Futures exchanges establish a minimum amount that the price of a commodity can fluctuate upward or downward. This minimum fluctuation (trade increment) is known as a tick or commodity tick. Hence, a tick is any fluctuation in the price of a security.
Each futures contract has a different size, quantity, valuation etc., so each tick size that can be applied to anyone's futures contract, is dependent on the previous variables. Tick size is important as it determines the possible prices available. For example, each "tick" for the grain market (soybeans, corn and wheat) is 0.25 cents per bushel, on one 5,000-bushel futures contract.
| class="wikitable"
|+ Tick values for some popular contracts (as of June 2010[[http://www.cmegroup.com/ CME Group]]) |
| Futures Product | Contract Size | Tick Size | Tick Value |
|---|
| E-Mini S&P 500 (CME) | $50 x index | 0.25 | $12.50 |
| E-Mini NASDAQ (CME) | $20 x index | 0.25 | $5.00 |
| Australian Dollar | A$100,000 | 0.0001 | $10.00[[http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/fx/g10/australian-dollar_contract_specifications.html CME Australian Dollar contract specifications]] |
| British Pound | £62,500 | 0.0001 | $6.25 |
| Canadian Dollar (CME) | C$100,000 | 0.0001 | $10.00 |
| Euro FX (CME) | €125,000 | 0.0001 | $12.50 |
| Japanese Yen | ¥12,500,000 | 0.000001 | $12.50 |
| Mexican Peso | MP 500,000 | 0.000025 | $12.50 |
| New Zealand Dollar | NZ$100,000 | 0.0001 | $10.00 |
| Swiss Franc | SF 125,000 | 0.0001 | $12.50 |
| 30 Day Fed Funds | $5,000,000 (annualized) | 0.00005 | $20.835 |
| 2 Year Treasury Note | $200,000 | 1/4 of 1/32 | $15.625 |
| 5 Year Treasury Note | $100,000 | 1/4 of 1/32 | $7.8125 |
| 10 Year Treasury Note | $100,000 | 1/2 of 1/32 | $15.625[[http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/us-treasury/10-year-us-treasury-note_contract_specifications.html CME 10-year Note contract specifications]] |
| 30 Year Treasury Bond | $100,000 | 1/32 | $31.25 |
| Gold (CBOT) | 100 oz | $0.10/oz | $10.00 |
| Silver (CBOT) | 5,000 oz | $0.005/oz | $25.00[[http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/metals/precious/silver_contract_specifications.html CME Silver contract specifications]] |
| Silver (COMEX miNY) | 1000 oz | $0.0125/oz | $12.50[{{Cite web |url=http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/metals/precious/miNY-silver_contract_specifications.html |title=CME COMEX miNY Silver contract specifications |access-date=2010-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416105003/http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/metals/precious/miNY-silver_contract_specifications.html |archive-date=2010-04-16 |url-status=dead }}] |
| E-mini Crude Oil | 500 Barrels | $0.025 | $12.50[[http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/energy/crude-oil/emini-crude-oil_contract_specifications.html CME E-mini Crude Oil contract specifications]] |
| E-mini Natural Gas | 2,500 million BTU | $0.005 | $12.50[[http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/energy/natural-gas/emini-natural-gas_contract_specifications.html CME E-mini Natural Gas contract specifications]] |