A futures position is not open-ended like a share of stock. Each contract has a month, a last trading day, and — if it is deliverable — a window in which delivery can be made or taken. Most volume sits in the front month, the nearest listing with the most activity. As that month approaches expiration, many traders roll: they close the expiring contract and open the next one they intend to hold.
The dates and rules are not the same for every product. Facts below about last trading days for selected contracts are from CME Group’s official contract specification pages, reviewed November 10, 2026. Calendars, holidays, and rules can change. Confirm the symbol, last-trade date, and any first-notice date on the exchange calendar and on your platform before you hold a position into the final days.
Front month, next month, and why volume migrates
Exchanges list a strip of months. Liquidity usually concentrates in one or two of them. As last trade nears, volume and open interest often migrate to the following month. The two prices are usually close, but they are not identical. The difference — the spread — can reflect interest rates, storage, dividends, or simply supply and demand in the two contracts. A roll is a real transaction in both months, with commissions, fees, and possible slippage on each side.
There is no single “correct” day to roll. Many traders watch volume and open interest and move when the next month has become the more liquid listing. Waiting until last trade, or until a delivery notice can be issued, is how a routine roll becomes urgent.
Cash-settled versus deliverable
Cash-settled contracts — including the E-mini and Micro E-mini S&P 500 (ES and MES), 1-Ounce Gold (1OZ), and Micro WTI Crude Oil (MCL) — do not deliver the underlying. If you hold through termination of trading, the position is closed at the final settlement price the exchange specifies. You do not receive stocks, gold, or barrels. You do take that settlement price, which can differ from the last traded futures price.
Deliverable contracts — including full-size and Micro Gold (GC, MGC), full-size and Micro Silver (SI, SIL), and WTI Crude Oil (CL) — can go to physical delivery if they remain open through the delivery process. Delivery mechanics are product-specific (metals assays and COMEX procedures; CL delivery in Cushing, Oklahoma, under NYMEX rules). Most retail accounts are not set up to make or take delivery of crude oil or warehouse metal. For those accounts, the practical rule is simple: do not leave a deliverable position open into the notice and delivery window. Close it or roll it in time. Your clearing firm may set its own earlier deadline for deliverable positions and may liquidate positions that are not closed or rolled in time.
Last trading day is a rule, not a vibe
“Last trading day” (sometimes called last trade date, or LTD) is the last day — and, for some contracts, a specific clock time — when the expiring month can still be traded. After that, remaining open positions are settled or go to delivery under the rulebook.
Official last-trade rules, reviewed November 10, 2026, include:
- ES and MES: Trading ends at 9:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. CT) on the third Friday of the contract month, with final settlement based on a special opening quotation of the S&P 500 that day (or as CME rules provide if that day is not a scheduled publication day). See S&P 500 E-mini Futures (ES): A Practical Guide.
- Gold (GC): Trading terminates at 12:30 p.m. CT on the third last business day of the contract month.
- Micro Gold (MGC) and Micro Silver (SIL): Trading terminates on the third last business day of the contract month. The official specification pages state the day; they do not list a clock time the way GC and SI do. Check the current listing.
- Silver (SI): Trading terminates at 12:25 p.m. CT on the third last business day of the contract month.
- 1-Ounce Gold (1OZ): Trading terminates on the third last business day of the month prior to the contract month. A December 1OZ is finished in November — earlier than the corresponding GC or MGC month.
- WTI Crude Oil (CL): Trading terminates 3 business days before the 25th calendar day of the month prior to the contract month. If the 25th is not a business day, trading terminates 4 business days before the 25th. That means a December CL stops trading in November.
- Micro WTI (MCL): Trading terminates one business day before the corresponding CL contract, which the official specification also states as 4 business days before the 25th of the month prior (or 5 business days before the 25th if the 25th is not a business day). MCL is cash-settled based on the daily settlement price of the corresponding CL contract on MCL’s last trading day.
Holiday schedules can shift a “business day.” Do not count back from the 25th on a paper calendar and assume you have the official date. Use the exchange calendar.
First notice day
First notice day (FND) is the first day a short can issue a notice of intent to deliver on a deliverable contract, under the exchange’s rules. The exact date is published on the exchange calendar and is not the same for every product. It can arrive before last trade.
If you are long a deliverable contract and you are assigned a delivery notice, you are in the delivery process. If you are short and you issue or are required to make delivery, the same is true on the other side. Either situation is a problem if you never intended to participate in delivery.
Cash-settled contracts do not have a metals- or oil-style delivery notice in the same way. They still have a last trade and a final settlement. Do not ignore those dates just because there is no warehouse or pipeline involved.
For a shorter introduction written earlier on this site, see Understanding First Notice Day (FN) and Last Trading Day (LT). Use the official calendar for the dates that apply to a contract you actually hold.
What a roll looks like in practice
A roll is two orders: one to close the month you are leaving, and one to open the month you are entering, in the same direction and — if you want the same exposure — in a size that matches. Traders sometimes use a calendar spread to transact both legs together. Platforms may also offer an auto-roll setting. Auto-roll is a convenience, not a guarantee that the new month, the fill, or the timing will match what you would have chosen by hand. Read the setting, or turn it off and roll yourself.
Hypothetical example (for illustration only — not a recommendation of timing or size): Suppose you are long one front-month Micro Gold contract and you do not want delivery. As volume shifts to the next listed even-month contract (February, April, June, August, October or December), you sell the front month and buy the next month, one contract each. You remain long one MGC, but the symbol month has changed. The two prices will usually differ by a small spread, so the combined result is not exactly zero even before costs. This is a teaching sketch of the structure of a roll, not a playbook.
Check the month on the platform
The most common operational error is also the simplest: holding a position you thought was “the gold contract” or “the crude contract” without confirming the month, the last-trade date, and whether that listing is deliverable. 1OZ and MCL leave the board earlier than the related full-size contracts. ES and MES use a quarterly cycle and a third-Friday close that does not match metals or energy.
Before you hold anything near expiration, confirm the exact symbol and month on the ticket and in the position window; last trading day and, for deliverable contracts, first notice day, from the exchange and the platform — not from memory; whether auto-roll is on, and what it will do; and that a roll, if you need one, is done while the next month still has usable liquidity.
How to practice the calendar
A simulated account is a reasonable place to open a front-month contract, watch the last-trade date on the quote board, and practice a roll into the next month — without the delivery risk of a live deliverable position.
ProFuturesTrader offers a 28-day no-cost demo in a simulated environment: profuturestrader.com/demo. Featured platforms are listed at profuturestrader.com/platforms. Features and fees can change. Demo accounts use simulated funds. Demo results do not reflect real trading and are not indicative of future results.