Contract months are identified by a month code abbreviation which identifies the month in which a futures contract expires. Also called the delivery month.
As an example Silver Futures trade five contracts per year (Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Dec). Using the month codes, the symbol for March is "H" ("K" for May, "N" or July, "U" for September, and "Z" for December). To define the specific symbol, combine the commodity symbol (SI) with the month code (H) for "SIH".
To refer to a specific year for the March Silver contract, simply add the year. SIH11 then referes to the March, 2011 contract.
| Month | Abbr | Abbr |
|---|---|---|
| January | F | D |
| February | G | E |
| March | H | I |
| April | J | L |
| May | K | O |
| June | M | P |
| July | N | T |
| August | Q | R |
| September | U | B |
| October | V | C |
| November | X | W |
| December | Z | Y |
The first column is the symbol for the first year while the second column is the symbol for the second year.
SEASONAL TENDENCIES ARE A COMPOSITE OF SOME OF THE MOST CONSISTENT COMMODITY FUTURES SEASONALS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS.THERE ARE USUALLY UNDERLYING, FUNDAMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT OCCUR ANNUALLY THAT TEND TO CAUSE THE FUTURES MARKETS TO REACT IN SIMILAR DIRECTIONAL MANNER DURING A CERTAIN CALENDAR YEAR.EVEN IF A SEASONAL TENDENCY OCCURS IN THE FUTURE, IT MAY NOT RESULT IN A PROFITABLE TRANSACTION AS FEES AND THE TIMING OF THE ENTRY AND LIQUIDATION MAY IMPACT ON THE RESULTS.NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT HAS IN THE PAST, OR WILL IN THE FUTURE, ACHIEVE PROFITS USING THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT PRICE PATTERNS WILL RECUR IN THE FUTURE.
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