Silver (SI) — Futures Prop Firm Guide

Silver futures (SI) on COMEX offer prop traders exposure to one of the most actively traded precious metals markets, providing excellent liquidity and volatility for day trading opportunities. With a moderate contract size and $25 tick value, SI futures strike an ideal balance between profit potential and risk management, making them particularly attractive for funded account traders.

Contract Specifications

Each minimum price move in SI is worth $25.00 per contract. This directly affects how quickly you can approach your drawdown limit.

The Silver futures contract (SI) traded on COMEX represents 5,000 troy ounces of silver, making it the benchmark contract for silver trading globally. With each tick worth $25 and a tick size of $0.005 per troy ounce, traders can easily calculate their profit and loss potential. For example, a 10-tick move represents $250 in profit or loss per contract, while a 40-tick move equals $1,000.

Silver typically experiences daily ranges of 80-150 ticks during normal market conditions, though this can expand significantly during periods of high volatility or economic uncertainty. Major economic announcements, Federal Reserve decisions, and global risk-on/risk-off sentiment can drive silver through 200+ tick ranges, creating substantial intraday opportunities for skilled traders.

The most active trading sessions for silver occur during the London morning (8:00-11:00 AM ET) and New York morning (9:00 AM-12:00 PM ET) when both European and American markets overlap. The London PM fix at 12:00 PM ET often creates additional volatility spikes. Electronic trading runs nearly 24 hours, but liquidity tends to thin during Asian hours except during major news events.

For prop firm traders, position sizing with SI requires careful consideration of the contract's volatility. A single contract can move $2,000-$3,000 during volatile sessions, so traders with smaller funded accounts ($50K-$100K) should typically limit themselves to 1-2 contracts maximum. Larger accounts ($200K+) can scale up accordingly, but should still respect the 2-3% daily loss limits common in prop firm rules.

SI futures are best suited for intermediate to advanced traders who understand precious metals fundamentals and can handle moderate to high volatility. The contract rewards traders with strong technical analysis skills, as silver often respects key support and resistance levels. Scalpers appreciate the consistent tick value and good liquidity, while swing traders can capitalize on silver's tendency to trend during risk-off periods. New traders should practice extensively on simulators before trading SI with funded accounts, as the combination of volatility and leverage can quickly lead to significant losses without proper risk management.

Trade SI at These Prop Firms