Contract months, rollover and news days

Futures contracts don't last forever. Each one has an expiration date, and traders move to the next contract before it arrives. If you don't know this, you might one day open a chart that looks dead, with almost no volume.

This lesson covers contract months, rollover, and the scheduled news days that change how the market behaves.

Contract months and codes

NQ and MNQ are listed on a quarterly cycle: March, June, September and December. Each month has a one-letter code:

• H = March
• M = June
• U = September
• Z = December

Add the year and you get the full symbol. MNQZ6 is the December 2026 Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100. Platforms format these a little differently, but the letters mean the same thing everywhere.

Expiration and rollover

Equity index futures usually expire on the third Friday of the contract month. CME publishes the exact dates. For December 2026, expiration is December 18.

Traders don't wait for that day. CME states that the equity roll date is the Monday prior to the third Friday of the expiration month. For December 2026, that's Monday, December 14. Around that date, most traders close the old contract and trade the next one.

The contract with the most activity is called the front month. Before the roll, it's the expiring contract. After the roll, volume shifts to the next quarter, and that becomes the front month. If your chart is set to a specific month, switch it. If you use a continuous chart, check how your platform handles the switch.

As a day trader, you're flat every night, so you don't carry positions through the roll. You just need to be trading the right contract.

Scheduled news days

Some economic reports move the whole market. Three big ones for index futures are:

• CPI, the monthly inflation report. The BLS posts the release schedule, with reports at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• The jobs report (Employment Situation), also from the BLS at 8:30 a.m. ET, usually on a Friday early in the month.
• FOMC decisions, from the Federal Reserve's eight scheduled meetings each year.

Right before and after these releases, liquidity can thin out. Fewer orders sit at each price. So the spread between bid and ask can widen, and market or stop orders can fill several ticks away from where you expected. That gap is called slippage. A 20-point stop can cost more than 20 points when price jumps past it.

What traders do on news days

Traders handle news in different ways. Many simply stand aside for a few minutes around a big release. Some don't trade those days at all. Others trade the move on purpose and accept the extra slippage.

I'm not telling you which to do. What matters is that you decide before the day starts, and write it into your rules. Then check your record later to see how those days actually went.

The takeaway

NQ and MNQ trade in quarterly months coded H, M, U and Z. Traders roll on the Monday before the third Friday, when volume shifts to the next contract. On big news days, expect wider spreads and more slippage, and decide your plan ahead of time.

Do this today

• Find the current front-month MNQ symbol on your platform and the next roll date on CME's roll dates page.
• Put this month's CPI, jobs report and FOMC dates in your calendar.
• Write one rule for what you will do on scheduled news days, and add it to your trading plan.

Check yourself

Answer each one in your head, then open it to check.