Discount Trading - Day Trading & End Of Day Futures Margin Requirements

Initial & Maintenance Margin vs. Day Trade (Intra-Day) Margin

Initial Margin and Maintenance Margin is set by the exchange. Initial Margin is the amount required to hold each position past the market close. This margin amount can go as low as the Maintenance Margin before the client is required to replenish funds back to Initial Margin Requirements if the positions are held past the market close.

Day Trade Margin is set by Discount Trading. This is the minimum amount required to hold a position per contract on an intra-day basis. Discount Trading offers low day trading margins to accommodate traders that desire high leverage to trade their accounts. Traders need to make sure they thoroughly understand the risk involved in using this leverage. Enhanced day trading margins ($300 E-mini S&P Margin and $30 Micro E-mini S&P Margin) are available for select clients and platforms. Call or email to inquire.

Stock Index Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Enhanced Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
E-mini S&P 500	ES	CME	$500	$400	$22,302	$20,275
E-mini NASDAQ 100	NQ	CME	$1,000	$800	$33,305	$30,277
E-mini DOW ($5)	YM	CBOT	$500	$400	$14,220	$12,927
E-mini Russell 2000	RTY	CME	$500	$400	$9,259	$8,418
Micro E-mini S&P 500	MES	CME	$50	$40	$2,230	$2,027
Micro E-mini NASDAQ 100	MNQ	CME	$100	$80	$3,330	$3.027
Micro E-mini DOW ($5)	MYM	CBOT	$50	$40	$1,422	$1,292
Micro E-mini Russell 2000	M2K	CME	$50	$40	$925	$841
Nikkei 225 Stock Index	NKD	CME	$1,000		$13,459	$12,236
E-mini Midcap 400	EMD	CME	$1,000		$21,530	$19,572
Eurex DJ Euro Stoxx 50	FESX	EUREX	€1,000		€6,338	€6,338
Eurex Mini-Dax	FDXM	EUREX	€1,000		€10,126	€10,126
Eurex Dax	FDAX	EUREX	€10,000		€35,504	€35,504

Cryptocurrency Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Enhanced Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Nano Bitcoin	BIT	FairX	$20	$15	$330	$300
Nano Ether	ET	FairX	$20	$15	$141	$128
Micro Bitcoin	MBT	CME	$250	$200	$2,741	$2,492
Micro Ether	MET	CME	$50	$40	$120	$109
Micro Solana	MSL	CME	$50	$40	$2,101	$1,910
Micro XRP	MXP	CME	$50	$40	$3,938	$3,580

Interest Rate Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Enhanced Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Micro 30-Year	30Y	CBOT	$100	$80	$297	$270
Micro 10-Year	10Y	CBOT	$100	$80	$352	$320
Micro 5-Year	5YY	CBOT	$100	$80	$352	$320
Micro 2-Year	2YY	CBOT	$100	$80	$363	$330
Ultra US Treasury Bonds	UB	CBOT	$1,000	$500	$6,050	$5,500
U.S. Treasury Bonds	ZB	CBOT	$1,000	$500	$4,070	$3,700
Ultra 10 Year Notes	TN	CBOT	$500	$300	$3,080	$2,800
10 Year Notes	ZN	CBOT	$500	$300	$2,200	$2,000
5 Year Notes	ZF	CBOT	$500		$1,430	$1,300
2 Year Notes	ZT	CBOT	$400		$1,320	$1,200
30 Day Fed Funds	ZQ	CBOT	$200		$468	$425
One-Month SOFR	SR1	CME	$200		$468	$425
Three-Month SOFR	SR3	CME	$200		$468	$425
Eurex Bund (10yr)	FGBL	EUREX	€1,000		€3,636	€3,636
Eurex Bobl (5yr)	FGBM	EUREX	€750		€2,020	€2,020
Eurex Schatz (2yr)	FGBS	EUREX	€500		€839	€839
Eurex Euro-Buxl	FGBX	EUREX	€3,000		€8,835	€8,835

Metal Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Enhanced Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Gold	GC	COMEX	$1,000	$800	$16,500	$15,000
E-mini Gold	QO	COMEX	$500		$8,250	$7,500
E-micro Gold	MGC	COMEX	$100	$80	$1,650	$1,500
Silver	SI	COMEX	$1,000	$800	$16,500	$15,000
E-mini Silver	QI	COMEX	$1,000		$8,250	$7,500
E-micro Silver	SIL	COMEX	$300		$3,300	$3,000
Copper	HG	COMEX	$1,000	$800	$9,900	$9,000
E-mini Copper	QC	COMEX	$800		$4,950	$4,500
Palladium	PA	NYMEX	$3,500		$13,200	$12,000
Platinum	PL	NYMEX	$1,500		$3,850	$3,500

Energy Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Enhanced Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Crude Oil	CL	NYMEX	$1,500	$1,000	$5,704	$5,185
Micro Crude Oil	MCL	NYMEX	$150	$100	$570	$519
E-mini Crude Oil	QM	NYMEX	$750	$500	$2,863	$2,602
Brent Crude	BRN	ICE-EU	$1,500		$5,368	$4,880
Natural Gas	NG	NYMEX	$1,000	$800	$2,746	$2,497
E-mini Natural Gas	QG	NYMEX	$300		$692	$630
Micro Natural Gas	MNG	NYMEX	$100		$277	$252
Heating Oil - ULSD	HO	NYMEX	$1,500		$7,131	$6,483
E-mini Heating Oil - ULSD	QH	NYMEX	$750		$3,571	$3,246
RBOB Gasoline	RB	NYMEX	$1,500		$5,931	$5,392
E-mini RBOB Gasoline	QU	NYMEX	$800		$2,970	$2,700

Grain Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Enhanced Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Corn	ZC	CBOT	$300	$250	$1,155	$1,050
Mini Corn	XC	CBOT	$50		$231	$210
Soybeans	ZS	CBOT	$750	$500	$2,090	$1,900
Mini Soybeans	XK	CBOT	$100		$418	$380
Soybean Oil	ZL	CBOT	$350		$1,760	$1,600
Soybean Meal	ZM	CBOT	$400		$2,200	$2,000
Wheat	ZW	CBOT	$750	$500	$1,925	$1,750
Mini Wheat	XW	CBOT	$100		$385	$350
Kansas City Wheat	KE	CBOT	$400		$2,090	$1,900
Hard Red Spring Wheat	MWE or IH	MGE	$500		$2,090	$1,900
Oats	ZO	CBOT	$250		$1,375	$1,250
Rough Rice	ZR	CBOT	$300		$1,430	$1,300

Currency Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Enhanced Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Euro Futures	6E	CME	$400	$300	$3,740	$3,400
E-mini Euro Futures	E7	CME	$200		$1,870	$1,700
E-micro Euro Futures	M6E	CME	$50		$374	$340
Japanese Yen	6J	CME	$500		$4,180	$3,800
E-mini Japanese Yen	J7	CME	$250		$2,090	$1,900
Aussie Dollar	6A	CME	$250		$1,485	$1,350
Micro Aussie Dollar	M6A	CME	$40		$160	$149
British Pound	6B	CME	$350		$1,925	$1,750
Micro British Pound	M6B	CME	$50		$193	$175
Canadian Dollar	6C	CME	$250		$1,100	$1,000
E-micro Canadian Dollar	MCD	CME	$50		$110	$100
Swiss Franc	6S	CME	$500		$4,070	$3,700
E-micro Swiss Franc	MSF	CME	$50		$407	$370
Brazilian Real	6L	CME	$250		$935	$850
Mexican Peso	6M	CME	$400		$1,540	$1,400
New Zealand Dollar	6N	CME	$300		$1,430	$1,300
South African Rand	6Z	CME	$400		$1,540	$1,400
U.S. Dollar Index	DX	ICE	$800		$1,857	$1,688

Soft Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Sugar #11	SB	ICE	$750	$1,564	$1,422
Cocoa	CC	ICE	$2,000	$11,759	$10,690/td>
Coffee	KC	ICE	$3,000	$10,449	$9,499
Cotton	CT	ICE	$1,500	$2,063	$1,875
Orange Juice	OJ	ICE	$1,000	$4,256	$3,869

Meat Futures

Contract Name	Symbol	Exchange	Day Trade Margin	Exchange Initial Margin	Exchange Maintenance Margin
Feeder Cattle	GF	CME	$1,000	$4,538	$4,125
Live Cattle	LE	CME	$600	$2,420	$2,200
Lean Hogs	HE	CME	$600	$1,650	$1,500

Important notices:

Discount Trading requires that you either flatten open positions or meet the exchange required margin requirements no less than 10 minutes prior to the daily close of the market.
We reserve the right to liquidate all or some positions if the account falls below day-trade or end-of-day margin requirements at any time.
If your account drops below the posted intra-day margin requirements, a $50 per contract liquidation fee will be assessed or $25 per micro contracts.
Not all clients receive "Enhanced" day trading margins. Please call a client representative if you want the "Enhanced" day trading margins. Certain platforms are required.
Clients highly concentrated in one market may be subject to higher margin requirements.
Certain accounts such as entity or foreign accounts or accounts selling options may be subject to higher margin requirements.
Any account with an intra-day net liquidity balance of less than $200 will be subject to immediate liquidation.
Violations of intra-day or end-of-day margin requirements can result in additional fees and/or higher intra-day margin requirements.
Clients are responsible for monitoring their account, positions, and margin requirements at all times. Clients are financially responsible for any losses generated by open positions in the account. Any account deficits must be met by wiring funds immediately.
Discount Trading reserves the right to raise margin requirements and auto-liquidate levels without prior notice at any time and for any reason, especially in volatile market conditions.
Holidays: Early closes due to holidays are common & day trade margin is not extended through the holiday trading halt. All positions must satisfy Exchange Margin requirements set by the exchanges 10 minutes prior to the early holiday close.

Disclaimer: Margins listed on this page are for informational purposes only and are subject to change at any time without notice. Margins are believed to be accurate as of June 5, 2025. Please check directly with the exchange's website for the most current initial and maintenance margin requirements. Discount Trading assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions in the information above.