Futures Position Size Calculator
Convert a stop in points or ticks into whole ES, MES, NQ or MNQ contracts. Include fees and a slippage allowance, then compare the modeled position risk with your dollar budget.
Fees cover entry plus exit, including commission and exchange/broker charges. Slippage is the total extra adverse movement for the trade, not a per-side amount. Zero excludes that cost; it is not a broker quote.
Whole contracts within the modeled budget
0 ES
One contract exceeds this risk budget. A micro contract may fit; do not round the result up.
- Risk budget
- $100.00
- Planned position risk
- $0.00
- Unused risk budget
- $100.00
- Stop distance
- 40 ticks / 10 points
- Dollar value per tick
- $12.50
- Stop risk per contract
- $500.00
- Costs per contract
- $0.00
- All-in risk per contract
- $500.00
Net profit scenarios
Multiples of planned position risk after rounding. These dollar goals are not price targets or expected returns.
- 1R net profit
- $0.00
- 2R net profit
- $0.00
- 3R net profit
- $0.00
A gross trading profit must also cover $0.00 in modeled costs to reach these net goals.
This estimate assumes your stop and cost inputs. Gaps or worse fills can increase losses. Broker margin and buying power require a separate check. For information only, not investment advice.
ES, MES, NQ and MNQ tick values
For outright futures, all four contracts move in 0.25-point ticks. The contract multiplier determines the dollar value: tick value = tick size × dollars per point. A 10-point stop contains 40 ticks.
| Contract | USD per point | Tick size (points) | USD per tick | 10-point stop, before costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES | $50.00 | 0.25 | $12.50 | $500.00 |
| MES | $5.00 | 0.25 | $1.25 | $50.00 |
| NQ | $20.00 | 0.25 | $5.00 | $200.00 |
| MNQ | $2.00 | 0.25 | $0.50 | $20.00 |
Sources: CME ES multiplier and tick calculation, CME NQ specifications, and the CME Micro E-mini fact card.
Calculate whole contracts after costs
- Set a dollar budget, or calculate balance × risk percentage ÷ 100. The preset percentages are input shortcuts, not recommendations.
- Convert the stop to ticks: points ÷ 0.25. A valid stop distance must be a whole number of ticks.
- Calculate all-in risk per contract: stop ticks × tick value + round-trip fees + total slippage ticks × tick value.
- Divide the budget by all-in risk per contract and round down. Multiply that whole contract count by all-in risk to get planned position risk.
Worked MES example: a $100 budget does not mean $100 at risk
Assume a $10,000 account, a 1% budget, a 10-point MES stop, $2.50 round-trip fees and two total ticks of slippage. These are hypothetical costs, not a broker fee schedule. The budget is $100. Stop risk is 40 × $1.25 = $50; the cost allowance is $2.50 + 2 × $1.25 = $5. Each contract therefore uses $55 of budget.
Floor($100 ÷ $55) gives one MES contract, with $55 planned risk and $45 unused budget. Without costs, the same calculation permits two contracts; with costs, two would risk $110. A $110 budget permits two exactly, while $109.99 still permits only one.
Micro versus E-mini exposure
One ES contract has the same dollar change per point as ten MES contracts. One NQ has the same dollar change per point as ten MNQ contracts. Costs can break this equivalence: ten micro contracts incur ten sets of per-contract charges. Re-enter the fees when switching products. An equal point stop in ES and NQ does not represent the same market move or dollar risk.
Margin is a separate constraint
CME describes futures margin as collateral used to support an open position. Initial and maintenance requirements, and your broker's intraday rules, can differ and change. This tool does not fetch those requirements. A position that fits the stop-risk budget may still exceed available margin.
Check the exact contract month, current broker requirements, trading session and order rules before placing a trade. A stop is not a guaranteed exit price. A stop-limit order can remain unfilled, and a gap can move beyond your slippage allowance. This calculation does not model portfolio correlation, currency conversion, partial exits or liquidation.
Use the result in a TradingView workflow
When reviewing a futures strategy, check that quantity means contracts and that the stop uses the intended price or tick unit. Pass the contract multiplier, stop distance, whole-contract quantity and cost assumptions to the Pine Script AI Coding Agent as requirements for code you will inspect and test. Keep the planned risk and later execution results in your review notes alongside Trading Journal records. This calculator does not transfer values, synchronize trades or submit orders.
Continue with the TradingView backtesting guides to review simulation assumptions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a point and a tick?
A point is a full index-price unit. For outright ES, MES, NQ and MNQ futures, one tick is 0.25 points, so one point contains four ticks. Dollar tick value equals 0.25 times the contract multiplier.
Why does the calculator return zero contracts?
Zero means the modeled loss on one contract, including your fees and slippage allowance, exceeds the risk budget. The calculator rounds down to whole contracts. Changing to a micro contract can reduce dollar exposure; tightening a stop only to force a larger position changes the trade premise.
Does margin change the stop-loss risk calculation?
Margin is collateral required to open and hold a position. It does not change dollar point value or the loss from a given price move. This calculator does not check broker buying power, intraday margins, maintenance requirements or liquidation rules.
Are ten micro contracts equivalent to one E-mini?
Ten MES contracts have the same dollar exposure per index point as one ES; ten MNQ match one NQ. Per-contract fees can make their total costs different. Do not compare ES and NQ on equal index-point moves as though they were the same underlying market.
Does planned risk cap my actual loss?
No. Planned risk assumes the stop distance and slippage allowance you enter. Gaps, thin liquidity, a rejected order or a stop that does not fill can produce larger losses. This free calculator supplies an estimate, not an order or a loss guarantee.
Check the sizing rule in your strategy
Describe the futures contract, stop unit and costs to Pineify's AI Coding Agent, then review the generated Pine Script and test its behavior in TradingView.
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