Trading & Markets
E-mini Contract
The standard-size electronically traded futures contract, like ES for the S&P 500. Ten times the size of the corresponding micro contract.
In plain English
E-minis are the workhorse contracts of index futures. ES moves $12.50 per tick and $50 per point; NQ moves $5 per tick and $20 per point. Prop account contract limits are usually quoted in minis, with micros allowed at a 10 to 1 equivalence.
One mini of size is meaningful risk on evaluation-scale accounts: a 10 point adverse ES move on one contract is $500, a quarter of a typical $2,000 drawdown.
- An account allowing 5 minis lets you hold 5 ES, or 3 ES and 20 MES, or any combination totaling 5 mini-equivalents.