Symbols & Products
ES (E-mini S&P 500)
The E-mini S&P 500 futures contract, ticker ES. The most traded index future in the world and the default instrument at futures prop firms. $50 per point, $12.50 per tick.
In plain English
ES tracks the S&P 500 index at $50 per index point, moving in 0.25 point ticks worth $12.50. Its liquidity is unmatched: the book is deep nearly around the clock, spreads sit at one tick, and fills are clean, which is why it is the standard recommendation for traders learning prop risk rules.
On evaluation-scale accounts ES demands respect. A routine 10 point swing is $500 per contract, a quarter of a typical $2,000 drawdown, so most prop traders size ES in small numbers or trade its micro version, MES, at one tenth the size.
- Long 2 ES from 5000.00, out at 5004.50: 4.5 points x $50 x 2 contracts = $450 before commissions.