QM tick value and contract specs
E-mini Crude Oil futures on NYMEX: what one tick is worth, the full exchange specification, and what a move costs on a prop firm account.
What is the QM tick value?
One QM tick is $0.025 per barrel, worth $12.50 per contract. A $1.00 move per barrel is worth $500, so a move of $0.50 per barrel is 20 ticks, or $250 on one contract.
QM contract specifications
From CME Group, read 2026-09-22.
Specification
Value
Source: CME Group - E-mini Crude Oil contract specs, retrieved 2026-09-22. Margin is omitted: it changes often and differs by broker.
QM ticks to dollars
Profit or loss = ticks moved × tick value × contracts.
Price move
Ticks
1 contract
5 contracts
10 contracts
QM and prop firm drawdown
A prop firm’s drawdown limit is a dollar amount, so the useful question is how far the market can move against you before you hit it. On a $2,000 limit, one QM contract has $4 per barrel (160 ticks) of room; five contracts have $0.80 per barrel (32 ticks). A trailing drawdown shrinks that room as open profit is given back, so measure from where the limit is now, not where it started.
QM trading hours
Central Time (CT)
Eastern Time (ET)
Daily break
CME sets hours in Chicago time. ET is always CT + 1 hour, because both zones change for daylight saving on the same dates.
QM hours and holidays
QM trades on CME Globex Sunday–Friday 5:00 pm – 4:00 pm CT (6:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET), with a daily maintenance break from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm CT. See whether it is open right now, in your own time zone, on the futures market hours page. Holidays close or shorten the session - the CME holiday schedule for 2026 lists every one.
QM contract months
Monthly contracts for the current year and the next 5 calendar years.
Month code
Month
Example symbol
QMZ26 is the December 2026 contract.
Reading a contract symbol
A full symbol is the product code, the month code and the year. How the codes work, and when volume rolls to the next contract, is on the futures month codes page.
QM micro and mini
QM other sizes
CL (Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI)) tracks the same market at twice the size of QM: one tick is worth $10, against $12.50.
MCL (Micro WTI Crude Oil) tracks the same market at 1/5 the size of QM: one tick is worth $1, against $12.50.
Sizing in the smaller contract lets you scale a position in finer steps, at the cost of paying commission on more contracts. Micro vs mini futures compares every pair.
Which prop firms allow QM?
Prop firms and QM
Each futures prop firm publishes its own list of permitted products and its own contract limits, and many count micros differently from minis. We do not yet record those lists symbol by symbol, so this page does not name firms rather than guess. Compare futures prop firms and check the firm’s rules page for QM before you buy an evaluation.
FAQs - QM
Facts checked 2026-09-22 against CME Group contract specifications.
One QM tick is $0.025 per barrel, worth $12.50 per contract. A $1.00 move per barrel is worth $500, so a move of $0.50 per barrel is 20 ticks, or $250 on one contract.
A $1.00 move per barrel is worth $500 per QM contract: 40 ticks of $12.50.
QM trades on CME Globex Sunday–Friday 5:00 pm – 4:00 pm CT (6:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET), with a daily maintenance break from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm CT. In Eastern Time that is Sun 6:00 pm – Fri 5:00 pm. Holidays shorten or close sessions.
Monthly contracts for the current year and the next 5 calendar years. Month codes: F (Jan), G (Feb), H (Mar), J (Apr), K (May), M (Jun), N (Jul), Q (Aug), U (Sep), V (Oct), X (Nov), Z (Dec).
QM is financially settled. Last trading day: 1 business day before the corresponding CL contract’s last trading day. Most traders roll to the next contract month before then.
CME Group sets the exchange margin for QM and changes it often, and brokers set their own day-trading margins on top. A prop firm account does not post margin: the firm’s drawdown limit and contract limit cap the risk instead. For a current exchange figure, check CME Group’s margin page for the contract.
CL (Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI)) tracks the same market at twice the size of QM. One CL tick is worth $10, against $12.50 for QM.
MCL (Micro WTI Crude Oil) tracks the same market at 1/5 the size of QM. One MCL tick is worth $1, against $12.50 for QM.
Related reference
More futures reference, and where these rules meet prop firm terms.
CL - Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) contract specs
MCL - Micro WTI Crude Oil contract specs
NG - Henry Hub Natural Gas contract specs
MNG - Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas contract specs
Futures contract specs: all contracts
Futures market hours: open now?
CME holiday schedule 2026
Futures tick values explained
Futures contract month codes
Micro vs mini futures
Futures prop firms compared
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