month codes
|
MONTH |
MONTH CODE |
|
January |
F |
|
February |
G |
|
March |
H |
|
April |
J |
|
May |
K |
|
June |
M |
|
July |
N |
|
August |
Q |
|
September |
U |
|
October |
V |
|
November |
X |
|
December |
Z |
The letters used to represent months in futures trading (F,G,H,J,K,M,N,Q,U,V,X,Z) developed in the mid-1800s with the rise of futures exchanges and telegraph communication. Here's how they evolved:
- When telegraphs became the primary means of communicating trades, exchanges needed a shorthand way to represent months to save time and reduce transmission costs.
- The codes generally used the first letter of the month where possible:
- March (H) - Third month
- May (K) - Fifth month
- July (N) - Seventh month
- September (U) - Ninth month
- December (Z) - Last month
- When first letters were already taken, they used distinctive letters from within the month name or simply the next available letter:
- January (F)
- February (G)
- April (J)
- June (M)
- August (Q)
- October (V)
- November (X)
The system stuck because it was:
- Unambiguous (each letter represents only one month)
- Easy to remember for traders
- Efficient for telegraph communication
- Less prone to transcription errors than numbers