Glossary / Instruments
Contract specifications
Definition
The exchange definition of a futures contract: size, tick, hours and expiry.
Why it matters
Specs decide your real risk per tick, margin requirement and roll dates, so they belong in your pre-trade checklist.
Example
MES is $5 per index point, ticks at 0.25 ($1.25), and trades nearly 23 hours a day - the same chart as ES with one tenth the dollar risk.
How to track it in a journal
TradeStack calculates the core performance numbers — win rate, average win and loss, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown and consistency — automatically from imported trades, so contract specifications stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.
Related terms
Tick value
The dollar value of the smallest price increment of a contract.
Pip
The standard smallest price move in a currency pair, usually 0.0001.
Lot size
The trade unit in forex: 100,000 units for a standard lot.
Micro futures contracts
Smaller versions of standard futures contracts, typically one tenth the size.
Keep reading
Trading journal guides
Expectancy, profit factor, drawdown, backtesting and the PDT rule.
Free trading calculators
Position size, risk-reward, expectancy and options profit.
Expectancy calculator
Expected profit per trade from your own numbers.
Broker CSV export guides
Step-by-step exports for Tradovate, NinjaTrader, IBKR and more.
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