A futures ticker such as ESZ26 or CLF7 looks like noise until you know the pattern. It always has the same three parts: the product, a month letter and a year. Once you can read one, you can read all of them, and you will notice when a platform shows the wrong contract month. This guide gives the full set of month codes, shows how the symbols of the contracts on this site are built and explains the notation traders see on charts.
The three parts of a futures symbol
- Product root – one to three letters (sometimes with a digit) that name the product: ES for the E-mini S&P 500, CL for WTI crude oil, GC for gold, 6E for the euro.
- Month code – one letter for the delivery or expiration month of that contract.
- Year – one, two or four digits, depending on where you look. CME Globex mostly uses one digit (ESZ6) but two for some newer listings; ICE uses two (Z26). Platforms differ: Tradovate shows ESZ6, thinkorswim /ESZ26, TradingView ESZ2026 and NinjaTrader ES 12-26.
So ESZ26 is the E-mini S&P 500 for the December 2026 contract month. The letter belongs to the contract month, not to the day you trade it: a contract with a December code can be traded for months before it expires.
The twelve month codes
The letters are a convention that goes back decades and is the same at CME, ICE and on common data platforms. They are not the first letters of the month names, so learn them as a table:
| Code | Month | Code | Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| F | January | N | July |
| G | February | Q | August |
| H | March | U | September |
| J | April | V | October |
| K | May | X | November |
| M | June | Z | December |
A common way to remember the quarterly cycle: H M U Z are March, June, September and December – the main contract months of stock index, currency and Treasury futures.
Which months exist for which market
Not every contract is listed in every month. The cycle depends on the market, and the table shows a few popular ones. The “Active month” column is the contract the site currently treats as the main trading month, which can already be the next contract after the roll.
| Market | Active month | Months listed |
|---|---|---|
| ES E-mini S&P 500 | ESZ26 | Quarterly: March (H), June (M), September (U), December (Z) |
| ZN 10-Year T-Note | ZNZ26 | Quarterly: March (H), June (M), September (U), December (Z) |
| 6E Euro FX | 6EZ26 | Quarterly: March (H), June (M), September (U), December (Z), plus 16 serial months since May 11, 2026 (previously 3); trading concentrates in the quarterly months |
| CL Crude Oil (WTI) | CLZ26 | Monthly, all 12 months |
| GC Gold | GCZ26 | Monthly; most active: February, April, June, August, October, December (G, J, M, Q, V, Z) |
| ZC Corn | ZCZ26 | March, May, July, September, December (H, K, N, U, Z) |
| ZS Soybeans | ZSF27 | January, March, May, July, August, September, November (F, H, K, N, Q, U, X) |
| NG Natural Gas (Henry Hub) | NGZ26 | Monthly, all 12 months |
Calculated from the contract rules on this site. The exchange can list additional months; the contract pages show the rules per market.
Two patterns are worth knowing. Equity index and Treasury futures trade in the quarterly months; some currency futures, Euro FX among them, list serial months as well, but most trading stays in the quarterly ones. Crude oil and natural gas have a contract for every month, which means a new expiry roughly every four weeks. Grains have a cycle of their own, and gold lists many months but trades mainly in a two-monthly cycle. This is also why roll dates are different in every market.
Reading the year digit
A single digit repeats every ten years: ESZ6 could mean December 2026 or, in principle, December 2036. Platforms usually resolve it to the nearest contract that exists, so ESZ6 is December 2026 today, but some markets list contracts ten years out, so even then the digit can be ambiguous. The two- or four-digit forms remove the doubt. If you type a symbol by hand and see a contract that expired years ago or trades far in the future, check the year digit first.
What you will see on charts and in platforms
- Specific contract. ESZ26, ESZ6 or /ESZ26 – depending on the platform, a prefix such as a slash or an exchange suffix can be added. It is the same contract. The chart ends when the contract expires.
- Continuous contract. A chart that must run for years cannot be built from one contract. Platforms stitch the contracts together. On TradingView, for example, ES1! is the front month and ES2! the second month. These notations are platform conventions, not exchange symbols, and you cannot trade them directly: you trade a specific month.
- Front month. The nearest contract that has not expired. For many markets the next contract has more volume than the front one in the last days before expiry; see open interest and volume.
Continuous charts hide one thing: when the platform switches from one contract to the next, the price can jump by the difference between the two months. How the stitched chart treats that gap differs by platform (some adjust the old prices, some leave the gap in). Do not read a gap on a continuous chart as a market move before you know which method the chart uses. The price difference between two months is the subject of contango and backwardation.
Practical checks
- Before you place an order, read the month code on the order ticket. Platforms sometimes default to the front month, which may be days from expiry.
- Check the month against the calendar: if the contract expires in a week and you want to hold longer, you need the next one.
- When you compare prices across sources, make sure they refer to the same month. A quote for December next to a chart of the March contract looks like a price difference but is a different contract.
This guide is general information on symbols and conventions, which can differ between platforms. Futures trading carries a high risk of loss.
Educational content only – not investment advice. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss.