Futures contract expiration
As your futures positions get close to expiration, make sure you know the settlement type and keep an eye out for the last day to trade (LDTT). You may be required to take action on your position.
For more details on closing out your positions, check out Closing a futures position.
All products will either be cash settled, or physically settled.
If you hold a cash settled position through expiration, your account will receive a credit or debit based on the final settlement price.
If you hold a physically settled product, you’ll need to close it prior to the last day to trade (LDTT). This is because Robinhood doesn’t support the delivery of physically settled products. The LDTT is displayed in-app on the contract detail page. If you don’t take action before the LDTT and hold a physically settled product, Robinhood will close out of the position on your behalf, and your account will realize any applicable profit or loss.
At Robinhood, the last day to trade is the final day you can close a particular contract.
For cash settled products, the expiration date aligns with the last day to trade and is the latest date a futures contract can be traded.
For physically settled products the last day to trade may be before the expiration date to avoid physical settlement.
The exact date of expiration each month depends on the product and exchange. For a full list of product expiration dates, check out the CME Expiration Calendar.
Each contract uses a code to define its expiration, with each month represented by a unique letter, followed by the last 2 numbers of the expiration year.
Expiration month codes:
For example, a Micro Natural Gas (/MNG) futures contract expiring in January (F) 2025 (25) would have the symbol /MNGF25.
For certain futures contracts, the exact date of expiration will also be included at the end of the contract. For example, a Bitcoin Friday Futures (/BFF) contract expiring on November (X) 8th (08), 2024 (24) would have the symbol /BFFX2408.
Active is a tag generally applied to the contract with the most activity, trading volume, and liquidity. As contracts near expiration, trading volume for a particular contract can shift, causing the active tag to switch from a contract expiring in the current month to a contract with a later expiration date.
For physically settled products, a contract becomes position close only (PCO) when it transitions out of the active state, and into the non-active state.
A contract’s tradability will depend on whether a product is cash settled or physically settled, and whether the contract is active or non-active.
Cash settled products can be traded until the LDTT, shown in-app, which typically aligns with the contracts’ expiration date.
You can’t open new positions in physically settled contracts after a contract transitions from an active state to a non-active state. This is when a contract becomes PCO. However, if you already hold a position in the contract, you’ll still be allowed to close out your existing position until the LDTT.
While certain exchanges may offer futures contracts with expirations dated several years in the future, Robinhood may limit the ability to trade contracts with longer term expirations.
For physically settled products, if you don’t already hold a position in a contract, any pending orders for that contract will automatically be canceled when the contract transitions from an active to non-active state. If you already hold a position in a contract, your pending orders for that contract will not be affected when a contract transitions from active to non-active.
All pending orders, such as limit orders and stop orders, will automatically be canceled when the contract becomes non-tradable upon expiration, regardless of settlement type.
When pending orders are canceled, any buying power held for margin requirements will be returned to your buying power.
As a cash settled contract approaches expiration, be aware that the final settlement time on the expiration date may be different from the end-of-trading-session time.
For example, the E-mini S&P 500 futures contract /ESU24 generally ends the trading session at 5 PM ET, while its final settlement time on the date of expiration is 9:30 AM ET. This means that the contract will expire based on the 9:30 AM ET final settlement price.
Generally, the final settlement times for each cash settled product in the below categories are as follows:
Holiday hours may vary. For a full list of hours check out the CME Group’s full holiday calendar.
You can continue to trade cash settled products up until the final settlement time on the expiration date.
Futures, options on futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it's appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances.
Please read the Futures Risk Disclosure Statement prior to trading futures products, and please read the Event Contract Risk Disclosure for more information about the risks associated with forecast event contracts.
RHD accounts are not protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and are not Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured. RHD is not a bank. Prior to trading virtual currency Futures products, please review the NFA Investor Advisory & CFTC Advisory providing more information on these potentially significant risks.
Futures, options on futures and cleared swaps trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, a registered futures commission merchant with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Member of National Futures Association (NFA).