Futures Prop Firms: A Beginner Guide to Contracts and Rules
A simple guide to futures funding: micro vs mini contracts, tick value, end-of-day trailing drawdown, and contract rollover.
How it differs from forex
Futures trade on a central exchange such as CME with fixed contract sizes and known tick values, and your account size sets how many contracts you may hold.
Key terms
- Mini contracts like ES and NQ, and Micro contracts like MES and MNQ at one tenth the size.
- Tick: the smallest price move, each with a fixed dollar value per contract.
- End-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdown vs intraday trailing.
- Rollover: moving to the next active contract as expiry approaches.
Common futures rules
- A maximum contract count based on account size.
- Closing positions before the session ends at some firms.
- A consistency rule and minimum trading days before payout.