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Before you build a strategy you need a market to trade. The fastest way to find one is to just ask — “what can I trade?” — and AskFutures lists the supported markets. This guide covers finding a market, reading its contract specs, choosing micro vs. full-size for sizing, and what’s in and out of scope.
You don’t have to memorize codes. Describe the market in plain words — “Micro Nasdaq,” “crude oil,” “the 10-year note” — and AskFutures picks the right symbol and tells you which one it used.

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Find a tradable market

1

Ask what's available

“What can I trade?” or “do you have gold?” AskFutures answers from a fixed table of supported CME Group contracts. You can also browse the full list on Supported symbols.
2

Name it your way

Use a description (“micro S&P”) or the short root symbol (MES). AskFutures resolves either to the full contract and confirms its choice.
3

Confirm the pick

The strategy card shows the symbol it’s trading. If it guessed wrong, just correct it — “no, I meant the full-size ES.”
You refer to a market by its root — a short code like ES, CL, or MNQ. That’s all you type; AskFutures trades the back-adjusted continuous front-month series for that root, so you never pick a calendar month by hand. See Futures and symbols.

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Look up contract specs

Every market carries a fixed set of specs — the numbers that turn a price move into dollars and tell you when it trades. Ask “what are the specs for CL?” and AskFutures reports them.
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Tick size
number
The smallest increment the market moves in. ES ticks in quarters of a point (0.25); CL ticks in cents (0.01).
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Tick value
dollars
The dollar value of one tick, per contract. One ES tick is worth $12.50.
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Full point value
dollars
The dollar value of a 1.0 move in price, per contract — tick value / tick size. For ES: 12.50/0.25=∗∗12.50 / 0.25 = **50**. This is what converts a “$400 stop” into an exact price distance.
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Trading session
time range
When the market trades, in its home exchange’s clock. Session-anchored rules (opening-range breakouts, “first trade of the day”) and the default end-of-day exit use the session start and end — not midnight.
A few real contracts side by side:
SymbolMarketTick sizeTick valueFull point value
ESE-mini S&P 5000.25$12.50$50
MESMicro E-mini S&P 5000.25$1.25$5
MNQMicro E-mini Nasdaq-1000.25$0.50$2
GCGold0.10$10.00$100
CLCrude Oil0.01$10.00$1,000
Specs are why a backtest’s dollar P&L is exact rather than approximate. The full point value is the key number — see Contract specs for how to read all of them.

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Micro vs. full-size — sizing your risk

Many index, energy, metal, and FX markets come in two sizes. Both trade at the same price and tick size; only the dollars-per-tick differ.
The standard contract — ES, NQ, GC, CL. Bigger dollar value per move, bigger margin. A 400stopon‘ES‘(fullpointvalue400 stop on `ES` (full point value 50) sits 8 points from entry.
Why this matters for sizing: a micro lets you test an idea at a size that won’t dominate an account. The same market move produces a smaller P&L and needs less margin — ideal for putting a new idea through its paces before scaling up. The default commission also reflects the split: 1/sidemicro,1/side micro, 2.50/side full-size.
Testing an idea for the first time? Start on the micro. You get the identical strategy logic and the same shape of results at a fraction of the dollar swing. Switch to full-size later by saying “use ES instead of MES.”

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What’s in scope — and what isn’t

In scope: CME Group futures only — CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX. About 74 symbols across equity indices, energy, metals, grains, rates, FX, crypto, livestock, softs, and volatility, each in micro and/or full-size where the exchange lists one.
Out of scope: stocks and ETFs, options, spot FX, single-name crypto spot, and futures from non-CME-Group exchanges. If you ask for one of these, AskFutures will tell you it can’t trade it rather than silently substituting a different market.
See the complete, asset-class-by-asset-class list on Supported symbols.

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Next steps

Supported symbols

The full list of tradable markets by asset class.

Futures and symbols

How AskFutures models instruments, ticks, points, and continuous contracts.

Contract specs

How to read tick size, value, sessions, margin, and roll rules.

Build a strategy

Name your market, describe the idea, run a backtest.