Platinum (PL) January (F) contract study: year-by-year results, the day-by-day shape of the move and where highs and lows printed.
Contract Almanac · Platinum (NYMEX)
Every January platinum contract 2011–2026, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads Sep 27 – Dec 26
The January contract is platinum’s autumn-to-year-end seat, October through December, and its file was a sleepy 38% loser for fifteen years until this one: the 2026 tenure gained 45%, the largest platinum tenure on record, as last autumn’s metal squeeze reached the board’s thinnest market and moved it violently.
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 platinum contract holds the lead for a true quarter, roughly 60 to 66 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.