Points vs. Cents
Reading and Calculating Prices
Points vs. Cents
Quoting Prices and Calculating Profit or Loss
Each futures contract is quoted in a slightly different manner, and as such your profit or loss calculation for most markets is slightly different. The following is a basic highlight of the major markets and how they are quoted. Of course, Gecko Software's Track 'n Trade Pro charting software has tools to convert price moves to profit or losses, but we thought we would show you a few examples so you can understand how they are quoted.

Grains: Corn, Wheat, Oats, and Soybeans are quoted in cents per bushel. The contract size for all of these is 5,000 bushels. For example, a Corn price of 235 is really $2.35 per bushel. Each of these grains moves in 1/4-cent increments, which equates to $12.50 before commissions and fees. The profit or loss of a one cent move = $50.00 before commissions and fees.

Meats: The contracts are quoted in cents per pound. So if Live Cattle is trading at 74.00, the price is actually 0.74 cents per pound. Meat prices move in 0.025 cents per pound increments, but usually the last 0.005-cent per pound is dropped, so a price quote of 74.02 is really 74.025, while a price quote of 74.17 is actually 74.175. Live Cattle, Lean Hogs and Pork Bellies contracts all call for delivery of 40,000 pounds, thus a 0.025-cent per pound is worth $10.00 before commissions and fees. The profit or loss of a one cent move = $400.00 before commissions and fees. Feeder Cattle prices are quoted the same way, except that Feeder Cattle futures call for 50,000 pounds, thus a 0.025 cent move is worth $12.50 and a one cent move in Feeder Cattle = $500.00 before commissions and fees.

"Softs" or Exotics: Coffee, Sugar and Orange Juice are all quoted in cents per pound, but each has a different contract size. For example, a Coffee price of 50.40 is 50.40 cents per pound, while an Orange Juice price of 89.95 is 89.95 cents per pound, and a Sugar price of 762 is really 7.62 cents per pound (decimal is moved over in Sugar, as prices are quoted in cents per hundred weight). Now, just to confuse everyone, Cocoa prices are quoted in dollars per metric ton, so a price of 1301 is really $1301 per ton.

The contract size for Coffee is 37,500 pounds, so a 1-cent move is worth $375.00 before commissions and fees. Orange Juice futures call for delivery of 15,000 pounds so a 1-cent move is worth $150.00 before commissions and fees. Sugar is traded in 112,000-pound increments, so a 1-cent move in Sugar is equal to $1,120.00 before commissions and fees. Cocoa contracts call for 10 tonnes at delivery so a $1 move in Cocoa is worth $10.00 before commissions and fees.

Metals: Gold and Platinum prices are quoted in dollars per troy ounce. Most quote vendors display their prices in this format as well, so prices are easy to read. A Gold price of 285.10 is $285.10 per troy ounce, while a Platinum price of 475.5 is $475.50 per troy ounce. However, each contract has a different contract size. Each Gold futures contract represents 100 troy ounces, so a $1.00 per troy ounce move equates to $100.00 before commissions and fees. Platinum futures represent only 50 troy ounces, as Platinum is much more rare than Gold. Each $1.00 per toy ounce move in Platinum is equal to $50.00 before commissions and fees.

Silver and Copper Futures are quoted in cents; cents per troy ounce in Silver, and cents per pound in Copper. For example, a Silver price of 452.5 is actually $4.525 per ounce, while a Copper price of 70.20 is really $0.7020 per pound. Each Silver contract represents 5,000 ounces; therefore a 1.0-cent move equals $50.00 before commissions and fees. Copper contracts control 25,000 pounds of copper; therefore a 1.00-cent move equals $250.00 before commissions and fees.

Petroleum: Crude oil is quoted in dollars per barrel (bbl). A price of 20.50 is $20.50 per barrel. Each contract represents 1,000 barrels of oil; therefore a $1.00/barrel move is equal to a $1,000.00 profit or loss before commissions and fees.

Heating Oil and Unleaded Gasoline are just like they are at the pump (but lower as taxes are not included nor service station mark-ups), in cents per gallon. Therefore a price of 52.46 is $0.5246 per gallon. Both contracts call for delivery of 42,000 gallons, therefore a 1-cent per gallon equates to $420.00 before commissions and fees.

Currencies: Currencies represent an exchange rate, or how many US Dollars it takes to buy one Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen, Euro, or Mexican Peso. Prices are quoted in many different fashions, but the basic convention is that a 0.01 move in the Swiss Franc, or Yen equals $12.50 before commissions and fees because of the contract size. The Canadian Dollar, US Dollar Index, and Euro have a different contract size, and therefore a 0.01 move equates to $10.00 before commissions and fees.

Financials: The same basic principles apply to the financial markets, which are generally quoted in terms of points. Prices are usually read as is, though some, like the treasury securities (US, TY, FV, TU), are traded in different combinations of 1/32nd or 1/64th. Each of these markets has the dollars per point already calculated into Gecko Software's Track 'n Trade Pro application, and a list of the different contract sizes and pricing terms are available from the various exchanges they trade on, as they do not follow a single convention.
 

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