Commissions and fees

Every trade costs money before the market moves a single tick. The amounts look tiny, which is exactly why beginners ignore them. This lesson shows what you pay, how it is counted, and how it adds up.

Per side and round turn

Fees are quoted in two ways, and mixing them up makes a broker look twice as cheap or twice as expensive as it really is.

• Per side: one transaction, either a buy or a sell.
• Round turn: the CFTC glossary defines it as a completed transaction made up of a purchase and a closing sale, or a sale followed by a closing purchase. In plain words: in and out.

Every complete trade has two sides. So:

round turn cost = per side cost x 2

A fee of $1.00 per side is $2.00 per round turn. Always check which one a price list means.

What you pay

CME’s beginner course says each executed order carries a commission with two parts: a fee to the broker and a fee to the exchange. Pulling the pieces apart, a typical futures trade can include:

1. Broker commission. Your broker’s charge. The CFTC glossary describes a commission as the fee an FCM or broker charges for buying and selling, or for executing an order. Some brokers charge per contract; CME notes others add a flat fee per trade.
2. Exchange fees. CME charges fees for trading and clearing. CME says these vary by product, by volume, by venue and transaction type, and by whether the customer has a membership or incentive program status. CME offers a Non-Member Fee Finder on its fees page to look up a product’s fee.
3. NFA assessment fee. A small regulatory fee. The NFA states that as of July 1, 2026 it is $.01 per side on futures contracts, invoiced to customers, and that from July 1, 2027 it will be $.02 per side. The NFA says the amount is the same no matter how small the contract.
4. Platform fee. Some brokers charge monthly for the software, sometimes reduced or waived by account size or activity (Lesson 10).
5. Market data fee. The exchange charges for real-time data; brokers may bundle it or bill it separately (Lesson 10).

Brokers may also charge for deposits, withdrawals, and other services. CME’s course notes these will be listed in your brokerage agreement. If a broker quotes a single “all-in” price per contract, ask exactly which of these items it includes.

A worked example

Example costs, not real fees. These broker and exchange amounts are made up for practice. Only the NFA fee is the real figure published by the NFA as of July 1, 2026. Look up current fees with your broker and CME before trading.

Per side, for 1 MNQ:

Round turn: $0.81 x 2 = $1.62 per contract.

Now compare that to what MNQ moves. One MNQ tick is worth $0.50 (Runner Lesson 6). So with these example costs:

$1.62 / $0.50 = 3.24 ticks

In this example, a 1 MNQ trade has to move more than 3 ticks in your favor just to cover costs. A “breakeven” stop (Lesson 8) that fills exactly at your entry still loses $1.62.

Why they add up

Keep the same made-up costs and imagine a trader who does 5 round turns a day with 2 MNQ contracts each time:

• Per day: 5 x 2 x $1.62 = $16.20
• Over 20 trading days: 20 x $16.20 = $324.00

That is before any monthly platform or data fees. None of it depends on whether the trades won or lost. This is why trading more often, or with more contracts, raises your costs even when nothing else changes.

Bigger contract, same kind of fee

Fees are charged per contract, not per dollar of value. The NFA fee, for example, is the same for every futures contract regardless of size. So costs that are a rounding error next to a contract worth $20 per point can be a real bite out of a contract worth $2 per point. When you compare costs, compare them to the tick value of the contract you actually trade.

Key ideas

• Per side is one buy or one sell. Round turn is in and out: two sides.
• Costs include broker commission, exchange fees, the NFA assessment fee, and often platform and data fees.
• The NFA fee is $.01 per side as of July 1, 2026, rising to $.02 per side on July 1, 2027.
• Divide your round-turn cost by the tick value to see how many ticks a trade must move just to break even.
• Fees vary by broker and change over time. Look them up yourself.