Micro Contracts
One-tenth-size futures contracts that let you trade the same markets as the pros with a fraction of the risk per tick — the smartest starting size for most funded traders.
Micro contracts are the small siblings of the standard E-mini futures. They track the exact same index, move on the exact same ticks, and fill in the exact same order book — they just carry one-tenth the dollar value per point. That makes them the single best tool a prop trader has for staying inside a drawdown while still trading a real strategy.
The math is clean. The Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) is $5 per index point, so its 0.25-point minimum tick is worth $1.25. Its big brother, the E-mini S&P 500 (ES), is $50 per point — $12.50 a tick. The Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 (MNQ) is $2 per point ($0.50 a tick) versus the E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) at $20 per point ($5.00 a tick). Ten micros equal one mini, exactly.
Here’s why that matters on a funded account:
| Move against you | 1 ES | 10 MES | 2 MES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 points (16 ticks) | $200 | $200 | $40 |
| 10 points (40 ticks) | $500 | $500 | $100 |
| 20 points (80 ticks) | $1,000 | $1,000 | $200 |
Same market, same setup — but micros let you dial risk to the size of your account instead of forcing your account to absorb the size of the contract. On a $50K evaluation with a $2,500 drawdown, a 20-point adverse move in 1 ES eats 40% of your cushion. In 2 MES it costs 8%, and you’re still in the game.
Micros also let you scale in and out gradually and take partial profits at levels a single mini can’t express. Start small, prove the strategy, then add size as your buffer grows — that’s the sequencing that gets traders funded and keeps them funded. See max contracts and position sizing for how firms cap your size, and compare account types in our firm directory.