←Stage 57 · Premium
Futures

The Contract

A futures contract is a promise with a date on it, and the exchange stands on the other side. This stage teaches you to read one before you touch it. You'll learn what a tick is worth in dollars, which month you're holding, and the day you have to be out. Eleven lessons, and the last one hands you a sheet you've never seen.

Stage 57 of the TradeWize futures track: what a futures contract is and how to read its sheet. Ticks and tick value, months and the front month, the two expiry dates, minis and micros, and what you post against what you control.

0 / 11 done
StartLesson 1 · A Promise With a Date
What you’ll leave with11 lessons · 5-line playbook
  • A futures contract is a promise with a date, and the exchange is the other side of it.
  • I know what one tick is worth in dollars before I place the trade.
  • I know the last day I can hold this contract, and my broker's date comes first.
  • A micro is the same trade at one tenth the size, and it is where I start.
  • The leverage in a futures contract is the exchange's number, not a dial I set.

All lessons

  1. 01A Promise With a Date
  2. 02The Spec Sheet
  3. 03Ticks, Tick Value and the Multiplier
  4. 04Reading a Futures Quote
  5. 05Contract Months and the Front Month
  6. 06Expiry: Last Trading Day and First Notice Day
  7. 07Minis and Micros
  8. 08Long and Short Are the Same Trade
  9. 09Notional vs What You Post
  10. 10Futures Against Everything Else
  11. 11Read the Sheet Cold