Futures started as agreements between producers and buyers. A wheat farmer in May would agree to sell his crop in September at a fixed price. The contract expired when the wheat changed hands.

Modern futures inherit that structure. Every contract has a defined delivery month. After that month, the contract no longer exists.

You will never take physical delivery on an Upcomers account (these are simulated, sim-funded accounts, so no one ships you 1,000 barrels of oil). But the contract structure still holds. Each contract month is a separate, finite product.

This is the single biggest difference between futures and most other instruments. Stocks do not expire. Forex pairs do not expire. CFDs do not expire. Futures do.

Every futures contract has a code that includes a month and a year.

A futures symbol typically looks like this: ESH26. The "ES" is the product (E-mini S&P 500). The "H" is the month code. The "26" is the year (2026).

CME Group uses the same month codes across every product:

So ESH26 is the March 2026 E-mini S&P. ESM26 is the June 2026 E-mini S&P. Same product, different expiration.

The year may appear as a single digit (ESH6) or two digits (ESH26) depending on the display, but the product root and month code are always shown so you can identify the exact contract.

Equity index futures (ES, NQ, YM, RTY, plus their micros MES, MNQ, MYM, M2K) and the Euro FX (6E) trade primarily on a quarterly cycle. Four contracts active per year.

These are the only four months with actively traded index contracts. There is no April or May ES. If you want to trade the S&P in April, you trade the June contract.

This is why equity index positions only roll four times per year. Predictable, easy to plan around.

On DXtrade the instrument list carries many dated contracts under each root symbol. Search "ES" and you can see several contracts at once (for example ESH26, ESM26, ESU26, and more). They are all real, all tradable, but they do not all have the same liquidity.

At any given time there is one front month contract, the one carrying the most volume and the tightest spreads. This is the contract you should normally trade.

The front month rotates as expiration approaches. About a week before the current contract expires, volume shifts to the next quarterly contract. That is when the platform rolls you.

For ES in 2026, the front month rotates like this:

Trading anything other than the front month usually means thinner liquidity, wider spreads, and worse fills. When in doubt, sort by volume: the contract with the highest volume on the day is the front month.

Index futures (ES, MES, NQ, RTY, YM) are cash settled and stop trading on the third Friday of the contract month (March, June, September, December). You do not want to be in the front contract that late.

In practice, liquidity migrates to the next contract about a week before expiration, centered on "roll Thursday" (the second Thursday of the expiration month). CME's official equity-index roll date is the Monday before the third Friday, but volume usually moves first. The practical rollover window for 2026:

If you are holding a position when this window arrives, the platform rolls it for you, closing the expiring contract and opening the same position on the new contract.

Two dates decide how late you can safely hold a contract. Which one matters depends on how the contract settles.

Last Trade Day (LTD): the final day the contract can be traded. For the equity indexes (ES, MES, NQ, RTY, YM) this is the third Friday of the contract month, and the position simply cash settles to the final settlement value. No delivery, nothing to chase.

First Notice Day (FND): for physically settled commodities that deliver against warehouse or vault stocks (gold, copper, the grains), this is the first day the holder of a long position can be assigned a delivery notice. The important trap: on these contracts First Notice Day comes before the Last Trade Day. Delivery risk can begin while the contract is still trading, so you roll ahead of FND, not just ahead of LTD.

Crude oil and natural gas work differently. They do not have that early first-notice trap, but trading simply terminates several days before the delivery month (governed by the Last Trade Day), so you still roll early. Either way, the safe rule below covers both cases.

Rule of thumb: for index futures, roll before the third Friday. For commodities, roll a few days before First Notice Day or Last Trade Day, whichever comes first. Exact dates per contract month are published on the CME calendar.

You do not have to roll manually. On Upcomers Futures the platform rolls your position for you. As the front month approaches expiration, it automatically moves your open position to the next contract month, keeping the same size and direction.

Say you are long 2 contracts of ESH26 when the rollover window arrives. The platform closes your 2 ESH26 contracts and opens 2 ESM26 contracts, same size, same direction. Your exposure carries forward untouched.

Note: the two contracts trade at slightly different prices. The June contract sits at a small premium or discount to the March contract because of carrying costs and dividend expectations. This price gap is normal and is not a profit or loss to you. You are just transferring your exposure forward.

Not every Upcomers instrument trades on the quarterly cycle. Different products, different rules.

Crude oil (CL) and Micro WTI (MCL). Monthly contracts. Full-size crude (CL) is physically settled (delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma); the micro (MCL) is financially cash-settled, not deliverable. Both stop trading in the month before delivery, so active traders roll early in the month. Do not hold the front crude contract into its final settlement.

Natural gas (NG). Monthly contracts, physically settled. Trading terminates a few business days before the delivery month begins, so roll early, before the contract stops trading.

Gold (GC) and Micro Gold (MGC). The most liquid gold months run on the even-month cycle (February, April, June, August, October, December). Physically settled, so roll near the end of the prior month, ahead of First Notice Day.

Copper (HG). Lists multiple contract months. Trade the front month by volume and roll before it expires. Physically settled.

Euro FX (6E). Quarterly cycle (March, June, September, December). Technically a deliverable currency contract, but you close or roll well before it expires, the same as the index futures.

If you trade outside the equity index world, check the schedule for your specific contract. CME publishes the master calendar on its website.

Because the platform rolls your open positions automatically, you normally never hold one into expiration. Still, it helps to know what settlement would look like, because it depends on the contract type.

Cash-settled contracts (ES, MES, NQ, RTY, YM, and the micro crude MCL): the position automatically closes at the final settlement price. You receive the cash difference. No physical delivery, nothing further to do.

Physically settled contracts (CL, NG, GC, MGC, HG) and the deliverable Euro FX (6E): on a live account these could obligate delivery. Because Upcomers accounts are simulated, you will never actually be handed a commodity. The platform automatically rolls or closes deliverable contracts before delivery becomes possible, so you are never left holding one into settlement. Even so, do not rely on that as your exit plan.

Either way, letting a contract settle takes the exit out of your hands. The contract settles at whatever price the exchange determines, not the price you wanted. This is exactly why the platform rolls your open positions automatically before expiration.

A few things to keep in mind.

1. A rollover is executed as two trades. When the platform rolls you, it closes the old contract and opens the new one on your behalf. Both may count toward your trading activity and any per-trade costs, so be aware the roll generates fills even though you did not place them.

2. Do not get stuck in the back month. Because DXtrade lists many dated contracts per root, it is easy to place a trade on the wrong one by accident. Double-check the front month before you enter. When in doubt, look at volume: the contract with the highest volume that day is the front month.

3. Commodity contracts roll before settlement. For crude (CL, MCL), natural gas (NG), gold (GC, MGC), and copper (HG), the platform rolls or closes the position before the earlier of First Notice Day and the Last Trade Day. For gold and copper the binding date is First Notice Day, for crude and natural gas it is the Last Trade Day. Full-size crude and the metals are physically deliverable; the micro crude (MCL) cash-settles instead. Either way, and even though your account is simulated, letting the position settle takes the exit out of your hands.

Curious which markets you can trade? Read Allowed instruments and exchanges.

Need a refresher on contract sizes? Read Mini vs micro contracts.

Ready to put it together with real math? See How to calculate P&L on futures.