × tick value), rounded down to a whole contract.
- Your risk is the most you accept to lose if the stop is hit. As a percentage, it is that share of the balance you enter.
- The stop is turned into ticks, the smallest step the price can move. A stop between two ticks is rounded up to the next tick.
- One contract's loss at the stop is the ticks times the tick value of the contract.
- The risk is divided by that loss and rounded down, so the position never risks more than you allowed.
Worked example: NQ and MNQ
You risk $500 with a 10-point stop. On NQ, 10 points is 40 ticks of $5.00: $200.00 a contract. $500 ÷ $200.00 = 2.5, so you trade 2 NQ and risk $400.00. The same trade on MNQ costs $20.00 a contract: 25 MNQ for $500.00.
With only $150 to risk and a 20-point stop, one NQ ($400.00) is too big. The calculator offers 3 MNQ instead, risking $120.00.
Worked example: 1% of a $50,000 account on MES
1% of $50,000 is $500. A 6-point MES stop is 24 ticks of $1.25, $30.00 a contract, so you can trade 16 MES and risk $480.00.
Point and tick values used
From the contract specifications published by CME Group, the same table the daqverse journal prices every trade with.
| Symbol | Contract | 1 point | Tick size | 1 tick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NQ | E-mini Nasdaq-100 | $20 | 0.25 | $5.00 |
| MNQ | Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 | $2 | 0.25 | $0.50 |
| ES | E-mini S&P 500 | $50 | 0.25 | $12.50 |
| MES | Micro E-mini S&P 500 | $5 | 0.25 | $1.25 |
| GC | Gold | $100 | 0.1 | $10.00 |
| MGC | Micro Gold | $10 | 0.1 | $1.00 |
| YM | E-mini Dow | $5 | 1 | $5.00 |
| MYM | Micro E-mini Dow | $0.50 | 1 | $0.50 |
| CL | WTI Crude Oil | $1,000 | 0.01 | $10.00 |
| MCL | Micro WTI Crude Oil | $100 | 0.01 | $1.00 |
Questions
How do I calculate position size for futures?
Divide the dollars you accept to lose by the dollars one contract loses at your stop. One contract's loss is the stop in ticks times the tick value. On NQ a 10-point stop is 40 ticks of $5.00, so $200.00 a contract; a $500 risk allows 2 contracts. Always round down.
What is the point value of NQ, MNQ, ES and MES?
NQ is $20 a point, MNQ $2, ES $50 and MES $5. All four move in ticks of 0.25 points, so one tick is a quarter of the point value: $5.00, $0.50, $12.50 and $1.25.
Should I use a micro contract instead?
A micro is one tenth of its full-size contract (MNQ to NQ, MES to ES, MYM to YM, MGC to GC, MCL to CL). When your risk does not cover one full-size contract at your stop, micros let you take the trade at the right size instead of oversizing. The calculator suggests them when that happens.
Does the calculator include commissions?
No. It sizes on the stop alone. Commissions, exchange fees and slippage add to the real loss, so leave some room under your risk if your fees are large compared with the stop.
Why is my stop rounded?
Futures prices move in fixed ticks (0.25 on NQ and ES, 1 point on YM, 0.10 on gold, 0.01 on crude). A stop typed between two ticks can only be placed on the next one, so the calculator rounds it up to the tick that the order would really use.
What risk per trade do prop firm traders use?
There is no single answer. Many traders keep each trade small next to the account's drawdown allowance, so that several losses in a row cannot reach the floor. The prop firm drawdown calculator shows how much room your account has left.
About daqverse
daqverse is a trading journal built for ICT and prop-firm futures traders: it tags every trade with its New York kill zone and tracks each prop account's drawdown rules.
Page updated .
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