IB's bundled commissions for the mini Nikkei are 150 yen per side, and the tick size is 500 yen per tick. The unbunled commissions are much worse... 475 yen for a round trip (assuming low volume). IB's bundled commissions for the SGX Nikkei are 300 yen per side, and the tick size is 2500 yen per tick. So proportionally, your statement is true (if you have to trade through IB, which I do). The mini's round trip commission is 60% of one tick, and the SGX contract's round trip commission is only 24% of one tick. If you are a big dog and want to get an even better commission to tick ratio, take a look at the full size contract on the Osaka exchange. However, if you're just starting out, and you want to get your feet wet without putting a lot of capital at risk, the mini Nikkei is a great option. If your methods and discipline allow you to be successul, you should be able to overcome the higher commission to tick percentage burden as you build confidence in your methods. If your methods and/or discipline will not allow you to be successul, then you can lose a lot less money while you're figuring that out. Then, once you're ready to put more capital at risk, you can easily step up to the SGX contract, and maybe eventually up to the full size contract to get even better commission to tick ratios. So while your statement is true, I still think the mini contract is better for the newbies and undercapitalized.