More on margin from NT:
Futures Day Trading Margins: Exchange Margins
Margins Policy & Positions Management
A further explanation of when the three margin conditions apply:
(Example times applicable to CME products with markets closed between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM Central Time, excluding holidays. All times are Central Time.)
Intraday Margin
The broker Intraday Margin requirement applies to open positions during the current intraday session, between the 5:00 PM session start and the Intraday Margin end at 3:45 PM on the next day. Intraday Margin applies during this time period to new positions opened during the current session, and to existing open positions carried forward from a prior session.
Initial Margin
The exchange Initial Margin requirement is effective between the 3:45 PM Intraday Margin end time and the CME session end fifteen minutes later at 4:00 PM, and is applicable to an open position if there is a trade during the current session in the same futures product as the open position.
When the open position during this time period is an existing position carried forward from a prior session, and there was no trade in the same futures product during the current session, then Initial Margin does not apply. Instead, Maintenance Margin applies.
Maintenance Margin
The exchange Maintenance Margin requirement is effective between the 3:45 PM Intraday Margin end time and the CME session end fifteen minutes later at 4:00 PM, and is applicable only to an existing open position carried forward from a prior session, and only if there is no trade in that same futures product during the current session.
When the open position during this time period is an existing position carried forward from a prior session, and there was a trade in the same futures product during the current session, then Maintenance Margin does not apply. Instead, Initial Margin applies.
And to help you do the math to answer your original question, here are the tick and point values for ES and some other popular futures products:
Point | Tick | Tick | Ticks | ||
Futures Contract | Symbol | Value ($) | Value | Size | Per Point |
WTI Crude Oil | CL | $1,000 | $10 | 0.01 | 100 |
Natural Gas | NG | $10,000 | $10 | 0.001 | 1,000 |
Gold - COMEX | GC | $100 | $10 | 0.10 | 10 |
Silver (5000 oz) - COMEX | SI | $5,000 | $25 | 0.005 | 200 |
E-mini S&P 500 | ES | $50 | $12.50 | 0.25 | 4 |
E-mini Nasdaq 100 | NQ | $20 | $5 | 0.25 | 4 |
E-mini Russell 2000 | RTY | $50 | $5 | 0.10 | 10 |
E-mini Dow 30 | YM | $5 | $5 | 1.0 | 1 |
30-Yr US Treasury Bond | ZB | $1,000 | $31.25 | 1/32 | 32 |
Leave a comment: