Calculate risk per contract
Multiply the stop in ticks by the tick value, then add slippage and round-trip commissions. Divide your risk budget by that amount. Only whole contracts are possible, so the result is always rounded down.
Futures Position Size Calculator
Find how many contracts fit your risk budget, including costs.
Set up your position
USD
Account currency
%
Futures contract
tick
Stop unit
Costs and contract specifications
USD
tick
Fees are entered in USD, then converted into your account currency.
- Size · MES
- 4 contracts
- Risk budget
- US$100.00
- Estimated loss at stop
- US$100.00
Calculation details
- Risk budget
- US$100.00
- Estimated loss at stop
- US$100.00
- Effective risk
- 1%
- Unused risk budget
- US$0.00
- Risk per contract
- US$25.00
- Stop distance
- 20 ticks
- Tick value
- US$1.25
- Point value
- US$5.00
Size rounded down to whole contracts.
Size a futures trade step by step
An example with MES
With USD 10,000 and 1% risk, your budget is USD 100. A 20-tick MES stop risks USD 25 per contract. With no commission or slippage added, that gives four contracts.
Keep points and ticks distinct
A tick is the contract's minimum price increment. ES and MES both have four ticks per point, but each tick is worth USD 12.50 and USD 1.25 respectively. Stops entered in points are converted to ticks; any partial tick is rounded up.
Use the specified contract
MES, MNQ, M2K, ES, NQ, 6E, 6B, 6A and 6J have preset tick sizes and values. Check them under the contract details. They describe outright exchange-traded futures, not options, calendar spreads or similarly named CFDs.
Count both sides of the trade
Enter the combined opening and closing commission per contract in USD, and total expected slippage in ticks. Both are included before size is rounded. Accounts in another currency use the displayed exchange rate.
Check margin separately
Margin is the collateral required to hold the position. A size within your stop-risk budget may still require more margin than you have. Gaps and fills beyond the stop can also make the actual loss larger than estimated.