ELITE Tape | MNQ vs MES Futures: Both Micros Land in the Red

MNQ was the most traded instrument in ELITE accounts again this week. Eighteen consecutive weeks at the top. The gap between MNQ and everything else in the volume rankings remains as wide as it has been all year.

ETF is a futures prop firm for traders who want uncapped Live Elite payouts. Four of five sessions closed red for ELITE accounts in the week of June 22-26. Monday was the exception. It was green. Everything after Monday was not. By the time Friday's session closed, the net outcome for the week was decisively negative, with Tuesday's session doing most of the damage.

NQ and MNQ both ended up in the loss column. So did MES, Gold (GC), and Swiss Franc (6S). ES and E-Mini Russell 2000 (RTY) were the notable exceptions. If your book held NASDAQ exposure this week without tight discipline, the tape took a clear toll.

For context on how this week compares to the weeks before it, see the prior ELITE Tape recaps: the June 15-19 rollover week and the week where MNQ vs NQ told the whole story. The volume picture has been consistent. The loss-side composition has not changed much either.

The volume chart this week belongs to MNQ. It has for every week of the year that we have data. No instrument has come close to displacing it, and this week was no different. The margin is not narrow.

Below MNQ in the top 10, NQ ranked second by volume. MES held third position. Gold (GC), Swiss Franc (6S), ES, and Micro Russell 2000 (M2K) all appeared in the top 10. Swiss Franc has been in the top 10 for three straight weeks. Micro Gold (MGC) made the list again as well.

The top 10 is increasingly concentrated in the NASDAQ and S&P families, with Gold (GC) and currency contracts filling out the lower tier. Micro Crude Oil (MCL) appeared again this week, consistent with the prior few weeks.

One detail that has nothing to do with markets, and yet: Switzerland made it to the FIFA World Cup knockout round and plays Algeria on Thursday, July 2nd. Swiss Franc has been in the ELITE account volume top 10 for three consecutive weeks. This week, it also finished in the loss column. We are not in the business of predicting soccer (football to everyone outside the US) results. But Algeria: the tape is on the table.

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Top 10 most traded instruments among ELITE accounts, week of June 22-26, 2026. Relative activity index; top instrument = 100.

NQ was the top loss instrument this week. By a significant margin over second place. Same underlying index as MNQ. Different contract size, different outcome profile. Both ended the week in the red, but NQ's loss was larger in absolute terms.

MNQ ranked second in the loss column. That puts both legs of the NASDAQ trade on the wrong side of the ledger for the week. MES followed in third. The S&P exposure in ELITE accounts took losses across both contract sizes.

Gold (GC) has now appeared in the top loser list for five consecutive weeks. Swiss Franc (6S) joined it again this week, the third week in recent memory it has landed in the loss column. Micro Dow (MYM), Micro Russell 2000 (M2K), E-Mini Dow (YM), and Micro Crude Oil (MCL) all appeared in the bottom 10 as well.

Top 10 loss instruments among ELITE accounts, week of June 22-26, 2026. Relative loss index; largest loss = 100.

Monday was green. That is the short version. It was the only session of the week that closed on the profitable side for ELITE accounts. One day out of five.

Tuesday was the turning point, and it was not a close call. The single-day loss from Tuesday's session was the largest of the week, and it hit before volume had even reached its weekly peak. Wednesday brought the heaviest trading activity of the week, and it still closed red. Thursday and Friday both stayed in the loss column, each contributing to the week's cumulative outcome.

The four-day skid after Monday was sustained. There was no partial recovery mid-week. Volume went up on Wednesday; the P/L direction did not change with it.

Daily net P/L direction for ELITE accounts, week of June 22-26, 2026. Relative magnitude index; green = net positive session, red = net negative.

Wednesday was the busiest day. It did not produce the best result. That is the pattern this week: activity built as the week deepened into losses, not as a signal of opportunity or recovery.

Monday had the second-lowest volume of the week and was the only profitable session. Friday had the lightest volume and was the last of four straight losing sessions. The relationship between volume and P/L this week was not clean. More activity did not mean better outcomes.

For anyone using volume as a read on conviction or directionality this week, the tape sent a noisy signal. The surge on Wednesday came after Tuesday's damage and before Thursday's continued losses. It did not mark a pivot.

Daily trade volume for ELITE accounts, week of June 22-26, 2026. Relative volume index; highest day = 100, shown in chronological order.

The profitable side of the ledger this week was a short list. ES led it. The full-contract S&P 500 finished on the green side while its micro version, MES, closed in the red. Same index, opposite outcomes depending on contract size and the accounts holding them.

RTY, or Rusty as traders call it, was the second most profitable instrument. Micro Bitcoin (MBT), Crude Oil (CL), Micro Silver (SIL), and Copper (HG) also appeared on the profitable side. Micro Silver (SIL) has now finished in the top profit list for three consecutive weeks.

And then there is the British Pound (6B). It finished in the green this week. England plays Congo DR on Wednesday, July 1st. Switzerland plays Algeria the day after. England's pound closed the week positive. Switzerland's franc closed the week in the red. Wednesday and Thursday will either confirm or completely embarrass this observation. We are watching.

If you found this post through something completely unrelated to prop trading: welcome. ELITE Tape is a weekly breakdown of what Elite sim-funded futures traders at Elite Trader Funding actually traded, and how it went. Real position history data, every week. No forecasts. Just the tape.

Outside of those instruments, the week had very little positive P/L to show. ES and RTY were the two that mattered. For ELITE traders who have been watching the profitable side of prior weeks, this week's list was thinner than most.

If you want to see a week where the profitable list looked different, the NQ Bleeds, MES Wins recap is worth reviewing. This week's profitable side was narrower and concentrated in full-size contracts rather than micros.

Top profitable instruments among ELITE accounts, week of June 22-26, 2026. Relative profit index; top instrument = 100.

Streaks and frequency data we're watching:

• MNQ: 18 consecutive weeks as the top traded instrument among ELITE accounts. No week in the data set has produced a different result at the top of the volume chart.
• NQ: 18 consecutive weeks as the top loss instrument. The magnitude varies week to week. The position in the table does not.
• Gold: 5 consecutive weeks in the top loser list. It has remained at the lower end of the loss column throughout that run.
• MES: 4 consecutive weeks in the top loser list. The fourth straight week is the longest streak it has held on the loss side in this data set.
• Micro Silver: 3 consecutive weeks in the top profit list. The only instrument with a multi-week green streak at this point.

ELITE accounts are sim-funded. The trading activity in these recaps reflects position P/L in sim accounts, not Live Elite payouts. Traders who pass their evaluation move into ELITE Sim Funded accounts, and those who do well may progress toLive Elite, where payouts use real capital and there is no cap.

For a full explanation of how payouts work at each stage, seeHow Prop Firm Payouts Work: Sim vs Live vs Guaranteed. For daily payout structure specifics, seeDaily Payout Prop Firms: How Live Elite Pays You.

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