The front month, occasionally called the spot month, is the nearest unexpired futures contract of a given commodity. In general, when media publications or news sources quote commodity prices, unless otherwise specified, they are talking about the front month of the commodity.
Examples
- Crude Oil Futures are delivered every month of the year, though the contracts expire one month before the name of the contract month (e.g. June Crude Oil futures expire in May, January crude oil futures expire in December of the previous year). If, in August of a given year, a newspaper reports that "Crude Oil is up $1.00", they are almost certainly referring to September Crude Oil futures as, at that point in time, September is the front month contract (the nearest unexpired contract).
- Corn Futures are delivered in March, May, July, September, and December of every year. The contracts expire in the month of the contract named. If, in January of a given year, a newspaper reports that "Corn is down $.70", they are almost certainly referring to March Corn futures as, at that point in time, March is the front month contract (the nearest unexpired contract).