Micro Futures
CME contracts at one-tenth the size of E-mini equivalents — designed for fine-grained position sizing and smaller accounts.
Micro futures are CME contracts introduced in 2019 (equity indices) and later extended to metals, energy, and forex. Each micro contract is exactly one-tenth the size of its E-mini counterpart: MES ($5/pt), MNQ ($2/pt), MYM ($0.50/pt), M2K ($5/pt).
Micro contracts allow traders to size positions with much greater precision — risking $12.50 per stop-tick instead of $12.50 per tick on a full ES is a 10× difference in minimum risk. They are also used by larger traders to add or trim positions in increments smaller than one standard lot.
Despite the smaller size, micro futures are fully exchange-regulated with the same margin structure (scaled proportionately) as their standard counterparts.
Example
A trader's model says risk $50 per trade on a 4-tick stop. ES tick value = $12.50 → 4 ticks × $12.50 = $50 exactly. With one MES contract they size to plan. One ES would risk $50 too — but MES allows them to scale to 2 or 3 contracts without changing the risk profile on future trades.
Related Terms
E-mini
CME Group's electronically traded futures contracts at one-fifth the size of the original floor-traded standard contracts.
BeginnerES (E-mini S&P 500)
The world's most liquid equity index futures contract — tracks the S&P 500, $50 per point, expires quarterly.
BeginnerInitial Margin
The minimum deposit required to open one futures contract, set by the exchange clearing house (CME, CBOT, NYMEX).
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.
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.
Beginner