Futures Calculators

Futures are simpler to calculate than most instruments once you have the contract specification, and impossible to calculate correctly without it. The cash value of a price move is fixed by the contract rather than by the price: one point on the E-mini S&P is $50 whether the index trades at 3,000 or 6,000, and one tick is a quarter of that.

Two things follow. Position sizing is exact arithmetic — stop distance in points multiplied by point value gives the risk per contract — but it is also coarse, because futures trade in whole contracts. On a smaller account the step between one contract and two can be half the position, which is precisely why the micro contracts exist and why they are worth knowing the specifications for.

Margin works differently here too. It is a performance bond set by the exchange from recent volatility, not a percentage of notional value, and exchanges revise it — sometimes sharply and at short notice during stressed markets. That makes the cushion between your balance and the maintenance requirement the number worth watching intraday.

The contract specifications used by these calculators are listed in full on the specifications page, covering the equity index, energy, metals, rates, agricultural and currency contracts most commonly traded.