Gold (GC) April (J) contract study: year-by-year results, the day-by-day shape of the move and where highs and lows printed.
Contract Almanac · Gold (COMEX)
Every April gold contract 2011–2026, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads Jan 30 – Mar 27
The April contract inherits gold’s board in late January, after the turn-of-year rally has usually paid, and its file reads like an inheritance being spent: 10 of 16 higher but a thin +0.7% average, with the winners modest and the one big loser recent. This is the seat where gold’s winter momentum has gone to cool.
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. A gold contract holds the lead for roughly two months, and the December contract closer to four, so tenures run 40 to 90 trading days, far longer than an energy tenure — these are seats, not months, and the day counts read accordingly. All highs and lows are the contract’s own trades, marked by trading day of the tenure, not calendar day.