Back Month
Any futures contract month beyond the front month; typically less liquid and used for hedging or spread strategies.
A back month is any futures contract expiring after the front month. Back months carry less open interest and wider spreads because less speculative activity reaches that far out. They are used primarily by hedgers (locking in prices months ahead), spread traders, and institutions building large positions over time.
Back-month pricing reflects the market's expectations about the underlying over a longer horizon and embeds cost-of-carry (interest, storage, dividends) into the price differential vs. the front month.
Related Terms
Basis (Futures)
The price difference between the spot (cash) price of an underlying and its corresponding futures price.
IntermediateCalendar Spread
A spread trade that is simultaneously long one contract month and short another month of the same futures product.
IntermediateContract Month / Delivery Month Codes
The single-letter codes futures exchanges assign to each calendar month, appended to a root symbol with a year to identify a specific contract.
BeginnerFront Month
The nearest-expiry futures contract with the highest liquidity and trading volume at any given time.
BeginnerLead Month
The futures contract month with the highest current open interest and volume — synonymous with front month.
BeginnerRoll Date
The session when volume and open interest migrate from the expiring futures contract to the next contract month.
IntermediateRollover
Closing a near-expiry futures position and simultaneously reopening it in the next contract month to maintain exposure without taking delivery.
Intermediate