The dollar amount gained or lost per minimum price increment — the unit your P&L is built from.
Tick Value is the dollar value of one minimum price movement (one tick) of a futures contract. ES: 0.25 index points = $12.50 per tick per contract ($50/point). NQ: 0.25 points = $5 per tick ($20/point). Tick value converts chart distances into dollars: an 11-point ES move is 44 ticks = $550 per contract. Knowing tick value cold is non-negotiable — your position sizing, stop placement, and R:R math all depend on it.
You can't manage risk you can't measure. Tick value is the measuring tape.
Your stop is 4 points on ES = 16 ticks × $12.50 = $200 risk per contract. On a $50K account risking 1% ($500), that's 2 contracts. No calculator needed once you know the ticks.
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