Glossary / Instruments
Tick value
Definition
The dollar value of the smallest price increment of a contract.
Why it matters
Tick values differ enormously between contracts, which is why futures risk must be sized in dollars rather than ticks.
Example
ES moves in 0.25 ticks worth $12.50 each, so a 10-point move is 40 ticks = $500 per contract.
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 tick value stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.
Related terms
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.
Contract specifications
The exchange definition of a futures contract: size, tick, hours and expiry.
Micro futures contracts
Smaller versions of standard futures contracts, typically one tenth the size.
Questions that use this term
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