Everything you need to know about Micro E-mini Futures

Most people hear futures and get scared.

They think that is beyond them…they think it’s very risky…if you can buy 100 shares of Facebook or 10 shares of Apple then you are taking more risk than buying 1 micro futures contract.

Most micro emini futures have a lot of volume and are sometimes more popular in the regular emini contracts.

Some people can actually use futures to decrease the portfolio risk when the markets are falling like crazy …think 2000 dot com bust, 2008-09 financial crisis or the recent 2020 coronavirus pandemic market drop…as of this writing…markets are dropping like a stone!

It is especially true when the volatility is very high and you want to have a smaller contract size or you want to put a trade for a larger time frame.

It can be used by money managers or retail traders and investors in several ways:
– either to make money in up and down markets (trading short term) …I know people doing both day trading and swing trading
– or, to hedge the current investments ..maybe you want to hedge your 401k, IRA or any regular investment account from the downside risk i.e markets are going down and you do now want the value of your account to go down (without selling).

Micro E-mini Equity Index Futures

Micro E-Mini Dow futures (MYM)

• 1/10th the size of classic E-mini DJIA which trader with the symbol YM
• Dow MYM (my favorite) for every point of dow it moves 50c
• Dow trading for 20K you are controlling 10K worth with 1 contract of MYM
• Dow trading for 25K = 12.5K worth
• Dow trading at 30K = 15K worth
• 50% of the dow index (DJIA)
• Trading time: CME Globex: Sunday – Friday 6:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) with  trading halt 4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Quarterly contracts (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec) listed for 4 consecutive quarters.
• Trading terminates at 9:30 a.m. ET on the 3rd Friday of the contract month.
• Consider it equivalent to 50 shares of DIA ETF….do trading at 25K ..so DIA trading at $250…so 50 shares is worth 12.5K which is equal to what a 1 MYM futures contract controls. DIA ETF is 1/100 the size of the DJIA index.

Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures (MES)

• 1/10th the size of classic E-mini S&P 500 futures which trades with the symbol ES
• $5 times the S&P 500 index
• For every point of move in your favor, you make $5
• S&P trading for 3000 you are controlling 15K worth with 1 contract of MES
• S&P trading at 2500 you are controlling 12.5K worth with 1 contract of MES
• S&P trading at 2000 you are controlling 10K worth with 1 contract of MES
• Same trading time and expirations as MYM above.
• Consider it equivalent to 50 shares of SPY. SPY ETF is 1/10th the size of the S&P 500 index.

Micro E-Mini Nasdaq-100 futures (MNQ)

• 1/10th the size of classic E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures which trades with the symbol NQ
• $2 times the Nasdaq-100 index
• For every point of move in your favor, you make $2
• Nasdaq trading at 7000 you are controlling 14K worth with 1 contract of MNQ
• Nasdaq trading at 10000 you are controlling 20K worth with 1 contract of MNQ
• Same trading time and expirations as MYM above.
• Consider it equivalent to 80 shares of QQQ. QQQ ETF is 1/40th the size of the Nasdaq-100 index.

Micro E-Mini Russell 2000 futures (M2K)

• 1/10th the size of classic E-mini Russell 2000 which trades with the symbol RTY
• $5 times the Russell 2000 index
• For every point of move in your favor, you make $5
• Russell 2000 trading at 1000 you are controlling 5K worth with 1 contract of M2K
• Russell 2000 trading at 1500 you are controlling 7.5K worth with 1 contract of M2K
• Same trading time and expirations as MYM above.
• Consider it equivalent to 200 shares of IWM. IWM ETF is 1/10th the size of the Russell 2000 index.

Micro E-mini	S&P 500	Nasdaq-100	Russell 2000	Dow
Contract Size	$5 x Index	$2 x Index	$5 x Index	$0.50 x Index
Minimum price fluctuation (Tick)	0.25	0.25	0.10	1
$ value per tick per contract	$1.25	$0.50	$0.50	$0.50
1 index point move equals	$5	$2	$5	$0.50
Code	MES	MNQ	M2K	MYM
Contract Months	H, M, U, Z	H, M, U, Z	H, M, U, Z	H, M, U, Z
Expiration 3rd Friday	8:30 am CT	8:30 am CT	8:30 am CT	8:30 am CT

This video from CME explains it the best!

Precious Metals Micro Futures

Micro Silver futures (SIL)

• 1000 ounces. $15 price means $15K worth of silver
• USD/ounce
• Sunday – Friday 6:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CT) with a 60-minute break each day beginning at 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. CT)
• Outrights: 0.01 per troy ounce = $10.00
• Spreads: 0.005 per troy ounce = $5.00
• Settlement: 0.001 per troy ounce = $1.00
• Monthly contracts listed for 3 consecutive months and any January, March, May, July, September, and December falling within a 12-month period
• Deliverable
• Trading terminates on the third last business day of the contract month
• Maintenance $1200
• Other options to trade Silver: ETF AGQ (+2x) ZSL (-2x) USLV (+3x) DSLV (-3x) SLV (0.50% expenses) and SIVR (0.30% expense)

Micro Gold futures (MGC)

• Micro Gold futures MGC
  • 10 ounces. $1500 price means $15K
  • Volume is good…100K contracts traded each day
  • Sunday – Friday 6:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CT) with a 60-minute break each day beginning at 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. CT)
  • minimum price fluctuation: 0.10 per troy ounce = $1.00
  • Trading terminates on the third last business day of the contract month.
  • Gold delivered under this contract shall assay to a minimum of 995 fineness.
  • Maintenance Margin 600$ It can vary by the broker you are using and the volatility in the market
  • Other options to trade [[Gold]] use the following ETFs: GLD (expense ration 0.4%) IAU (0.25%) SGOL (0.17%) UGLD (+3x) DGLD (-3x) UGL (+2x) GLL (-2x)

Let’s look at the volume of precious metals from the CME website. note that both the micro gold and silver have good volume

Micro Forex Futures

They are 1/10 the standard contract size of the forex futures.

Size in the last column refers to the size of the regular forex futures contract.
Regular in the second last column refers to the symbol of the standard lot futures contract.

	Size	Symbol	Good Volume?	Regular	Size
AUD/USD	10000 AUD	M6A	Yes	6A	10x
CAD/USD	10000 CAD	MCD	Yes	6C	10x
EUR/USD	12500 euros	M6E	Yes	6E	10x
GBP/USD	6,250 pounds	M6B	Yes	6B	10x
CHF/USD	12,500 swiss francs	MSF	So-So	6S	10x
INR/USD	1,000,000 INR (10 lakh)	MIR	So-So	SIR	10x
JPY/USD	1,250,000 JPY	MJY	Yes	6J	10x

There are two E-mini forex futures which are 5X the size of the Micro forex futures contract. Both have good volume:

• E-mini Japanese Yen Futures Contract with size 6,250,000 Japanese yen (Symbol J7)
• E-mini Euro FX Futures Contract with size 62,500 Euros (Symbol E7)
  If USD/EUR = 1.3000, then contract = $81,250 (= €62,500 x $1.3000/€)