WTI Crude Oil (CL) April (J) contract study: year-by-year results, the day-by-day shape of the move and where highs and lows printed.
Contract Almanac · WTI Crude Oil
Every April crude contract 2011–2026, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads Feb 17 – Mar 16
The April contract is the lottery ticket of the CL board. No other month’s file contains both a +48% tenure and a −49% tenure, and no other month averages a best point of +14.4% against a −8.8% worst. It leads from mid-February to mid-March, the seam where winter pricing dies and spring positioning begins, and the market has repeatedly chosen that window for its most violent statements.
Each year is one contract, measured from the open of the day it took over the lead to the close of the day it handed off, the same roll convention used across all Traders Brief research. Tenure lengths vary by a few trading days from year to year, so day counts differ slightly at the tail. All highs and lows are the contract’s own trades, marked by trading day of the tenure, not calendar day.