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Futures Calculator
Pick a contract and enter your entry and exit to see the profit or loss in dollars, ticks and points. Or switch to position size and enter your risk and stop to see how many contracts to trade.
A futures trade makes or loses the price move times the contract's point value, times the number of contracts, minus fees. ES pays $50 a point, MES $5. The same 10-point move is $500 on one contract and $50 on the other.
The formula
How to calculate futures profit and loss
For a short, flip the first part: entry minus exit. You can also count in ticks: ticks moved × tick value × contracts.
Example: buy 1 ES at 6,000.00 and sell at 6,010.00. That's 10 points, or 40 ticks. 10 × $50 × 1 = $500, before fees.
Example, short: sell 3 MNQ at 21,000.00 and buy back at 20,950.00. That's 50 points in your favor: 50 × $2 × 3 = $300.
Tick values
Tick and point values for popular contracts
| Contract | Tick size | Tick value | Point value |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-mini S&P 500 (ES) | 0.25 | $12.50 | $50 |
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) | 0.25 | $1.25 | $5 |
| E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) | 0.25 | $5.00 | $20 |
| Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 (MNQ) | 0.25 | $0.50 | $2 |
| E-mini Dow (YM) | 1.00 | $5.00 | $5 |
| Crude oil (CL) | $0.01 | $10.00 | $1,000 per $1 |
| Gold (GC) | $0.10 | $10.00 | $100 per $1 |
| Micro Gold (MGC) | $0.10 | $1.00 | $10 per $1 |
The calculator covers 16 contracts, including Russell, silver, Euro FX and Treasury futures. For all of them in one table, see futures tick values.
Micros and minis
Micros are one-tenth of the minis
MES, MNQ, MYM and M2K are one-tenth the size of ES, NQ, YM and RTY. Same price, same chart, one-tenth the dollars per point. Ten MES contracts move like one ES.
That makes micros the finer tool for sizing. With $500 to risk and a 10-point stop, one ES contract would risk the whole $500. MES lets you trade 10 contracts for the same risk, or 7 if you want to risk $350. The calculator's position size mode works this out for any contract.
Position size
How many contracts to trade
Contracts = money at risk ÷ (stop in points × point value + fees per contract), rounded down.
A $50,000 account risking 1% has $500 to lose. On MES with a 10-point stop, each contract risks $50, so you trade 10 contracts. Add a sample $2 a contract in round-trip fees and each one risks $52, so you trade 9.
Contracts can't be split, so the calculator always rounds down and shows the risk at that size. For forex lots and gold CFDs, use the position size calculator; for what a forex pip is worth, the pip calculator.
Fees
Fees hit micros hardest
Futures fees are charged per contract, on the way in and on the way out. On a big contract they're a small slice of each tick. On a micro, they can be bigger than a tick.
One MES tick is $1.25. If your round-trip fees come to $1.50 a contract, a one-tick winner nets −$0.25. On ES, the same $1.50 is about an eighth of a $12.50 tick.
If you scalp micros for a tick or two, add your fees in the calculator. The net result is the one that counts.
Dollars not ticks
Count results in dollars, not ticks
Eight ticks is $100 on ES and $4 on MNQ. Add up a week of trades in ticks across different contracts and the total means very little. Dollars after fees are the only number that compares.
- Each trade priced for you — with its contract's point value, ES, NQ, the micros, crude and gold included
- Fees out of every trade — so results are net
- Results by contract — see which contract makes money and which one gives it back
A trading journal does the multiplying for every trade you take. For results by contract, hour and setup, see the futures trading journal. Trading a prop evaluation? The prop firm trading journal shows each account's results side by side.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate profit on a futures contract?
Multiply the price move by the contract's point value and the number of contracts, then subtract fees. Buying 1 ES at 6,000 and selling at 6,010 is 10 × $50 = $500 before fees.
How much is one point on ES, NQ, MES and MNQ?
ES $50, NQ $20, MES $5 and MNQ $2. Each point is four ticks on all four.
How many MES contracts equal one ES?
Ten. MES is one-tenth the size of ES, so 10 MES contracts make or lose the same as one ES.
Why does the futures calculator say my price isn't valid?
Each contract moves in fixed steps. ES and NQ move in 0.25 points, so 6,000.10 can't be a fill. Check the price, or switch to ticks.
Does the futures calculator include fees?
Only if you add them. Enter your round-trip fees per contract and you'll see the result after them.
Can I use the futures calculator for a prop firm evaluation?
Yes. The math is the same on an evaluation account. Your firm's rules on daily loss and drawdown are set in dollars, so size each trade by what it can lose in dollars, not ticks.
Price one trade here. Price every trade in your journal.
Bring in your futures trades and see each one in dollars, fees out, by contract, hour and setup.
Futures tick values for 16 contracts → · Position size calculator →