What defines a futures trading symbol?
A typical futures symbol at NinjaTrader may look like this: ES SEP23, where ES is the symbol root, SEP represents the expiration month (September), and 23 represents the expiration year (2023).
Symbol root
The symbol root is one or more characters (letters and numbers) that identify the exact futures contract to trade. Examples include Crude Oil (CL), Gold (GC), E-Mini S&P 500 (ES), and so on). The symbol root is generally established by the futures exchange.Contract month
At NinjaTrader, the contract month is a three-letter code that indicates the expiration month: January (JAN), February (FEB), March (MAR), April (APR), May (MAY), June (JUN), July (JUL), August (AUG), September (SEP), October (OCT), November (NOV), and December (DEC). Theexactday of the month that a contract expires canbe different foreachfuturesmarket.Contract year
The contract year is a two number representation of the expiration year where 23 would refer to 2023.
