Tick Value
The dollar value per minimum price movement on a futures contract — multiplying tick value by ticks moved gives your dollar P&L change per contract.
What is Tick Value?
Tick value is the dollar amount per minimum price movement on a futures contract. Multiply tick value by the number of ticks the price has moved to get your P&L change per contract. It’s the operational currency of futures position sizing.
For prop firm trading, tick value is essential because:
- You can’t calculate stop loss dollars without it (stop in ticks × tick value = dollar stop per contract)
- You can’t size positions without it (max risk dollars / tick value × stop ticks = position size)
- You can’t compare contracts without it (“ES moved 4 ticks” means $50; “NQ moved 4 ticks” means $20 — same tick count, different P&L)
- You can’t read your account balance changes properly (a +$500 day on a $50K account = how many ticks worth?)
Tick value is set by exchange contract specifications and never changes during the contract’s lifetime. ES has been $12.50/tick since the contract launched. CL has been $10/tick. These are immutable contract attributes.
How Tick Value works
Common futures tick values (US contracts):
Equity Indices:
- ES (S&P 500 E-mini): $12.50/tick ($50/point)
- NQ (Nasdaq E-mini): $5.00/tick ($20/point)
- YM (Dow E-mini): $5.00/tick ($5/point — and 1 point = 1 tick)
- RTY (Russell 2000 E-mini): $5.00/tick ($50/point)
- MES (Micro S&P): $1.25/tick ($5/point)
- MNQ (Micro Nasdaq): $0.50/tick ($2/point)
- MYM (Micro Dow): $0.50/tick
- M2K (Micro Russell): $0.50/tick
Energy:
- CL (WTI Crude Oil): $10.00/tick ($1000/dollar)
- MCL (Micro Crude): $1.00/tick
- NG (Natural Gas): $10.00/tick
Metals:
- GC (Gold): $10.00/tick
- MGC (Micro Gold): $1.00/tick
- SI (Silver): $25.00/tick
- SIL (Micro Silver): $5.00/tick
Treasuries (CBOT):
- ZB (30-Year Bond): $31.25/tick
- ZN (10-Year Note): $15.625/tick
- ZF (5-Year Note): $7.8125/tick
- ZT (2-Year Note): $15.625/tick
Currencies (CME FX):
- 6E (Euro FX): $6.25/tick
- 6B (British Pound): $6.25/tick
- 6J (Japanese Yen): $6.25/tick
How tick value is calculated: Tick value = (Contract size) × (Tick size). For ES: contract size is $50/point × index level, tick size is 0.25 points, so tick value = $50 × 0.25 = $12.50. For CL: contract size is 1,000 barrels, tick size is $0.01/barrel, so tick value = 1,000 × $0.01 = $10.
Worked example
Position sizing across multiple contracts using tick value:
Trader on $50K Apex eval. Wants to risk $300 per trade. Has 3 setup options today:
ES setup: 8-tick stop (2 points). Risk per contract: 8 × $12.50 = $100. Position size for $300 risk: 3 contracts. Total exposure: 3 × ES at the entry price.
NQ setup: 8-tick stop (2 points). Risk per contract: 8 × $5 = $40. Position size for $300 risk: 7 contracts. Total exposure: 7 × NQ.
CL setup: 30-tick stop ($0.30 move). Risk per contract: 30 × $10 = $300. Position size for $300 risk: 1 contract. Total exposure: 1 × CL.
Same $300 dollar risk across three different instruments. Wildly different position sizes because tick value and stop distance differ per contract. Knowing tick value is non-negotiable for sizing.
What can go wrong: A trader who applies “3 contracts” sizing across all three setups (assuming they’re equivalent) would actually be risking $300 on ES (correct), $120 on NQ (way under-sized), and $900 on CL (3x over-sized). The CL trade alone would consume 36% of their max drawdown if it stopped out.
Tick Value vs related concepts
Side-by-side comparison of Tick Value against the most commonly confused alternatives.
| Concept | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Tick Value this term | The dollar value per minimum price movement on a futures contract — multiplying tick value by ticks moved gives your dollar P&L change per contract. | Futures Mechanics |
| Tick Size | The smallest price movement allowed on a futures contract — a fixed increment defined by the exchange that determines how prices step up and down. | Futures Mechanics |
| Micro Futures | Smaller-sized versions of major futures contracts (typically 1/10th the size of mini futures), designed for retail and prop firm traders to manage risk with less capital. | Futures Mechanics |
| Mini Futures | Mid-sized futures contracts (typically 10x the size of micro futures, 1/5th to 1/10th the size of pit-traded contracts) — the most-traded futures contracts on US exchanges. | Futures Mechanics |
How major prop firms handle Tick Value
Every firm implements tick value differently. Here's the firm-by-firm breakdown — DGT-trusted firms surface first, with implementation notes for each.
| Firm | How they handle it | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Apex Trader Funding DGT TRUSTED | Standard CME tick values apply across all Apex-supported instruments. ES $12.50, NQ $5, MES $1.25, MNQ $0.50, CL $10, GC $10, etc. Apex's instrument list covers most CME equity indices, energy, metals, treasuries, and grains. | |
| Take Profit Trader DGT TRUSTED | Standard exchange tick values apply on TPT through Rithmic and Tradovate execution. TPT supports major US futures markets — verify the specific instrument list for your account product on takeprofittrader.com. | |
| Tradeify DGT TRUSTED | Standard tick values apply on Tradeify-supported instruments. Position sizing on Tradeify Lightning Funded products requires careful tick-value awareness due to tighter drawdown buffers. | |
| Lucid Trading DGT TRUSTED | Standard exchange tick values on Lucid funded products. Algorithmic strategies relying on tick-level P&L calculations are well-supported. | |
| FundedNext DGT TRUSTED | Standard CME tick values apply on FundedNext's futures vertical. The forex products use different units (pip values for FX), but futures contracts follow standard CME specifications. |
Why traders fail Tick Value
Trading multiple contracts without checking tick value. ES is $12.50/tick. CL is $10/tick. NG is $10/tick. ZB is $31.25/tick. Treating them as equivalent dollar-risk-per-contract leads to enormous sizing errors.
Confusing tick value with margin requirement. Tick value = dollar P&L per tick. Margin = the capital required to open/hold the position. They’re different quantities. ES tick value $12.50; ES day-trade margin ~$500-1,500 depending on broker.
Not accounting for commissions when calculating realized P&L. An 8-tick win on ES is +$100 gross — minus ~$0.80 round-trip commission per contract = $99.20 net. Small per-trade but compounds over high-frequency strategies.
Forgetting tick value differs between full-size and micro contracts. ES = $12.50/tick. MES = $1.25/tick. Same instrument, micro version is exactly 1/10th the tick value. New traders sometimes assume MES is half-size when it’s actually 1/10th.
Frequently asked questions about Tick Value
How do I calculate tick value?
Tick value = contract size × tick size. For ES: $50 per point × 0.25 points = $12.50. For CL: 1000 barrels × $0.01 = $10. The exchange publishes contract specifications including these values.
Why is ES tick value $12.50 and not $50?
ES has a $50 multiplier per POINT. ES tick size is 0.25 points (a quarter point). So tick value = $50 × 0.25 = $12.50. The full-point value is $50, but the smallest movement (one tick) is $12.50.
Are micro futures tick values 1/10th of mini futures?
Generally yes. MES is 1/10th of ES ($1.25 vs $12.50). MNQ is 1/10th of NQ ($0.50 vs $5). MGC is 1/10th of GC ($1 vs $10). The exchange standardized micro contracts as 1/10th of their mini counterparts for accessibility.
Does tick value change throughout the day?
No. Tick value is a fixed contract specification — it's the same at market open, close, during news, and overnight. The PRICE moves, but the dollar value per tick movement is constant.
Why do treasury futures have fractional tick values?
Treasury futures historically traded in 1/32nds (or 1/64ths for shorter-duration). When converted to dollar values, this produces $31.25 (ZB) or $15.625 (ZN) per tick — fractional but precise reflections of the underlying bond pricing conventions.