ES position size calculator
How many E-mini S&P 500 contracts fit your risk, or Micro E-mini (MES) contracts when ES is too big. Enter your stop as a price; the calculator does the ticks and dollars.
Risk is
Adds the risk to reward and what the trade makes if the target is reached.
Position size
1 ES contract
Loses $500.00 if the stop is hit (1% of the account).
= $500.00
Drag the stop or target line, or focus one and use the arrow keys. Each block is what one ES loses at the stop.
- Money at risk
- $500.00
- Stop distance
- 10 points, 40 ticks
- Position value
- $340,000
- Risk to reward
- 1:2.5
- Makes at target
- $1,250.00
- Wins needed to break even
- 29%
ES at a glance
- Exchange
- CME Group
- Contract
- $50 × S&P 500 Index
- Tick size
- 0.25 index points
- Tick value
- $12.50
- One point
- $50 (4 ticks)
- Smaller version
- MES: $5 a point, $1.25 a tick
What a move is worth
| Move | 1 ES | 1 MES |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 points (1 tick) | $12.50 | $1.25 |
| 1 point | $50.00 | $5.00 |
| 2 points | $100.00 | $10.00 |
| 5 points | $250.00 | $25.00 |
| 10 points | $500.00 | $50.00 |
| 20 points | $1,000.00 | $100.00 |
| 50 points | $2,500.00 | $250.00 |
What an ES tick and point are worth
ES moves in ticks of 0.25 index points worth $12.50 each, so a point is $50 per contract. MES, the Micro E-mini, is one tenth: $1.25 a tick and $5 a point.
The S&P 500 moves fewer points than the Nasdaq-100, so ES stops are usually counted in single digits or low tens of points. A 10-point stop on ES is $500 a contract.
A worked example
With $50,000 and 1% risk, a trade may cost up to $500. Buying at 6,800 with a stop at 6,790 is 10 points, 40 ticks, and one ES loses 40 × $12.50 = $500 there. Exactly 1 contract fits.
Move the stop to 6,785 (15 points) and one ES would lose $750: zero contracts fit. On MES the same stop costs $75 a contract, so 6 MES fit, risking $450.
Using MES to fine-tune size
With ES alone, size jumps in $50-a-point steps, so many stops land between one contract and two. Mixing in MES lets you fill the gap: one ES plus four MES is the same as 1.4 ES.
The calculator sizes one contract type at a time. To mix them, size the trade in MES first, then swap each ten MES for one ES.