How to Choose Which Futures Contract to Trade

Most beginners pick a contract because someone on the internet mentioned it. There are five questions that actually determine suitability, and four of them are about you rather than the market.

Question 1: Can you size one contract inside your risk limit?

This eliminates most contracts immediately and it is the only question that cannot be negotiated.

contracts = risk budget ÷ (stop in ticks × tick value)

If that gives you less than one contract, the contract is too big — use the micro version or a different product.

Example: $10,000 account, 1% risk = $100

Contract	Typical stop	Risk per contract	Fits?
ES	12 ticks	$150	❌ No
MES	12 ticks	$15	✅ Yes (6 contracts)
CL	10 ticks	$100	⚠️ Exactly 1
MCL	10 ticks	$10	✅ Yes (10 contracts)
GC	15 ticks	$150	❌ No
MGC	15 ticks	$15	✅ Yes

Notice the pattern: on a $10,000 account, only the micros work. That is not a limitation of your skill — it is arithmetic.

Question 2: Can you afford the commission drag?

A tick value of $1.25 with a $0.75 round turn leaves $0.50. The same $0.75 on a $12.50 tick leaves $11.75. Micros are cheap in dollars and expensive in percentage — a scalping strategy that works on ES will not survive on MES.

See ES vs MES for the full comparison.

Question 3: Can you trade the session?

If you are awake and available during Asian hours and the contract only has real liquidity during the US session, you are trading a different, worse market. Check the session table in trading hours.

Question 4: Does the contract's volatility match your stop style?

Contract	Character	Suitable for
ES / MES	Moderate, very liquid	Learning, most strategies
NQ / MNQ	Higher beta, bigger ranges	Traders who size by volatility
CL / MCL	Event-driven, news sensitive	Those comfortable with gaps
NG / MNG	Extremely volatile, seasonal	Experienced only
GC / MGC	Smoother trends, slower	Trend following
ZB / ZN	Low volatility, fraction pricing	Spread and macro traders
Grains	Seasonal, limit moves	Those who understand limit risk

Question 5: Do you understand its quoting convention?

Four conventions break the standard formula, and all four are covered on this site:

Fractional 32nds — ZB, ZN, ZF, ZT (explained)
Quarters of a cent — grains, with 445-4 meaning $4.46
Cents per pound — copper, where 4.25 means $4.25 not $0.0425
Non-USD settlement — Eurex, JPX, HKFE contracts

If you cannot state the unit and the tick value without looking, you are not ready to size a position in it.

The default answer for a new trader

MES. It is liquid, it ticks in familiar index points, its tick value is small enough to size on a modest account, its quote convention is standard, and it trades nearly around the clock. The main cost is commission drag, which only matters if you trade very frequently.

Move to ES when one contract fits your risk budget with room to spare, not before.

A note on conviction

None of this says which market will go up. Contract selection is about size, cost and mechanics — the direction question is separate, and no amount of specification knowledge substitutes for a tested method.

Most-looked-up contracts

Complete list of all 135: futures contract specifications.