CFD to Futures: How to Convert Alert Levels
Our alerts are priced on the CFD. If you trade the futures contract, one number from your own chart turns every alert level into its futures price: the gap between the two.
Quick way: put the CFD and futures charts side by side and mark the same swing or zone on the futures chart. Exact way: the gap is the futures price minus the CFD price. Add the gap to every CFD level to get the futures level, or subtract it when the gap is negative. The gap drifts daily and jumps at contract rolls, so recheck it daily and right after a roll.
Can you call the next candle?
Three calls on a freshly generated chart, no signup. You just read about cfd to futures price conversion. This is the part where you use it.
Will the NEXT candle close up or down?
Quick way: side by side
Open the CFD chart and your futures chart side by side, find the same swing high, low or zone on both, and mark the level where it sits on the futures chart. They usually line up. Exact way: use the gap (below).
Exact way: the gap, in four steps
- Read both prices at the same moment. Open your futures chart and the CFD (on the Mirror Desk or your broker) and note both prices within a few seconds of each other.
- Work out the gap. Gap = futures price minus CFD price. It can be positive or negative.
- Shift every level by the gap. Add the gap to each price in the alert: the level, both edges of the zone, and any invalidation price. If the gap is negative, adding it means subtracting.
- Round to the futures price step. Futures trade in fixed steps (the table below), so round the result to the nearest one.
Which futures contract matches each alert market
| Alert market (CFD) | Futures | Micro | Price step |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAS100 | NQ (Nasdaq 100) | MNQ | 0.25 |
| SPX500 | ES (S&P 500) | MES | 0.25 |
| US30 | YM (Dow) | MYM | 1 |
| US2000 | RTY (Russell 2000) | M2K | 0.10 |
| XAUUSD | GC (gold) | MGC | 0.10 |
| XAGUSD | SI (silver) | SIL | 0.005 |
| XTIUSD | CL (crude oil) | MCL | 0.01 |
| BTCUSD | BTC (CME bitcoin) | MBT | 5 |
| ETHUSD | ETH (CME ether) | MET | 0.50 |
One point on the CFD is one point on the futures for every market above, so a zone's width and the distance to an invalidation price stay the same. Only the prices shift. What a point is worth in money does differ by contract, so size the position for the contract you trade (the futures tick value calculator does that).
Why the gap exists, and why it moves
A CFD follows the cash market. A futures contract prices a date in the future, so it also carries the cost of holding the market until then: interest, dividends on the indices, storage on oil. That carry makes the gap drift a little every day and shrink as the contract gets close to expiry.
The gap also jumps when your platform moves to the next contract month, which is called the roll. The index futures roll every quarter (March, June, September, December). Gold, silver, oil and the crypto futures roll more often. Your CFD broker can roll its own price on a different day from your futures platform, so a jump can come from either side.
- Recheck the gap at least once a day, before your session.
- Recheck it right after a roll, on your futures platform or at your CFD broker.
- In a fast market read both prices as close together as you can. A few seconds apart can be several steps off.
Converting a level is arithmetic; reading what price does there is a skill. Chart Bound drills it on real charts, free.
Play free, no signup →Why we do not just send the futures price
Futures market data is licensed to each person who views it, so we cannot pass our own futures prices on to members. Using the price you already see on your own platform keeps the conversion yours, and it always uses the contract month you actually trade.
Or skip the maths: connect your own futures feed
If you connect your own futures data (your TopstepX key) on the Mirror Desk, your alerts also show the futures price worked out from your own feed. Open the Legend and use Connect your feed.
This page is educational. Alert levels describe where price is, they are not a trade recommendation, and this is not financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is NAS100 in NQ terms?
Read NQ and NAS100 at the same moment and take the difference (NQ minus NAS100). Add that gap to any NAS100 level to get the NQ level. The gap is not fixed, so recheck it daily and after a roll.
Why is the futures price different from the CFD?
Futures price a date in the future, so they carry interest, dividends or storage until then. A CFD follows the cash market. The difference shrinks toward expiry and jumps when the contract rolls.
How often should I recheck the gap?
At least once a day before your session, and right after a contract roll on either your futures platform or your CFD broker.
Do stop and zone distances change?
No. One CFD point is one futures point on these markets, so distances stay the same; only the prices shift. The money per point depends on the contract.
Keep learning
Converting a level is arithmetic; reading what price does there is a skill. Chart Bound drills it on real charts, free.
Play free, no signup →