ES (E-mini S&P 500)
The world's most liquid equity index futures contract — tracks the S&P 500, $50 per point, expires quarterly.
Formula
P&L = (Exit − Entry) × $50
ES is the CME's E-mini S&P 500 futures contract. With hundreds of billions in daily notional volume, it is the single most liquid financial futures contract in the world and the benchmark for US equity risk.
- Multiplier: $50 per index point
- Tick size: 0.25 points → $12.50/tick
- Trading hours: Sunday 5 PM – Friday 4 PM CT (23 hrs/day)
- Settlement: Cash (SOQ of S&P 500) on third Friday of March/June/September/December
- Micro equivalent: MES ($5/pt, $1.25/tick)
ES is the go-to vehicle for day trading US equity index direction, hedging equity portfolios, and expressing macro views.
Example
ES is at 5,400. One contract notional = $270,000. A 10-point rally = $500/contract. Initial margin ~$15,840 gives ~17:1 leverage. The equivalent MES position requires ~$1,584 margin for a $27,000 notional exposure.
Related Terms
E-mini
CME Group's electronically traded futures contracts at one-fifth the size of the original floor-traded standard contracts.
BeginnerFair Value (Futures vs Index)
The theoretical futures price implied by the spot index, cost of carry, and expected dividends until expiration.
AdvancedGlobex
CME Group's electronic trading platform — the venue where ES, NQ, CL, GC, and virtually all CME futures trade electronically, 23 hours/day.
BeginnerIndex Futures
Futures contracts whose underlying is a stock market index — settled in cash against the final index value at expiration.
BeginnerInter-Commodity Spread
A spread trade that is long one futures product and short a related but different product — e.g., long ES / short NQ.
AdvancedMicro Futures
CME contracts at one-tenth the size of E-mini equivalents — designed for fine-grained position sizing and smaller accounts.
BeginnerNQ (E-mini Nasdaq-100)
CME E-mini futures on the Nasdaq-100 index. $20 per point, 0.25-tick. Tracks the top 100 non-financial Nasdaq companies.
BeginnerPit Session vs Electronic
The comparison between historical open-outcry floor trading (the "pit") and the now-dominant electronic Globex/ICE trading sessions.
BeginnerRTY (E-mini Russell 2000)
CME E-mini futures on the Russell 2000 small-cap index. $50 per point — same multiplier as ES but tracks 2,000 US small-cap stocks.
IntermediateTick Value
The dollar P&L impact of one minimum price move in a futures contract. Tick Size × Contract Multiplier.
BeginnerTriple Witching
The quarterly expiration of stock index futures, stock index options, and individual stock options simultaneously on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December.
IntermediateYM (E-mini Dow)
CBOT E-mini futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. $5 per point, 1-point tick. The smallest-notional major US index future.
Beginner