Intercommodity spread
An intercommodity spread is a position that is long one futures product and short a different but related product, such as NQ against ES, crude oil against gasoline, or two points on the Treasury curve. Its result depends on the relative move of the two products, which is why the legs are usually sized by notional value or by an agreed ratio rather than one contract each.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
Definition
Unlike a calendar spread, which uses two months of the same product, an intercommodity spread combines two products whose prices are economically linked: two equity indices, a raw material and its refined products, or two maturities of government debt. Exchanges list some of these combinations as instruments with fixed ratios; traders also build them from two outright orders.
Sizing the legs
One contract of each leg rarely makes a balanced spread, because multipliers and prices differ. A common starting point is to equalise notional value.
Hypothetical example: ES at 5,000.00 with a $50 multiplier has a notional value of 5,000 × 50 = $250,000. NQ at 18,000.00 with a $20 multiplier has 18,000 × 20 = $360,000. Balancing one NQ therefore takes 360,000 / 250,000 = 1.44 ES, which in practice means ratios such as 5 NQ against 7 ES, or using micro contracts to get closer.
- Notional ratio balances dollar exposure at today's prices.
- A volatility-weighted ratio balances expected moves instead.
- Exchange-listed spreads fix the ratio, which may differ from either.
Reading order flow on two legs
Each leg has its own book and its own tape; there is no footprint of the spread unless the exchange lists it as an instrument. What an order flow trader compares is the behaviour of each leg at the same moment: which one leads a move, which one shows absorption at a level while the other trades through. Those comparisons are only meaningful at matching timestamps and with the notional difference in mind, since a 1,000-lot print on MNQ and on ES are very different sizes.
In Senzoukria
There is no spread chart. The chart workspace can split the page into up to four panes, each with its own source, symbol and timeframe, and panes in the same group can share the crosshair, so the two legs can be read side by side on the same time axis.
Common mistakes
- Trading one contract against one contract and calling it a spread.
- Keeping the same ratio after prices have moved far from where it was computed.
- Comparing raw volume between legs whose contract sizes differ.
Related
In the same section
- Intrabar ambiguity
- Insurance fund
- Intrabar delta
- Initiative activity
- Intrinsic value
- Initial margin
- Introducing broker
- Initial balance
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Frequently asked questions
- Is NQ minus ES a listed product?
- The relationship is widely traded, but most traders build it from the two outright contracts. Whether a listed intercommodity spread exists for a pair, and at what ratio, is stated in the exchange's spread listings.
- Why use micro contracts in a spread?
- Because their smaller multipliers allow ratios closer to the notional balance you want. MES has a $5 multiplier and MNQ $2, a tenth of ES and NQ, so ratios can be set in finer steps.