Gold (GC) December (Z) 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 December gold contract 2010–2025, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads Jul 30 – Nov 27
The December contract is gold’s long seat, holding the board from late July into late November, nearly four months spanning the metal’s famous autumn strength and its notorious September trap in one tenure. The two forces have fought to a draw across sixteen years: 8 up, 8 down, dead even, with the file’s character living entirely in which force showed up first.
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.