How to Trade Silver Futures for Beginners

What is a futures contract?

A futures contract requires the holder of the contact to buy or sell the asset on a specific date in the future.

Futures contracts have different expiry dates, sometimes stretching far out into the future. At the time of writing this article in June 2025, silver futures on Globex stretch several years into the future, from June 2025 to December 2029.

The front-month futures contract is the contract with the closest expiry date. It usually falls in the current month, or the following, and is the typically is the most heavily traded.

Silver futures contract specs

With AvaTrade, you can trade CFDs on the spot (current) price of silver, as well as CFDs on silver's front-month futures contract. We'll focus on the latter. At the time of writing this article in June, silver's front-month futures contract (SI_JUL25) expired in July.

Here are two important numbers to help you set and manage your position:

• Required margin per lot: Current price × lot × margin % = 36.420 $ × 5 000 × 0.02 ≈ $3 640.
• Tick value: A $0.01 move in the price of silver equals $50 per full lot (5 000 oz × $0.01).

When it comes to trading fees, you'll pay the spread when you open and close your position. And if you keep your position open past 10:00 PM GMT, you'll either pay or receive swap fees. Check the 'Instrument Details' pane on AvaTrade for specifics (as illustrated above).

Step-by-step silver futures trading guide

1. Create your account

First, visit AvaTrade.com to create a free trading account to follow this tutorial step-by-step.

If you are keen to trade with real money, you'll need to verify your account. Have a proof of identity (e.g., a passport, identity card or driver's license) and proof of address at hand.

Alternatively, trade through AvaTrade's demo account with $100,000 in virtual funds. Its demo account mirrors real-time market prices and trading conditions.

2. Find the silver futures contract

Now login to MetaTrader or AvaTrade.com's web trading platform to follow this tutorial:

• In the left panel, click 'Commodities' > 'Metals' and find the front-month silver futures contract in the list of symbols. At the time of writing in June 2025, silver's front-month contract was SI_JUL25. Add the symbol to your favourites for easy access.
• Click the i-icon to open the details pane, and reconfirm lot size, margin and trading hours.
• Switch the chart to the 1-minute or 5-minute interval while you learn, as silver can move fast.
• Enable one-click trading. In MT4/5, go to 'Tools' > 'Options' and click on the 'Trade' tab.

3. Choose your trade size

First, you'll need to decide how much money you're willing to risk, as a dollar amount. Let's assume you'll risk $100 on this trade.

Next pick a stop-loss level. With silver trading around $36.40, you plan on setting a stop-loss at $36.00. This $0.40 cushion amounts to 40 ticks, as each tick equals $0.01.

This implies that you're willing to risk at most $2.50 per tick, calculated as $100 / 40 ticks.

As silver's tick value is a full $50 per lot (see contract specs), your trade shouldn't exceed 0.05 lots, calculated as $2.50 / $50, to stay within your maximum loss target.

4. Check your margin

Now, let's check that you have enough funds to open and hold a 0.05 lot position.

$182 is the minimum equity you must maintain. In practice, most traders keep at least 2-3x that amount free to avoid a margin call from overnight swaps and normal price movements.

Your risk only amounts to the $100 you set via the stop-loss. Margin isn't what you stand to lose; it's merely "good-faith money" so your broker knows you can cover day-to-day swings.

5. Place your order

Setup your trade as follows:

1. Click 'BUY' in the 'Order Entry' tab.
2. Set the lot size to 0.05 lots.
3. Set your stop-loss to $36.
4. Optionally: set a take-profit level.

Then click the 'Buy' button to submit and execute this market order. Congratulations, you've made your first silver futures trade!

Differences between COMEX and CFD futures

If you're familiar with trading futures, you may be aware that the COMEX silver futures contract (SI) is physically-deliverable⁽¹⁾. However, most traders either exit or roll their position before the first-notice day, and metal rarely changes hands in practice.

Importantly, CFDs on silver futures always settle for cash. In other words, you'll never be assigned or have to worry about delivering 5,000 oz of physical silver to your broker. However, you'll either pay or earn swap fees for holding your position overnight.

Conclusion

Trading CFDs on silver futures through AvaTrade.com is relatively straightforward once you understand contract specs, margin math and platform navigation. Keep risk small, respect expiry dates and build your skills. Practice this example on a demo account until you can calculate tick value and margin by youself.

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