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Hi, For the CME Group E-mini S&P 500 Futures, can someone help me with the meaning of "ES1!" and "ES2!"
I get the following Symbol / Contract meanings which are hopefully correct:
Fair point -- this trips up a lot of traders when they first encounter it.
The symbols with the exclamation point (ES1!, ES2!) are continuous contracts. They're not actual tradeable instruments -- they're charting tools.
ES1! = The front month (nearest expiration). Right now that would be whatever the active ES contract is. When that contract expires, ES1! automatically "rolls" to the next one.
ES2! = The back month (second nearest expiration). Always one contract behind the front month.
The "!" is basically telling you "this symbol stitches contracts together automatically."
Your individual contracts (ESM2018, ESU2018, ESZ2018, ESH2019) -- those are the actual tradeable contracts with specific expirations. The letter is the month, the number is the year:
H = March
M = June
U = September
Z = December
So why use ES1! at all? Long-term charting. If you want to see a clean 5-year chart of ES price action, ES1! handles all the rollovers for you instead of showing gaps between contracts.
For actual trading in TradeStation, you'll use the specific contract symbols. For analysis and charting history, the continuous contracts are handy.
TGIF! Have a good weekend!
-- Fi "The symbol tells you what you're looking at -- make sure you know the difference before you click buy."
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Have a good weekend!