Bond Futures vs Note Futures: Which Treasury Contract Fits a Funded Account in 2026
The difference in bond futures vs note futures is duration. Both contracts track U.S. Treasury prices and both move on the same interest rate news, but the bond contract carries far more sensitivity to a change in yield, so it travels further in dollars for the same underlying move.
That is not a subtlety you can defer until later. It is the whole sizing decision. A trader who moves from the 10-Year Note contract to the 30-Year Bond contract because the chart looks the same has roughly doubled the dollar value of every tick without changing anything about the setup, the stop or the account rules. Plenty of funded evaluations end that way, and the trader usually describes it as a run of bad luck.
In this guide we will lay out the published CME specifications side by side, explain what duration actually does to your risk, compare which contract suits which account size, walk through the sizing arithmetic, and cover the funded account rules that decide whether either contract belongs in your plan at all.
- Same face, different tick. The bond contract ticks in $31.25 and the 10-year note in $15.625, both on $100,000 face.
- Duration drives the difference. Longer maturity means a larger price change for the same yield move.
- Size in dollars, not contracts. One ZB is not equivalent to one ZN, and treating them as interchangeable is the common error.
- Shorter contracts suit smaller accounts. The five-year and two-year tick in $7.8125, which is far easier to fit inside a strict daily limit.
- Check the product list first. Which Treasury contracts you may trade is a program rule, not a market fact.
Table of contents
- What each contract actually is
- The specifications side by side
- Why duration decides your risk
- Choosing the contract your account can size
- Treasury futures in a simulated funded account
- Frequently asked questions
What each contract actually is
Treasury futures are contracts to deliver U.S. government debt of a specified maturity range, and the whole family is defined by which slice of the yield curve it covers. Bond futures cover the long end. Note futures cover the middle and the short end.
CME publishes the deliverable grade for each. The 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond contract calls for Treasury bonds with a remaining term of at least 15 years and less than 25 years from the first day of the delivery month, per the CME 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond contract specifications. The 10-Year T-Note contract calls for notes with a remaining term of at least six and a half years but not more than 10 years, per the CME 10-Year T-Note contract specifications.
Note the naming quirk, because it confuses people. The contract everyone calls the "30-year bond" does not deliver a fresh 30-year bond. It delivers bonds in a 15 to under 25 year window. The genuinely long-dated exposure sits in the Ultra contract, which is a separate listing.
The family, from short to long
- 2-Year T-Note. The short end, and the only member of the family with a $200,000 face amount rather than $100,000.
- 5-Year T-Note. The belly of the curve, widely used for curve trades against the longer contracts.
- 10-Year T-Note. The benchmark, and the most commonly quoted Treasury futures contract.
- 30-Year Bond and Ultra Bond. The long end, where duration and therefore dollar movement are largest.
What they all share
All list on the quarterly March, June, September and December cycle, all quote in points and fractions of a point rather than decimals, and all respond to the same drivers: rate expectations, inflation data, auction results and central bank language. If Treasury futures are new to you, our post on Treasury futures basics covers the ground this article assumes.
The specifications side by side
The single most useful table in this article is the tick value column, because that is the number that converts a chart move into a change in your account balance.
| Contract | Face amount | Minimum tick | Tick value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond | $100,000 | 1/32 of a point | $31.25 |
| 10-Year T-Note | $100,000 | Half of 1/32 | $15.625 |
| 5-Year T-Note | $100,000 | Quarter of 1/32 | $7.8125 |
| 2-Year T-Note | $200,000 | One eighth of 1/32 | $7.8125 |
Specifications as published by CME Group at the time of writing. Contract specs change, so confirm the current values on the CME spec page for any contract before you trade it.
Two things in that table are worth pausing on. First, the note contracts trade in finer increments than the bond contract, which is why a $15.625 tick on the 10-year sits alongside a $31.25 tick on the bond even though both cover $100,000 of face. Second, the 2-year contract carries double the face amount and still has the smallest tick value, because its price barely moves for a given yield change.
Reading the quotes
Treasury futures quote in points and thirty-seconds, which trips up traders arriving from index futures. A quote of 112’16 means 112 and 16/32, not 112.16. Getting that wrong when you set a stop is an expensive and entirely avoidable mistake. Our post on tick value and contract specs explained walks through how to translate a quote into dollars for any contract.
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Illustrative example built from published CME specifications. Not a forecast, not measured account data.
Why duration decides your risk
Duration is the reason a bond contract and a note contract behave differently despite tracking the same market. It measures how much a debt instrument’s price changes for a given change in yield, and it rises with maturity.
Put simply, a longer-dated bond locks in a fixed coupon for longer. If prevailing rates rise, that fixed coupon is a worse deal for more years, so the price has to fall further to compensate. A two-year note barely cares, because it matures before the change matters much. A 20-year bond cares enormously.
What that means at your desk
The same headline, the same yield move, and four different dollar outcomes depending on which contract you were holding. That is why bond futures vs note futures is a sizing question rather than a preference. If you take the same number of contracts across the family, you are taking wildly different risk without intending to.
| Stop distance | Cost on ZB | Cost on ZN | Cost on ZF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 ticks, 1 contract | $250.00 | $125.00 | $62.50 |
| 16 ticks, 1 contract | $500.00 | $250.00 | $125.00 |
| 16 ticks, 2 contracts | $1,000.00 | $500.00 | $250.00 |
| 24 ticks, 2 contracts | $1,500.00 | $750.00 | $375.00 |
Illustrative example using published tick values and ignoring commissions and slippage. Tick counts here are arbitrary and not a recommendation.
Read the bottom row against a $1,000 daily loss limit. On ZB that single trade uses one and a half times the entire day’s allowance, which means the position cannot be taken at all. On ZF the same structure costs $375, leaving room for two more attempts. Nothing about the analysis changed. Only the symbol did.
The curve trade, briefly
Experienced Treasury traders often express a view on the shape of the curve rather than its level, going long one maturity against short another. That is a legitimate approach and it is beyond the scope of a single article, but be aware that leg ratios in a curve trade are calculated from duration, not from contract counts. Two ZN against one ZB is not a neutral spread.
Choosing the contract your account can size
Choose the contract whose tick value lets you take your normal stop distance more than once in a session without exhausting your daily loss limit. That single test resolves most of the bond futures vs note futures question for a funded trader.
Work it in order. Take the daily loss limit. Divide by the number of losing trades you want room for, which for most people is three or four. That gives your maximum risk per trade. Convert your typical stop into ticks for the contract you are considering, multiply by the tick value, and see whether it fits. If it does not, the answer is a shorter-dated contract or a smaller product, not a tighter stop.
Rough guidance by account size
| Situation | Usually workable | Usually too large | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smaller simulated account, strict daily limit | ZF or ZT | ZB | A single normal stop on ZB can eat most of the day |
| Mid-sized account, benchmark exposure wanted | ZN | Multiple ZB | ZN gives movement without doubling the tick |
| Larger account, long-end view | ZB, sized down | ZB at habitual contract count | Contract count must fall as tick value rises |
| Curve or spread trades | ZF against ZN or ZB | Equal contract counts | Leg ratios come from duration, not symmetry |
General guidance rather than a recommendation. Your own limits, stop distances and program rules decide what is actually workable.
The micro option
CME lists micro-sized Treasury products alongside the full-size contracts, described on its micro Treasury futures page. Whether they are on your program’s tradable list is a separate question, and worth asking before you build a plan around them. Smaller products are one of the more honest ways to trade a market you would otherwise be oversized in.
The roll
Treasury futures list quarterly, so an active position has to be rolled or closed before delivery approaches. For a day trader this mostly means being aware of which contract month is actually liquid, since volume migrates in a fairly predictable window. Our post on futures contract rollover explained covers the mechanics and the timing.
Treasury futures in a simulated funded account
In a simulated funded account, the question is not whether you can analyze the Treasury curve. It is whether the contract you want to trade fits inside a daily loss limit, a drawdown allowance and a position limit you agreed to in advance.
Treasury futures are a good fit for rules-based trading in one respect: the specifications are fixed and public, so the arithmetic is knowable before you enter. There is no ambiguity about what a tick costs. That makes the sizing conversation unusually clean compared with, say, options, where the same dollar risk can arrive through three different variables.
What the simulation does and does not change
The price data, the volatility around auctions and releases, and the discipline required are all real. What is simulated is the capital, which means you can learn the difference between a $31.25 tick and a $15.625 tick without paying live tuition for the lesson.
One honest note on delivery. Physical delivery of Treasury securities against an expiring contract is a live-market process involving a real counterparty and a real clearinghouse, and it does not happen inside a simulated account because no real trade is executed. That is a non-issue for a day trader who is flat before the roll, and it is still worth understanding as a live-ready skill for the day you trade real size.
Rules that interact with Treasury futures
- Tradable product list. Which contracts you may trade is set by your program. Confirm before you plan around a symbol.
- Daily loss limit. Whether it is soft or hard depends on the program. It is the number that decides your maximum contract count.
- Position limits. The Express and Growth programs carry a position limit, and the cap differs by program and by account size. Confirm the current number in your own account terms.
- Session and holding rules. Treasury futures trade nearly around the clock, but your program may not let you hold across the maintenance break or the weekend.
A pre-trade contract check
- Confirm the contract is on your program’s tradable list, and note the position limit.
- Write down the tick value of the specific contract, not the family, and keep it visible.
- Convert your intended stop into ticks and then into dollars before you decide contract count.
- Check that number against your per-trade risk allowance, not against your total account.
- Note which contract month is currently the liquid one, and whether a roll window is approaching.
- Check the day’s scheduled auctions and data releases, because Treasury futures reprice hard around both.
Bond futures vs note futures is not a question with a universally correct answer. It is a question about which tick value your account rules can absorb, and the trader who works that out first tends to still be trading in three months.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between bond futures and note futures?
They track different parts of the U.S. Treasury curve. Bond futures deliver long-dated Treasury bonds and carry much more interest rate duration, so they move further in dollars for the same yield change. Note futures deliver shorter maturities and are correspondingly less sensitive.
What is the tick value of ZB and ZN futures?
The 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond contract has a minimum price fluctuation of one thirty-second of a point, which is $31.25 per contract. The 10-Year T-Note contract trades in half of one thirty-second, which is $15.625 per contract. Both have a $100,000 face amount.
Is ZB or ZN better for a day trader?
Neither is better, they suit different account sizes. ZN’s smaller tick value and tighter typical daily range make it easier to size inside a strict daily loss limit, while ZB gives more dollar movement per contract for traders who want it and can afford the stop it requires.
Why does the bond contract move more than the note contract?
Because of duration. A longer-dated bond’s price is more sensitive to a change in yield than a shorter-dated note’s, so the same move in interest rate expectations produces a larger price change in the bond contract even though both have the same face amount.
Can I trade Treasury futures in a funded futures account?
Treasury futures are standard CME products and are commonly available, but the tradable product list is set by each program. Check which contracts your account permits and what the position limit is before you plan around a specific symbol.
How much can one Treasury futures trade lose in a TradeFundrr account?
Your loss on a single trade is whatever your stop defines in ticks multiplied by the tick value and the contract count, and the session total is bounded by the daily loss limit. Every TradeFundrr program publishes its daily loss limit, drawdown allowance and position rules before you start.
Are there smaller Treasury futures for small accounts?
Yes, CME lists micro-sized Treasury products alongside the full-size contracts. Whether they are available to you depends on your program’s tradable product list, so confirm both the symbol and its specifications before you build a plan around it.
Pick the contract, then check the math
TradeFundrr publishes the daily loss limit, drawdown allowance, profit target, position rules and 80/20 split for every simulated futures program, so you can work out which Treasury contract fits before you place a trade.
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