Calculating Profit and Loss in Grain Futures (Corn, Wheat, Soybeans)

Each penny of movement in these grain futures will result in a profit or loss for the trader in the amount of $50. To illustrate, being long corn futures from $4.00 with the current futures price at $4.01 the trade is profitable by exactly $50. To expand on this idea, the minimum tick of a quarter of a cent (2/8ths) results in a profit or loss of $12.50. Once you are armed with this knowledge, computing profit, loss and risk in terms of actual dollars in your trading account is relatively simple.

A trader long soybeans from 901'4 ($901 1/2) liquidates the position at 926'6 to net a profit of $1,262.50 before considering commissions and exchange fees. This is figured by subtracting 901'4 from 926'6 and multiplying that number by $50.

926'6 - 901'4 = 25'2

25'2 x $50 = $1,262.50 (minus commissions and fees)

The Odd Couple of Soybean Futures (Soybean Meal, and Soybean Oil)

The less talked about soybean contracts are the byproducts of the beans themselves. Soybeans are crushed to extract oil (soybean oil), what is left is a substance known soybean meal. Soybean oil can be found in many of the foods that you consume on a daily basis while soy meal is most often used as animal feed.

Soybean Meal Futures

While both of these products are derived from the same bean, in terms of futures trading they have few similarities. Soybean meal is quoted in dollars and cents per ton based on a contract size of 100 ton. To clarify, if soymeal futures are trading at 390.50 this is referring to three hundred ninety dollars and fifty cents per ton or $390.50. If the market drops by 30 cents (sometimes referred to as points) the new price would be 390.20. Each dime in price movement represents a $10 profit or loss per contract. Thus, if a trader sells soymeal futures at 395.20 and buys the contract back at 390.10 he realizes a profit of $510 per contract. This is calculated by subtracting the purchase price from the sale price and multiplying it by $100. This makes sense because if each dime in the commodity price is equivalent to $10 in your trading account, then each $1 change in the commodity price will represent a profit or loss of $100 before considering transaction costs.

395.20 - 390.10 = 5.10

5.10 x $100 = $510 (minus commissions and fees)

Soybean Oil Futures

Soybean oil futures trade in contracts of 60,000 pounds and are quoted in cents per pound. If you see a price of 38.20 it is actually referring to $0.3820 or 38.20 cents per pound. If the daily change was a positive .10, this represents a tenth of a cent price appreciation. Each 1/100th of a cent is worth $6 to the trader; thus each full handle or cent is equivalent to a profit or loss of $600 in the futures market. For example, if a trader went long soybean oil futures from 37.00 and was forced to sell the position at 36.20 at a loss, the total damage to the trading account of the speculator would have been $480. This is figured by subtracting the purchase price from the sale price and then multiplying by $6.

37.00 - 36.20 = .80

80 x $6 = $480 (minus commission and fees)