What Should You Trade?

I have been asked what to trade.

Here is a rough draft of my response.

Mostly, trade something liquid.

Liquidity allows for proper execution, tighter spreads, and lower slippage. If you are wrong, you want to get out clean. If you are right, you want to scale without the market punishing you simply because your instrument is too thin.

Start trading micros if you are still developing.

Trade as small as possible in the beginning, but train on instruments that later, once you are a professional, can actually scale.

That is a very important distinction.

There is no point learning a market that cannot carry you later.

You want small size in the beginning, but you do not want small opportunity.

That is why I mostly prefer futures.

From a rule perspective, futures are standardized, centralized, regulated markets. They are not perfect. Nothing is. But compared to many other trading vehicles, they are generally cleaner, more transparent, and less structurally tilted against the trader.

Here are a few charts that illustrate the point.

The data below uses CME April 2026 average daily volume, so this is not one single trading day. It is a better general liquidity snapshot.

Chart 1: Most Liquid CME Micro Futures

Rank	Micro Contract	Symbol	April 2026 ADV	Tick Value
1	Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100	MNQ	1,831,220	$0.50
2	Micro E-mini S&P 500	MES	1,257,515	$1.25
3	Micro WTI Crude Oil	MCL	391,180	$1.00
4	Micro Gold	MGC	354,192	$1.00
5	Micro E-mini Dow	MYM	149,148	$0.50
6	Micro E-mini Russell 2000	M2K	108,394	$0.50
7	Micro Bitcoin	MBT	61,378	$0.50
8	Micro Ether	MET	50,142	$0.05
9	Micro EUR/USD	M6E	21,833	$1.25
10	Micro AUD/USD	M6A	7,807	$1.00

The clear message:

The most useful micro contracts are not all micros.

The real practical shortlist is:

MNQ

MES

MCL

MGC

Those are the micros I would take seriously first.

Chart 2: Micros Compared To Their Larger Contracts

This is where many people get fooled.

A micro can trade more contracts than the larger contract, but that does not mean it has more real liquidity.

In many cases, one larger futures contract equals ten micros. So you have to compare not just contract volume, but true notional trading size.

Micro	Micro ADV	Micro Tick Value	Larger Contract	Larger ADV	Larger Tick Value	Liquidity Winner
MNQ	1,831,220	$0.50	NQ	527,587	$5.00	NQ
MES	1,257,515	$1.25	ES	1,491,821	$12.50	ES
MCL	391,180	$1.00	CL	1,013,958	$10.00	CL
MGC	354,192	$1.00	GC	141,654	$10.00	GC
MYM	149,148	$0.50	YM	91,403	$5.00	YM
M2K	108,394	$0.50	RTY	178,288	$5.00	RTY
MBT	61,378	$0.50	BTC	12,887	$25.00	BTC
MET	50,142	$0.05	ETH	17,988	$25.00	ETH
M6E	21,833	$1.25	6E	174,819	$6.25	6E
M6A	7,807	$1.00	6A	109,194	$5.00	6A

This is the principle:

Micros are excellent for learning, scaling, and managing psychology.

The larger contracts are still superior for depth, absorption, and professional execution.

So the path is simple.

Start small.

Train on liquid instruments.

Do not train yourself into a dead-end product.

Chart 3: Bond Futures

Bonds are a different world.

The regular Treasury futures are extremely liquid. The micro Treasury contracts, however, are not comparable to the equity micros.

Rank	Contract	Symbol	April 2026 ADV	Tick Value	Liquidity Read
1	10-Year T-Note	ZN	1,728,428	$15.625	Very liquid
2	5-Year T-Note	ZF	1,268,559	$7.8125	Very liquid
3	2-Year T-Note	ZT	773,749	$7.8125	Very liquid
4	Ultra 10-Year Note	TN	508,480	$15.625	Very liquid
5	30-Year T-Bond	ZB	396,748	$31.25	Liquid
6	Ultra T-Bond	UB	307,787	$31.25	Liquid
7	3-Year T-Note	Z3N	4,803	$7.8125	Thin
8	10-Year Yield Future	10Y	1,011	$1.00	Too thin for most traders
9	Micro Ultra T-Bond	MWN	592	$3.13	Illiquid
10	Micro Ultra 10-Year	MTN	306	$1.5625	Illiquid

This is important.

Do not think bond micros are like MES or MNQ.

They are not.

If you want to trade bonds seriously, the real liquidity is in:

ZN

ZF

ZT

TN

ZB

UB

The micro Treasury products may sound attractive because of their smaller size, but liquidity matters more than comfort. A small contract in a thin market is not necessarily safer. It may simply be harder to execute properly.

The Real Lesson

The beginner mistake is asking:

“What can I afford to trade?”

The better question is:

“What can I trade small now, while still training on something that can scale later?”

That is why liquid futures matter.

You can start with micros.

You can trade tiny.

You can learn execution.

You can train your psychology.

But you are still training on real markets with professional depth behind them.

That matters.

Because if you ever become good, your instrument has to allow you to grow.

A thin market may feel harmless in the beginning, but it becomes a ceiling later.

A liquid market gives you room.

Room to enter.

Room to exit.

Room to be wrong.

Room to become right.

Room to scale.

That is why my answer is simple:

Trade liquid futures.

Start with the most liquid micros.

Focus mainly on MNQ, MES, MCL, and MGC.

If you trade bonds, respect the fact that the liquidity is in the main Treasury futures, not the micros.

The principle is not complicated:

Small size first.

Liquid markets always.

Scalable instruments only.

Educational only. Not financial advice. Trading involves risk.

Source note: Volume figures are from CME Group’s April 2026 average daily volume reports. CME also lists contract specifications and tick values for Micro E-mini futures, Treasury futures, Micro Treasury futures, and related products.