Tool lesson

Fair Value Tracker: Choose The Right Contract Pair And Roll View

A practical Fair Value Tracker lesson for choosing the contract selector before reading basis, history, scanner rows, or roll-sensitive gaps.

12 minBeginner5 chapters

Educational only

The examples teach workflow and risk framing. They do not provide trade recommendations, personalized advice, leverage guidance, or guaranteed outcomes.

Chapter 01

Use front contracts for the immediate lane

Trader question

Am I comparing the right local contract to the right global contract?

Front vs front is the most immediate comparison lane. It is useful for a current desk read, but the learner should still check contract codes, expiry dates, position ranks, and roll pressure before interpreting basis.

Desk checklist

Select front vs front for current context.
Read both contract codes and expiries.
Add a roll caveat when front month is near expiry.

Interactive proof

Contract selector, contract summary, front regional and global markets contract codes

Use the contract-pair board to inspect front regional and global markets expiries before reading the gap.

1Front vs FrontMost immediate laneUseful for the current desk read, but sensitive to roll pressure and expiry mismatch.

2Next vs NextRoll-aware comparisonUseful when the front month is close to expiry or liquidity has started shifting forward.

3Matched expiry daysExpiry-alignment disciplineUseful when the trader wants regional and global markets legs with closer days-to-expiry before comparing the gap.

4Continuous rollHistory continuityUseful for longer history, but the roll rule must travel with the chart and scanner note.

5Selector firstThen basisA gap can look meaningful only because the contract lane was mismatched.

Contract selector is part of the evidence. A basis gap becomes reviewable only after the local and global contract lane answers the same desk question.

Interactive desk lab

Contract Pair Board

A practical Fair Value Tracker contract-pair board for choosing front, next, matched DTE, or continuous roll before interpreting a basis gap.

Native scroll

44s Remotion sceneFrontImmediateLaneVideo

Front month is the immediate lane

Front local market and front COMEX cards light up for the current desk read while a roll-warning stamp stays visible.

Storyboard beats4 cues

Front local market and front COMEX cards enter together.

A current desk read badge appears.

A roll-warning stamp stays beside the basis card.

The video ends by naming front as current context, not default truth.

Remotion code

FrontImmediateLaneVideo

The snippet is stored with the lesson so a future Remotion project can render the chapter video.

Show component snippet

import {AbsoluteFill, Easing, Sequence, interpolate, useCurrentFrame} from "remotion";

export const FrontImmediateLaneVideo = () => {
  const frame = useCurrentFrame();
  const opacity = interpolate(frame, [16, 46], [0, 1], {
    extrapolateRight: "clamp",
    easing: Easing.bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1),
  });

  return (
    <AbsoluteFill style={{background: "#071126", color: "#fff8e8", padding: 72}}>
      <h1>Front vs front answers the immediate desk question.</h1>
      <div style={{opacity, display: "grid", gridTemplateColumns: "1fr 1fr", gap: 22, marginTop: 58}}>
        <div style={{padding: 22, border: "1px solid #d9971f"}}>MCX front</div>
        <div style={{padding: 22, border: "1px solid #7dd3fc"}}>COMEX front</div>
      </div>
      <Sequence from={64} layout="none"><div style={{marginTop: 30, padding: 18, background: "#fff8e8", color: "#071126"}}>Use for current context.</div></Sequence>
      <Sequence from={98} layout="none"><p style={{color: "#f9d78b"}}>Near roll, confirm the lane before reading basis.</p></Sequence>
    </AbsoluteFill>
  );
};

Sources used for this tutorial

Contract Specifications of Goldlocal marketUsed for official local market gold contract, quote basis, trading session, and expiry context.Contract Specifications of Silverlocal marketUsed for official local market silver contract, quote basis, trading session, and expiry context.Gold Futures and Options Fact CardCME GroupUsed for COMEX gold contract size, quotation, expiry, and futures risk context.Gold Futures Contract SpecificationsCME GroupUsed for global futures contract-month and quotation context before comparing with local contracts.Understanding Derivativesinvestor educationUsed to keep futures, hedging, speculation, arbitrage, and leverage framing educational and risk-aware.

Next step

Open the tool with the checklist beside you.

Move from the lesson into the matching Bullion Brains tool, keep the checklist visible, and treat the output as evidence until the caveats are clear.

Open Fair Value Tracker