Contract rollover — Moving a position from an expiring contract month into a later one to maintain exposure past expiry.
How contract rollover works in prop trading
Index futures expire quarterly, and liquidity migrates from the expiring month to the next one roughly a week before expiry. The roll itself is a spread trade — close the front month, open the next — and most retail platforms provide continuous charts that stitch the months together so the transition is invisible on the chart but real in your order ticket.
The prop-account risk is trading the wrong symbol. After the roll, the front month is thin and its spread widens, so an order placed in the expiring contract fills badly or not at all. Firms usually flag or restrict the expiring month, and some auto-flatten positions in it before expiry. Check which month your platform defaults to during roll week.
Key points
- Index futures roll quarterly, with liquidity moving about a week before expiry.
- Trading the expiring month after the roll means wide spreads and poor fills.
- Continuous charts hide the roll; the order ticket does not.
- Many firms restrict or auto-flatten positions in the expiring contract.
Also known as
- roll
- rollover date
- quarterly roll
Frequently asked questions
When do futures contracts roll over?
Equity index futures roll on the Thursday a week before the third-Friday expiry, with volume shifting to the next quarterly month over a day or two. Energy and other products follow their own schedules.
What happens if I hold through expiry at a prop firm?
Most firms flatten positions in the expiring contract before expiry, and some restrict trading it entirely in the final days. Holding to expiry in a physically delivered product is not permitted on any retail prop account.
Contract rollover is described here as a plain-language educational definition. Firms, platforms, and account programs may apply different conditions or calculations. Verify the current official terms before using this definition to make an account decision.