Canonical NQ/MNQ authority · ticket-first mechanics
NQ & MNQ Ticket Decoder: Tick Value to Settlement
Read the order from left to right before calculating anything: product, dated quarter, route, side, quantity and price. NQ and MNQ can chart the same Nasdaq-100 path while assigning tenfold-different dollars to it. The correct ticket also carries a session, roll decision, termination boundary and cash-settlement path.
Six fields before Submit
Read Back the Tradable Instrument, Not the Chart Label
A continuous symbol is an analytical series, not a complete order instruction. A live ticket must identify a listed product and a quarterly month/year. NQ and MNQ expire on the March cycle: March, June, September and December. As reviewed August 28, 2026, CME lists NQ for 6 consecutive quarterly contracts plus 2 additional June and 4 additional December contracts; MNQ is listed for 5 consecutive quarterly contracts. The formal multipliers are NQ $20 × Nasdaq-100 Index and MNQ $2 × Nasdaq-100 Index.
NQ means E-mini Nasdaq-100; MNQ means Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100. Their dollar multipliers are different.
State the quarterly month and year. Never infer it from a back-adjusted chart.
Distinguish a standard outright from an exchange-recognized intermonth spread.
Read the resulting net position, including working orders and current exposure.
Standard outright orders use 0.25-point increments in both NQ and MNQ.
Verify current session, product, margin and broker eligibility independently.
Chapter 359 values an NQ spread tick at $1; Chapter 361 values an MNQ spread tick at $0.10. Outright ticks remain 0.25 point, worth $5 and $0.50 respectively.
Make points and ticks agree
Prove Dollar Exposure Two Ways Before Sizing
For a long, gross P&L uses exit minus entry; for a short, use entry minus exit. Costs are separate. A correct calculation returns the same gross dollars from the point method and the tick method.
| Price movement | Outright ticks | One NQ | One MNQ | Ten MNQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 point | 1 | $5.00 | $0.50 | $5.00 |
| 1.00 point | 4 | $20.00 | $2.00 | $20.00 |
| 18.75 points | 75 | $375.00 | $37.50 | $375.00 |
| 50.00 points | 200 | $1,000.00 | $100.00 | $1,000.00 |
Short-ticket reconciliation
Sell one NQ at 25,180.50 and buy at 25,161.75. The favorable 18.75-point move equals 75 ticks. Point proof: 18.75 × $20 = $375 gross. Tick proof: 75 × $5 = the same $375. One MNQ over that path is $37.50 gross.
- Direction
- Short
- Move
- 18.75 points
- NQ proof
- $375 gross
- MNQ proof
- $37.50 gross
Ten MNQ and one NQ have equivalent gross price exposure, but not necessarily equal commission totals, spread, slippage, depth or queue outcomes. Subtract each product's actual execution and account costs.
One contract travels through four clock states
Attach the Trade Date, Roll Window and Termination to the Ticket
CME publishes general U.S. equity-index futures trading hours from Sunday through Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central Time, with a daily halt from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. Final trading termination is a separate expiration event. The evening opening belongs to the next CME trade date. Holiday notices, regulatory or price-limit halts and broker restrictions can change actual availability.
Select the quarter
Choose the listed March, June, September or December NQ/MNQ contract and record its year.
Trade the session
Translate Chicago time with timezone-aware software and confirm current open, halt, pre-open or closed status.
Decide the handoff
Compare expiring and next-quarter books; the customary roll date is an observation point, not an automatic switch.
Resolve expiration
Exit, roll or enter the specifically approved cash-settlement branch before the earliest applicable cutoff.
Hours state when the market is generally available; they do not promise a tight spread, deep book or ordinary slippage. A valid ticket still needs a product-specific liquidity gate.
Old quarter, next quarter, final value
Reconcile the Roll Handoff or the Nasdaq-Opening Settlement
CME identifies the customary U.S. equity-index roll date as the Monday before the third Friday of the expiration month. Market participants can move earlier or later, and both quarters can trade while volume and depth migrate. The roll is not mandatory, automatic or costless.
Compare
Observe both dated books at the same time: spread, depth, recent trades and expected impact for the actual quantity.
Route
Choose a recognized calendar spread or controlled separate legs. Separate execution can create temporary gap or overlap exposure.
Prove
Old-month position zero, old working orders zero, new quantity correct and new protection acknowledged.
Settle branch
If deliberately held to expiration, follow the exchange process and the broker's earlier instructions without assuming the chart close is final value.
| Settlement field | NQ — Chapter 359 | MNQ — Chapter 361 | Operational meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trading termination | Regularly scheduled start of Nasdaq Stock Market trading on the final settlement business day | No trading after the Primary Listing Exchange opens on the final settlement business day | Normally 8:30 a.m. CT / 9:30 a.m. ET on the third Friday, subject to the product's rulebook contingencies |
| Final settlement | Cash settlement | Cash settlement | No stock basket is delivered |
| SOQ basis | Nasdaq-100 Special Opening Quotation expressly based on each component's Nasdaq Official Opening Price (NOOP) | Nasdaq-100 Special Opening Quotation based on component opening prices | Neither record authorizes substituting the chart close or first displayed continuous index value |
| Component contingency | If Nasdaq does not open, use the next Nasdaq trading day; a nontrading component uses its prior Nasdaq close, subject to Exchange discretion to use the next NOOP | A closed component Primary Listing Exchange moves to its next opening; if the component does not trade, use its last sale, subject to Exchange discretion | Current CME procedures control; the chapters do not use identical wording |
| Unscheduled Market Holiday | Termination moves to the immediately preceding business day's NYSE close and final value becomes that prior day's Official Index Closing Value | This replaces the normal third-Friday opening path | |
- Every chart, alert, order and protective order points to the intended dated contract.
- Open interest is treated as lagged context, not a real-time roll command.
- The observed basis between quarters is not erased by a back-adjusted history.
- Roll fees, spread, slippage and leg risk enter the net result.
- Broker liquidation/position deadlines are checked separately from exchange termination.
- Final settlement is used only when explicitly authorized and operationally understood.
Four dollar questions, four separate answers
Do Not Substitute Margin for Exposure or Loss
CME performance bond requirements vary with product and market conditions. Broker initial, maintenance, overnight and reduced intraday requirements can differ from exchange figures, include house add-ons and change by account or session. A current margin figure belongs in a timestamped capacity check, not in the permanent contract definition.
Current index level × $20 per NQ or $2 per MNQ. This is represented market exposure, not cash paid.
Current CME risk model plus the actual broker/account schedule. This is funding capacity, not loss tolerance.
Invalidation path plus adverse slippage, gap reserve and all expected costs, multiplied by whole contracts.
Not defined by the margin deposit or stop trigger. A gap, reject or delayed exit can exceed planned and deposited amounts.
Separate resources for variation, requirement increases and ordinary account obligations under written policy.
The smallest whole-contract result from risk, margin, portfolio and liquidity caps; an unknown cap returns zero.
authorized quantity = min(loss-budget size, margin capacity, portfolio cap, liquidity cap)|margin ≠ maximum lossFinal pre-order certificate
Say the Complete Ticket Out Loud
Before release, a ticket record should be specific enough for another person to reproduce the intended exposure without looking at the chart.
Certificate result
Unresolved identity, clock, lifecycle or risk means no order
Do not guess the active quarter, transfer a spread tick to an outright, treat a continuous series as tradable or infer maximum loss from collateral.
Sources and canonical ticket disclosure — reviewed August 28, 2026
- CME Rulebook Chapter 359: E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures for NQ's multiplier, increments, quarterly termination and cash settlement.
- CME Rulebook Chapter 361: Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures for MNQ's multiplier, increments, termination and cash settlement.
- CME E-mini Nasdaq-100 specifications for current NQ product context.
- CME Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 specifications for current MNQ product context.
- CME Equity Index futures guide for general session hours and the daily halt.
- CME Equity Index Roll Dates for the quarterly handoff convention.
- CME Final Settlement Procedures for Nasdaq-100 SOQ and NOOP mechanics.
- CME Performance Bonds/Margins FAQ for variable collateral and initial/maintenance distinctions.
- CFTC futures risk disclosure for leverage, margin-call and loss-beyond-deposit risk.
Sources were reviewed August 28, 2026. This canonical record fixes the cited contract arithmetic and lifecycle language while treating holiday schedules, live books, margin and broker deadlines as current-check fields. Worked prices illustrate reconciliation only and are not forecasts or reported trades.