ES and NQ share a tick size of a quarter point, run on the same exchange hours and are often traded side by side. Copying settings from one to the other is still a mistake. Their tick values, typical movement and order books differ enough that the same numbers produce very different trades.
The basic numbers
| Contract | Tick value | $150 equals | $100 equals |
|---|---|---|---|
| ES | $12.50 | 12 ticks | 8 ticks |
| NQ | $5.00 | 30 ticks | 20 ticks |
| MES | $1.25 | 120 ticks | 80 ticks |
| MNQ | $0.50 | 300 ticks | 200 ticks |
NQ usually travels many more ticks in the same time than ES, and each of its ticks is worth less. A stop that is sensible in ticks on ES is usually too tight on NQ, and a dollar amount that suits NQ is a wide stop on ES.
FlowPilot: brackets are in ticks
FlowPilot's Stop Loss and Take Profit are set in ticks, 16 each by default. The guide suggests:
- ES: 8 to 16 ticks for both.
- NQ: 16 to 40 ticks for both.
So the default 16 ticks sits at the wide end for ES ($200 per contract) and the tight end for NQ ($80 per contract). That is fine as a shared starting point, but expect to tune it per market.
Remember the knock-on effects. The break-even trigger (11 ticks by default) should stay at roughly 50 to 75% of the target, so if you change the target, move it too. And the Auto regime's range vote compares the session's range against Range To Bracket times target plus stop, 3 x 32 = 96 ticks by default. A smaller bracket makes the range vote pick Trend more often.
FlowPilot: stack length
The guide suggests a Stacked Requirement of 2 to 4 on ES and 3 to 5 on NQ. NQ moves through more prices for the same push, so it builds stacks of a given length more easily, and needing one more level filters the extra noise. The default of 3 sits where the two ranges overlap.
Bar size interacts with this. FlowPilot builds the footprint per bar, so larger bars collect more volume and produce more stacks. Keep the bar type and size the same between testing and live trading on each instrument.
BookPilot: brackets are in dollars
BookPilot's default brackets are $150 target and $100 stop per contract, converted to ticks for whatever you load. That conversion is what the table above shows: 12 and 8 ticks on ES, 30 and 20 on NQ. The NinjaScript Output window prints the result when the strategy starts.
The guide's suggested range is $100 to $200 for the target and $75 to $150 for the stop on both ES and NQ. If you prefer to think in ticks, switch Brackets in $ per Contract off and use the per-engine tick settings instead. The guide's tick suggestions are 8 to 16 / 6 to 12 on ES and 20 to 40 / 12 to 30 on NQ.
Micros need their own numbers
The trap with BookPilot on MES or MNQ is that dollar brackets do not scale down by themselves. $150 on MNQ is 300 ticks, far wider than intended. Divide the dollar amounts by ten, for example $15 and $10, or use tick brackets. FlowPilot's tick brackets carry over to micros unchanged in ticks, with a tenth of the dollar risk.
Order books differ too
BookPilot reads resting size, and ES typically shows much more size per level than NQ. Book ratios and wall sizes are relative, so the default Pressure Break Ratio (4.0) and Pulled Wall Ratio (2.2) are a fair starting point on both, but expect the trade count and signal mix to differ. Tune each instrument in its own Market Replay sessions. The forecast also keeps a separate model per instrument, so readings on one say nothing about the other.
A sensible workflow
- Choose one instrument and get it right before adding the second.
- Keep a separate settings note per instrument.
- Size so that one stop is no more than a third of your Daily Max Loss, recalculated for each contract's tick value.
All the ranges quoted here come from the FlowPilot guide and the BookPilot guide. If you are still choosing between the two, the comparison sets them side by side, and the FlowPilot product page lists what is included.
NQ and ES can both move against you fast, and leverage magnifies every tick. Test settings per instrument in SIM, and Market Replay for BookPilot, before an evaluation, funded or live account.