TLDR: COMEX now offers three useful silver futures sizes: the 5,000-ounce SI contract, the 1,000-ounce SIL contract, and the financially settled 100-ounce SIC contract. A $1.00-per-ounce silver move changes one contract's value by $5,000, $1,000, and $100 respectively. Starting September 11, 2026, SIC is scheduled to become the silver contract with weekend trading. For systematic traders, the smaller contract can make position sizing more precise, but TradingView chart availability does not guarantee that a connected broker can route it. Verify the exact contract, paper trade first, and confirm broker permissions before enabling automation.
Stop Executing Trades By Hand.
UMT Automator turns your TradingView or NinjaTrader strategy into automatic, hands-free execution — no code, no webhooks, no missed signals. Prefer a ready-made edge? Browse UMT's tested Strategies & Indicators built for both platforms.
Free 7-day trial on the Automator · No credit card required
Silver Futures Explained: SI vs SIL vs SIC
“Silver futures” is not one position size. COMEX lists multiple contracts tied to silver, and the difference between them is large enough to change the risk profile of the same strategy.
| Contract | Code | Contract size | Outright minimum price move | Value of one outright tick | Settlement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Futures | SI | 5,000 troy ounces | $0.005 per ounce | $25 | Physical |
| 1,000-Ounce Silver Futures | SIL | 1,000 troy ounces | $0.01 per ounce | $10 | Physical through the contract's delivery mechanism |
| 100-Ounce Silver Futures | SIC | 100 troy ounces | $0.01 per ounce | $1 | Financial |
The tick values above come from current CME and COMEX specifications. Exchange rules can change, and spreads or settlement prices may use different increments, so confirm the current specification for the order you intend to place.
Why Contract Size Matters More Than the Silver Price
Traders often begin with a price forecast and choose a contract afterward. A systematic workflow reverses that order: define the acceptable dollar risk first, then select the contract size that can express it.
For a $1.00-per-ounce move in silver:
- One SI contract changes in value by $5,000.
- One SIL contract changes in value by $1,000.
- One SIC contract changes in value by $100.
That relationship applies in either direction. A favorable move produces a gain before commissions and slippage; an unfavorable move produces a loss.
A Worked Position-Sizing Example
Assume a strategy enters silver with a stop $0.60 per ounce from the entry. Ignoring slippage and fees, the approximate risk for one contract would be:
- SI: $0.60 × 5,000 ounces = $3,000.
- SIL: $0.60 × 1,000 ounces = $600.
- SIC: $0.60 × 100 ounces = $60.
The smaller SIC contract does not make silver less volatile. It reduces the dollar effect of the same price move, which can make scaling, testing, and fixed-dollar risk limits more precise.
What Drives Silver Futures?
Silver sits between the monetary-metals and industrial-metals worlds. Traders may react to interest rates, the U.S. dollar, inflation expectations, safe-haven demand, manufacturing conditions, and physical demand from applications such as electronics and solar equipment.
That mixed identity is one reason silver can move sharply. A macro headline may affect precious metals broadly while an industrial-demand story changes the market's growth expectations. No single driver explains every session, and a popular search trend is not a trade signal by itself.
Is Silver Trading 24/7?
Not every silver futures contract is moving to weekend trading. CME's expansion applies to the 100-Ounce Silver futures contract, SIC.
CME scheduled production weekend trading to begin Friday, September 11, 2026. The first session is scheduled to open at 4:30 p.m. Central Time after an extended maintenance window. Subsequent Friday sessions are scheduled to reopen at 4:02 p.m. CT. CME also states that the contract will have at least a two-hour weekly maintenance period over the weekend.
Holiday and weekend activity from Friday evening through Sunday evening receives the trade date of the following business day. Clearing, settlement, and regulatory reporting are processed on that following business day as well.
This distinction matters for strategy logs, daily limits, brokerage statements, and code that resets counters according to a calendar date. “24/7” does not mean no maintenance, no liquidity changes, or a separate Saturday settlement.
Silver Futures Symbols on TradingView
TradingView currently displays a continuous 100-Ounce Silver chart under COMEX:SIC1! and lists individual contract months such as SICU2026 and SICZ2026.
A continuous symbol is useful for charting and historical analysis, but it is not automatically the symbol that should be sent to a broker. Actual orders must resolve to a tradable contract month supported by the connected broker. A data symbol can appear on TradingView before every broker has enabled routing, permissions, margin rules, or weekend support for it.
Before Trading SIC from a TradingView Chart
- Confirm that the chart is the COMEX 100-Ounce Silver product, not SI, SIL, spot silver, a CFD, or another exchange's contract.
- Identify the specific contract month used for order routing.
- Verify that the TradingView-connected broker accepts orders for that exact symbol.
- Check market-data permissions, margin, commissions, order types, and session support.
- Paper trade entries, exits, reversals, and protective orders before considering live automation.
Liquidity Still Matters
A smaller contract is not automatically the most liquid contract. SI is the long-established benchmark, while SIC is newer. Bid-ask spreads, visible depth, fill quality, and slippage may differ by contract month and time of day.
Weekend access adds another variable. The ability to trade does not guarantee weekday-level liquidity. A strategy that works during active U.S. hours may behave differently when spreads widen or fewer orders are resting in the book.
Forward testing should therefore measure more than whether a signal was correct. Record expected price, actual fill, slippage, time of day, session, and whether protective orders behaved as intended.
Which Silver Futures Contract Fits a Systematic Trader?
There is no universally best contract. The useful question is whether the contract's dollar movement, liquidity, and broker support fit the strategy.
- SI may fit traders who need the benchmark contract and can tolerate its larger dollar movement.
- SIL offers one-fifth of SI's ounce exposure while retaining a physically delivered structure.
- SIC offers the smallest dollar movement, financial settlement, and scheduled weekend access.
If the gap between zero and one SI contract is too large for a risk plan, a smaller contract can make the strategy easier to size. It does not fix a weak strategy, eliminate leverage, or remove the possibility of losses beyond an intended stop.
Automating a Silver Strategy with Ultra Mega Trader
Ultra Mega Trader Automator is designed to turn TradingView strategy activity into orders through the broker connection already open inside TradingView. It runs in the browser without custom webhook infrastructure, third-party API keys, or custom middleware.
For silver futures, the practical workflow is:
- Load the intended silver contract and TradingView strategy.
- Connect the broker inside TradingView and confirm chart trading for the exact contract month.
- Use paper trading or UMT's Live Forward Tester to validate entries, exits, quantities, and session behavior.
- Keep TradingView and UMT open with a stable connection while automating.
- Move to live trading only after verifying that the strategy, symbol mapping, and broker behavior match the risk plan.
UMT support for a market depends on whether TradingView can place an order for that market through the user's connected broker and account permissions. The presence of SIC1! on a chart does not, by itself, prove live routing support.
Want to test your TradingView workflow before committing? Start a free seven-day UMT trial by contacting support@ultramegatrader.com, then follow the UMT getting-started guide. Begin with paper trading.
Silver Futures FAQ
What is the smallest COMEX silver futures contract?
SIC represents 100 troy ounces and is financially settled. Based on the current $0.01-per-ounce minimum price fluctuation, one outright tick is worth $1 per contract.
How much is one tick in SI silver futures?
The current outright minimum price fluctuation is $0.005 per ounce. With a 5,000-ounce contract, that equals $25 per contract. Settlement prices and certain spreads may use different increments.
What is the difference between SIL and SIC?
SIL represents 1,000 ounces and uses a physical delivery mechanism. SIC represents 100 ounces and is financially settled to the benchmark silver futures price. Their current outright tick values are $10 and $1 respectively.
Does all silver trade 24/7?
No. CME's September 11 expansion applies to 100-Ounce Silver futures, code SIC. Maintenance windows remain, and weekend trades use the following business day's trade date.
Can UMT automate SIC on TradingView?
Potentially, if TradingView can route the exact SIC contract through the user's connected broker and the account has the required permissions. Verify the individual contract, broker support, and order behavior in paper trading before enabling live automation.
Sources
- CME Group: Silver Futures Contract Specifications
- CME Group: 1,000-Ounce Silver Futures Specifications
- CME Group: Initial Listing of 100-Ounce Silver Futures
- CME Group: 24/7 Trading Expansion for 100-Ounce Silver
- CME Group: Globex Implementation Notice
- TradingView: 100-Ounce Silver Contract List
Educational content only. Futures are leveraged instruments and involve substantial risk of loss. Contract specifications, trading hours, margin, market data, and broker support can change. Examples exclude commissions, fees, slippage, and taxes. Nothing in this article is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Past or hypothetical results do not guarantee future performance.
