The Pound Sign Macro

The pound sign macro enables you to display a particular instrument in a chart. You use the pound sign macro in place of an instrument symbol’s month code. In futures symbols, the pound sign macro holds the place of a particular expiration. When the program sees a # in a symbol, it querries the master table for the symbol root with the expiration you specify. To display a lead month, enter the instrument symbol using the following syntax:

<symbol_root>#

The pound sign by itself retrieves the lead month contract.

If you use the pound sign macro, contracts automatically roll over when a lead month contract expires. Similarly, using the pound sign macro to list options causes options to roll over when they expire.