[wisegoat]

I'm lookin' at bloomberg... Bloomberg Energy and i notice a 06/20 after the price... it usually does this after closing on fridays cuz there is no after hours trading...

did they halt after hours??? or am i just seeing things...

[Sgs-Cruz]

The contract expired at the close of trading today. It's the 20th of the month.

[clv101]

So we move on to Aug 05 tomorrow? Which is already about 50 cent higher than July. Looks like tomorrow's the $60 day.

[Sgs-Cruz]

Apparently not? It's now the 21st and trading is still going on for the July contract on the Nymex. I had understood that oil futures contracts expired on the 20th, perhaps I was wrong.

Fake Edit: Yup, I was wrong. They expire on a different day each month. Here's a schedule.
http://www.alaron.com/traders_tools/expirations.htm

The "last trading" day for July crude is the 21st of June. I don't know what the "first notice" day is, but that's not until Thursday (the 23rd).

Real Edit: "First Notice" defined.
http://www.riskglossary.com/link/future.htm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')or physically settled futures, exchange rules depend upon the specific underlier. Usually, there is an entire month—called the delivery month—during which delivery may occur. The last trading day for the future falls towards the end of that month. A party that is short a future may elect to deliver the underlier on any business day in the delivery month. Typically, notice of delivery must be made to the exchange two business days prior to delivery. The date on which notice is given is called the notice date. The first possible date for notice comes towards the end of the month preceding the delivery month. It is called the first notice date. Upon receiving notice of delivery, the exchange selects a party that is long the future to take the delivery. This may be the party with the largest long position in the future. Alternatively, the party to take delivery may be selected by lot.