Instrument Configuration

Reference for instrument configuration in Tradeways — tick size, point value, lot size, contract multiplier, and how they drive P&L calculation.

What Is Instrument Configuration?

Every tradeable instrument in Tradeways has a configuration that defines how prices translate into profit and loss. The configuration determines the instrument's asset class, how P&L is calculated, and what currency the P&L is denominated in.

Instrument configuration page showing a list of instruments with asset class, tick size, point value, and P&L currency

Tradeways resolves instrument configuration automatically using a resolution chain: built-in presets for common futures, auto-detection for forex and crypto pairs, and a fallback for everything else.

Key Fields

Field	Applies to	Description
Asset class	All	The instrument category: `stocks`, `futures`, `crypto`, `forex`, or `cfd`.
P&L unit	All	Either `ticks` (futures) or `currency` (all others). Determines which calculation model is used.
Tick size	Futures only	The minimum price increment. For ES (E-mini S&P 500), this is 0.25.
Point value	Futures only	The dollar value of one full point of price movement. For ES, this is $50 — so one tick (0.25) = $12.50.
Contract multiplier	Forex, stocks, crypto, CFDs	A multiplier applied to price differences in P&L calculation. Typically 1 for spot instruments.
Lot size	All	The number of units in one standard lot. Forex uses 100,000 (one standard lot). Futures and stocks use 1.
P&L currency	All	The currency in which the instrument's P&L is denominated. For EUR/USD, this is USD. For FDAX, this is EUR.
Exchange	Futures	The exchange where the instrument trades (e.g. CME, EUREX). Used for exchange-level commission rates.

P&L Calculation Models

Tick-Based (Futures)

Futures use tick-based P&L. The realized P&L for a matched position is:

pnlInTicks = priceDifference / tickSize
pnlInCurrency = pnlInTicks x tickSize x pointValue

For example, buying 1 ES contract at 5000.00 and selling at 5002.50:

Price difference: 2.50
Ticks: 2.50 / 0.25 = 10 ticks
Currency P&L: 10 x 0.25 x $50 = $125.00

Currency-Based (Forex, Stocks, Crypto, CFDs)

Non-futures instruments use currency-based P&L. The realized P&L is:

pnlInCurrency = priceDifference x quantity x contractMultiplier

For example, buying 10,000 units of EUR/USD at 1.1000 and selling at 1.1050:

Price difference: 0.0050
Currency P&L: 0.0050 x 10,000 x 1 = $50.00

Resolution Chain

Tradeways automatically configures common futures (ES, NQ, CL, GC, FDAX, and many more), forex pairs, and crypto pairs. All other instruments use default settings that you can customize.

For instruments that are not automatically recognized, the fallback uses a contract multiplier of 1 and a lot size of 1, treating the instrument like a stock.

Price Unit Names

The display label for the instrument's price unit adapts to its asset class:

Asset Class	Unit Name	Suffix	Unit Size
Futures	Ticks	t	Tick size from configuration
Forex	Pips	pip	0.0001 (or 0.01 for JPY pairs)
CFD	Points	pt	1.0
Stocks	Cents	ct	0.01
Crypto	Points	pt	0.01

Commission and Instruments

Commission rates can be set per symbol, per exchange, or as a default. The resolution cascades: a per-symbol rate overrides a per-exchange rate, which overrides the default. The instrument's exchange field (e.g. CME, CME/NYMEX, EUREX) determines which exchange-level rate applies.

Commission is calculated per lot. For example, if you set a rate of $2.50 per lot, Tradeways applies that rate based on the number of lots in each execution.