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Why was one index point fifty dollars?

A point on the big contract is not a point on the micro contract. Using the micro's five dollars on the big contract understates the loss by a factor of ten.

Beginner guide · 8-minute read · Updated 2026-11-09

The short answer

A point on the big contract is not a point on the micro contract. Using the micro's five dollars on the big contract understates the loss by a factor of ten.

The position

Here is one position (hypothetical, made-up prices). The count is 1 contract. The first figure in the story is 5,000. The later figure is 4,980.

The bottom row is this account. The −$1,000 is the gap. The price fell. Holding does not put the first figure back. These figures are made-up, so the subtraction stays checkable after the market moves.

The index fell by 20 points. Each point on this contract is $50. 20 times $50 is $1,000. That is the whole table. The index level is not the dollars. The point value turns the move into dollars.

How to check it on the statement

Read the count first. Then read the price the statement used. Multiply those two yourself. If your product is not a share, multiply the point move by the contract size instead of multiplying a share price. The number you get should match the value in the table, or you are looking at a different count.

Write the first total on one line and the later total under it. The gap is a subtraction. Do not add a second story, such as a fee or a dividend, until you see that line on the statement. A missing line is a zero, not a guess.

If you sold part of the position, split the page into the cash that left and the count that stayed. Add those two. A sale of one piece does not freeze the price of the piece you kept.

If the order never filled, the statement still shows the old count. Look in the order history for a cancel, an expiry, or a limit the market never traded. The position page will not show an order that died.

Do this before you decide what the market "meant." The dollars are the count times the price you can point at. The reason can wait until those two numbers are written down.

What happened

One standard S&P 500 futures contract is $50 a point. The micro contract is one tenth of that, $5 a point. Both step in quarters, and a quarter on the big contract is $12.50. Those sizes are the exchange's, and the futures tick calculator lists them. The index levels here are hypothetical. The index fell from 5,000 to 4,980, which is 20 points. On the big contract that is 20 times $50, which is $1,000. Someone who wrote down 20 times $5 got $100. They were holding the big contract. The missing $900 is the size, not a fee. The table uses the big contract.

How to read a brokerage statement shows the count you still have and the price the statement used. It does not replay the order you meant to send. If the statement's count disagrees with this page, use the statement and do the subtraction again.

What this is not

ES and NQ do not share a point value. The Nasdaq contract is $20 a point, which is the next page. Confirm the symbol on the ticket before you multiply. A micro ticker is a different product with a different loss on the same index move.

The account does not undo it

A TFSA or an RRSP changes the tax treatment of what is inside. It does not put the first price back. The shelter does not pay the gap back, and a lower price does not hand contribution room back. Room follows the contribution rules, not the chart. A taxable account shows the same mark. The wrapper decides tax. The count and the price decide the dollars.

If the custodian does not allow this product, the custodian's list wins over a general description. The math above is only for a position the account actually holds.

What to write down

1. The symbol on the ticket, big or micro.
2. The point value for that symbol.
3. The index move in points.
4. The dollars, which are points times the point value.

Then subtract. If a step is missing, the gap on the screen is not explained yet. Do not fill the blank with a rate, a fee, or a yield you did not read off a statement or a contract spec.

Questions

Is a point a dollar? Not on this contract. A point is $50. Twenty points are $1,000.

I calculated $100. What did I use? Five dollars a point, which is the micro. This ticket was the big contract.

Do I multiply by the index level? No. You multiply the change in points by the point value. The level itself is not the dollars.

Does a TFSA shrink the contract? No. The shelter does not turn the big contract into the micro. Many accounts cannot hold it at all. The custodian's list wins.

Are these the live prices? No. They are hypothetical, so the −$1,000 stays checkable.