Free tools / Seasonality

Futures monthly seasonality

How each futures market has tended to move by calendar month, measured as the average month-end to month-end return, the share of months that finished positive, and the sample size behind each cell. This is a description of past history, not a forecast and not a trade signal.

Coverage 2016-07-19 to 2026-07-28 (about 10.0 years) / Source: daily settlement history, front-month continuous

ContractJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecBest / Worst
WTI Crude OilEnergy+5.2+1.7+0.9-0.2+5.2+2.5+3.0-2.5+1.2-1.0-2.2+3.2Jan +5.2%Aug -2.5%
Brent Crude OilEnergy+5.5+1.7+1.9+1.1+1.1+1.3+3.4-1.2+1.0-0.7-1.8+2.5Jan +5.5%Nov -1.8%
Natural GasEnergy-5.8-5.0+1.6+5.9+5.2-0.1-1.0+9.1+6.2+8.1+4.3-12.3Aug +9.1%Dec -12.3%
Heating OilEnergy+5.4-0.6+3.3-0.9-1.2+5.0+5.0+0.6+2.1+1.9-3.5+2.6Jan +5.4%Nov -3.5%
RBOB GasolineEnergy+3.6+3.9+10.9+4.2+3.0+2.0+2.8-2.1-6.7-0.1-4.4+2.9Mar +10.9%Sep -6.7%
GoldMetals+3.2+0.6+1.7+1.7+0.7-1.8+1.8+1.0-0.5+1.5-0.3+2.6Jan +3.2%Jun -1.8%
SilverMetals+3.2-0.3-0.7-0.0+3.8-3.2+3.8+0.8-1.3+1.9+1.0+5.9Dec +5.9%Jun -3.2%
CopperMetals+2.4+2.4-0.4+1.3+0.0-0.3-0.3-1.1+1.3+0.9+4.4+2.0Nov +4.4%Aug -1.1%
PlatinumMetals+3.1+0.3-3.9+1.9+0.9-3.0+1.3-0.7-0.0+1.5+0.7+4.6Dec +4.6%Mar -3.9%
WheatAgriculture+1.1+0.6+0.6+1.1+3.1-2.3+1.6-5.0+5.4+0.9-2.0+3.3Sep +5.4%Aug -5.0%
CornAgriculture+2.0-0.7+2.0+3.0-0.3-3.1-4.9-2.5+5.5+1.9-0.9+4.8Sep +5.5%Jul -4.9%
SoybeansAgriculture+2.3+1.2-0.0+0.0-1.0-0.3-1.1-3.4+0.3+1.4+2.9+1.2Nov +2.9%Aug -3.4%
CocoaAgriculture-2.2+0.3+6.1+4.2+0.5-0.7+0.6+3.5-4.3-0.8+4.8+2.5Mar +6.1%Sep -4.3%
CoffeeAgriculture+1.4-0.7-1.8+3.1-0.7-0.8+3.6+3.7-0.6+0.6+7.6-1.6Nov +7.6%Mar -1.8%
CottonAgriculture+2.5+1.3-0.1+3.3-2.2-4.7+2.0+0.2-1.0-1.0+3.4+0.9Nov +3.4%Jun -4.7%
Sugar No. 11Agriculture+2.7+0.1-5.3-0.3-1.1-1.1+0.4+1.3+3.8+3.4-0.4-2.4Sep +3.8%Mar -5.3%
S&P 500 E-miniFinancial+1.9-0.7-0.8+2.0+1.8+2.0+2.8+0.8-1.2+0.5+4.1+0.3Nov +4.1%Sep -1.2%
Nasdaq E-miniFinancial+3.1-0.6+0.1+2.8+3.6+3.2+2.6+1.5-1.4+0.7+3.7+0.2Nov +3.7%Sep -1.4%
30Y Treasury BondFinancial-0.2-0.2+0.3-1.2+0.3+0.3+0.3+0.1-2.5-2.0+1.1-0.3Nov +1.1%Sep -2.5%
10Y Treasury NoteFinancial-0.1-0.2+0.1-0.5+0.3-0.0+0.2+0.1-1.1-1.0+0.4-0.1Nov +0.4%Sep -1.1%

How this is computed

For each contract we take the last daily settlement of every calendar month as that month-end mark. A month's return is that mark divided by the prior available month-end mark, minus one. We then group every month by its position in the calendar (all the Januaries together, all the Februaries, and so on) and report three numbers per cell: the average return, the hit rate (share of years that finished positive), and n, the number of years in the sample. Green means the average was positive, red negative, and the deeper the shade the larger the average move.

Cells with fewer than 3 years of history show a dash rather than a number, since a one or two year average is not a stable statistic. These are front-month continuous series stitched from the active contract, so a monthly return that spans a contract roll includes the roll gap. The coverage window grows as more daily history accumulates.

Seasonality is a description of what has happened, not a prediction of what will. Past calendar patterns can persist or break, and this page makes no directional call.