Futures tick value chart: 12 CME contracts, free printable

The tick value of a futures contract is its tick size times its multiplier: ES is $12.50 a tick, MES $1.25, NQ $5.00, MNQ $0.50, CL $10.00, MCL $1.00, GC $10.00 and MGC $1.00. The chart below lists all 12 contracts prop traders use most, each number checked against CME Group's own contract specification page on 2026-10-11.

Every stop, size and drawdown sum you work out starts from this number, so it is worth having it exact. The same table is a free printable, linked at the end.

The tick value chart

Source: CME Group contract specifications, one page per contract (links at the end of this post), checked 2026-10-11. Tick size is the outright minimum price fluctuation. The last column is the dollars per contract for a move of 1.00 in the quoted price: one index point, $1.00 a barrel, or $1.00 an ounce.

Three things to notice:

• Every micro is one tenth of its mini. Same tick size, a tenth of the multiplier, so a tenth of the tick value. 10 MES carry the same dollars per tick as 1 ES.
• "Point" means different things. On the index contracts a point is one index point. On crude and gold the quote is dollars per barrel or per ounce, so a 1.00 move is 100 ticks on crude and 10 ticks on gold.
• The Dow contracts tick in whole points. On YM and MYM one tick and one point are the same thing.

Calendar spreads and some special order types trade in smaller increments than the outright tick. The chart uses the outright tick, which is what a normal buy or sell order fills in.

How to calculate tick value yourself

Tick value = tick size × multiplier. Both numbers are on the spec page, so you never have to trust a chart (this one included) without checking.

• ES: 0.25 × $50 = $12.50
• M2K: 0.10 × $5 = $0.50
• CL: 0.01 × 1,000 barrels = $10.00
• MGC: 0.10 × 10 ounces = $1.00

From there, three lines do every conversion:

• Dollars = ticks moved × tick value × contracts
• Ticks = price move ÷ tick size
• Ticks for a dollar amount = dollars ÷ (tick value × contracts)

The tick value calculator does these for any of the 12 contracts. For one contract in depth, What is the MNQ tick value? works through MNQ with conversion tables.

Worked example: equity index (ES and MES)

(example figures, not results)

Price moves 8.50 index points.

• Ticks = 8.50 ÷ 0.25 = 34
• 1 ES: 34 × $12.50 = $425
• 1 MES: 34 × $1.25 = $42.50
• 2 MES: 34 × $1.25 × 2 = $85

Backwards from dollars: how many ticks is $500 on ES? $500 ÷ $12.50 = 40 ticks, which is 10 points. On one MES the same $500 is 400 ticks, or 100 points.

A 40-tick stop on 2 MES costs 40 × $1.25 × 2 = $100. The same stop on 1 ES costs $500. That fivefold gap is why the micro is the finer sizing step.

Worked example: energy (CL and MCL)

(example figures, not results)

Crude is quoted in dollars and cents per barrel. Price moves $0.45 a barrel.

• Ticks = 0.45 ÷ 0.01 = 45
• 1 CL: 45 × $10.00 = $450
• 1 MCL: 45 × $1.00 = $45

Backwards: a $200 stop on 2 MCL is $200 ÷ ($1.00 × 2) = 100 ticks, a $1.00 move. On 1 CL, $200 is only 20 ticks, a move of $0.20. Same dollars, a fifth of the distance: check the stop on the chart, not just in dollars.

Worked example: metals (GC and MGC)

(example figures, not results)

Gold is quoted in dollars per troy ounce. Price moves $3.50 an ounce.

• Ticks = 3.50 ÷ 0.10 = 35
• 1 GC: 35 × $10.00 = $350
• 1 MGC: 35 × $1.00 = $35
• 3 MGC: 35 × $1.00 × 3 = $105

Backwards: how far can gold move against 1 GC before you lose $500? $500 ÷ $10 = 50 ticks, or $5.00 an ounce. On 1 MGC the same $500 is 500 ticks, or $50.00 an ounce.

Your drawdown, in ticks, for each contract

Prop firm limits are written in dollars; the chart is in ticks. Here is the shared example account, $50,000 with a $2,000 drawdown on day one, so the room is the full $2,000 (example figures, not results). Ticks of room per contract = $2,000 ÷ tick value.

Divide by your contract count for the room per position. On a trailing drawdown the $2,000 is not fixed: the floor moves as the account makes new highs, so the room changes. What is a trailing drawdown? explains how, and How many contracts should I trade on a prop firm account? turns room into a contract count.

Common mistakes

• Reading the wrong row. MES and MNQ, or MCL and MGC, sit next to each other on most platforms and have different tick values. Check the symbol before you size.
• Mini value on a micro, or the reverse. That is a tenfold error in every stop and every size.
• Treating points as ticks. A 10-point ES stop is 40 ticks, $500 a contract, not $125.
• Assuming a "point" on crude or gold is one tick. A 1.00 move is 100 ticks on CL and 10 on GC.
• Forgetting fees. All the figures here are before commissions and exchange fees, which are charged per contract. On a small target they can take a large share of the gross.
• Trusting any chart without checking. Specs rarely change, but they can. The CME page is the source; this chart and the card are copies of it.

Sources

Each row was read from CME Group's contract specifications page on 2026-10-11 (contract unit and outright minimum price fluctuation): MNQ, NQ, MES, ES, MYM, YM, M2K, RTY, MCL, CL, MGC, GC. Ticks per 1.00, value of 1.00 and the drawdown table are arithmetic from those two figures.