Futures Contract Count Reference Guide
Futures sizing uses tick value and stop distance. Cash risk divided by risk per contract gives the number of contracts that fit the risk limit.
Use this calculator when a futures contract has a known tick size and tick value. The stop distance should be entered in ticks, not in dollars and not in chart points unless those points have already been converted to ticks. A $50,000 account risking 1% has $500 of cash risk. If a contract risks 20 ticks and each tick is worth $12.50, one contract risks $250 and the risk-based size is 2 contracts.
Tick size is the minimum quoted price movement. Tick value is the cash value of one tick for one contract. These values can differ between equity index futures, metals, energy, currencies, interest rate products and micro contracts. Always use the contract specification for the exact contract month or continuous contract you are trading.
The minimum contract field matters because futures normally trade in whole contracts. If the calculated raw size is less than one contract, the trade may exceed the selected risk budget even at the smallest possible size. In that case the correct decision may be to skip the trade, reduce the stop distance only if the setup allows it, or use a smaller micro contract if available.
This page does not calculate margin requirement, exchange fees, clearing fees, overnight risk, contract expiry, rollover, daily price limits or slippage around high-impact releases. It is a pre-trade risk calculator, not a futures order-management system.
These calculators are educational estimates. Spread, slippage, commission, fees and execution delay are excluded unless added manually.
Futures sizing checklist
- Confirm tick size and tick value from the exchange or broker specification.
- Convert the planned stop into ticks before entering it.
- Round down to whole contracts and compare the result with margin availability.
- Recalculate after switching between standard, mini and micro contracts.