NQ: understand and practise the Nasdaq-100 future

What this contract represents

NQ identifies the CME E-mini Nasdaq-100 future. Its multiplier is 20 dollars per index point and its minimum price increment is 0.25 points: one tick is worth 5 dollars per contract. A future is a different instrument from buying the component shares; the contract quotation also identifies an expiry.

Your first skill is reading the instrument before studying an entry. Record its full symbol, currency, expiry and point value. Do not use the rules for a stock, a CFD or the MNQ micro future to calculate an NQ trade.

Translate a move into a monetary result

Hypothetical example: a purchase at 20,000 points closed at 20,006 earns six points. For one NQ contract that is 120 dollars gross; for two it is 240. Closing six points below the entry produces a loss of the same magnitude. These prices are calculation examples, not current quotations.

Practise the conversion in both directions before using a chart. Write down the value of one tick, four ticks and ten points. Add separate rows for commissions and slippage; the gross price movement does not equal the net result of a real execution.

Prepare a useful observation session

Choose one skill for the session: describe context, wait for a condition or close according to a plan. Write down which information you will use and what behaviour will count as an error. An attractive final screenshot cannot replace a record of the decision made before the outcome was known.

When observing external data, check its time zone, delay and usage permissions. The time difference between Spain and New York changes during part of the year because daylight saving adjustments occur on different dates. Consult the official exchange calendar for holidays and changes to trading hours.

Practice available in Chezur

The public demo contains three synthetic scenarios inspired by reading an NQ chart. You can advance, buy or sell, close and review the move in points. It does not reproduce a historical session, an order book or an exchange execution, and it has no connection to a broker.

Before advancing, write one sentence about what you expect to observe. Afterwards check whether your action followed that sentence. Repeat with a different condition and compare the process, without treating results from three examples as evidence of a profitable strategy.

A checklist for reviewing your session

Keep your answers next to the result. The next practice session should address the first process error you can describe and correct, rather than chase the scenario that generates the most points.

• Did I distinguish points, ticks, contracts and dollars consistently?
• Did I define an observable condition before acting?
• Can I explain the exit without using later information?
• Did I distinguish the synthetic experience from real market conditions?