Futures Rollover Dates 2026: The ES, MES, NQ & MNQ Roll Calendar

When do futures contracts roll over? Here are the exact dates… and how George trades the squirrelly week around them.

ES, MES, NQ and MNQ all follow the same CME equity-index quarterly cycle… March, June, September, December. Each contract expires on the third Friday of its month, and volume shifts to the new contract on the roll date, the Thursday about eight days before expiration. One calendar covers all four… the MES micro E-mini rolls with the full-size ES, and MNQ rolls with NQ, on the very same day.

The next four rollover dates

  • September 2026 … rolls Thursday, Sep 10, 2026 … expires Friday, Sep 18, 2026
  • December 2026 … rolls Thursday, Dec 10, 2026 … expires Friday, Dec 18, 2026
  • March 2027 … rolls Thursday, Mar 11, 2027 … expires Friday, Mar 19, 2027
  • June 2027 … rolls Thursday, Jun 10, 2027 … expires Friday, Jun 18, 2027

Why the roll matters to a day trader

Rollover week trades nothing like a normal week. Levels point at the old contract, volume walks over to the new month, and price action turns squirrelly enough that George greets the worst of it by name… Super Squirrel is in town. The full lesson lays out the whole trader’s calendar… rollover, OPEX Fridays, triple witching, holiday weeks and weak Mondays… in George’s own words from the live sessions.

“Contract rollover is one of my least favorite times to trade, and it’s certainly a time to trade more cautiously and smaller, in my humble opinion. It just takes a little while to get the levels adjusted to the new contract.”
— GEORGE, LIVE SESSION

See the Full Rollover Calendar & Lesson →

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📍 Originally published on MicrosTrader.com

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