Glossary

Plain-English glossary

The words that come up in futures trading, broker platforms and prop-firm rulebooks, defined without the jargon.

Terms

Tick: The smallest price movement a contract can make. Stop distances and targets are measured in ticks.
Tick value: What one tick is worth on one contract, in dollars. Multiply it by your stop in ticks to get the risk per contract.
Contract: One traded unit of a futures market. Full-size contracts move more money per tick than their micro versions.
Micro contract: A smaller version of a full-size market. Same price data, one tenth the exposure per tick.
Margin: The deposit your broker requires to hold a futures position open. It is not the same as the risk on the trade.
Position size: How many contracts you trade, chosen from your risk budget and the distance to your stop rather than from conviction.
Stop: The price at which you accept the trade is wrong and exit. Defined before you enter, not after.
R-multiple: A trade result expressed in units of the risk you took. A 2R win is twice your planned risk; a 1R loss is your full planned risk.
Drawdown: The fall from an account's highest balance to its lowest point since, usually measured as a percentage.
Trailing drawdown: A prop-firm loss limit that moves up with your highest account balance. Profits raise the limit too, so they don't add to your cushion until the limit stops trailing (if the firm's rules allow it to stop).
Slippage: The difference between the price you expected and the price you got, usually on fast moves or thin liquidity.

Contract	Market	Tick size	Tick value
MNQ	Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100	0.25	$0.50
NQ	E-mini Nasdaq-100	0.25	$5.00
MES	Micro E-mini S&P 500	0.25	$1.25
ES	E-mini S&P 500	0.25	$12.50
MGC	Micro Gold	0.10	$1.00
GC	Gold	0.10	$10.00
MCL	Micro WTI Crude Oil	0.01	$1.00
CL	WTI Crude Oil	0.01	$10.00

Tick values follow CME contract specifications. Check your broker or prop firm for fees and any rule differences.