Some futures contracts are settled by physical delivery of the underlying, and
that can become possible before the actual expiration date for the contract.
If you are trading futures as a speculator (as opposed to as a legitimate
hedger), then brokers (in my experience) require that, if you want to maintain
your positions, you roll them forward to the next contract before the `First
Notice Date' specified by the exchange (for the long side), and before the
last trading day (for the short side).
The reason for the difference is that it's the short position that gives
notice to the long position of the intent to make delivery of the
underlying. So brokers generally want speculators to be out of long positions
well before it's possible to be given notice by the short position.
If you don't roll your positions forward in time in such cases, then brokers
very well may liquidate your positions with or without warning you in advance.
IB, for example, explicitly states that they will liquidate positions without
notice, if they are not closed out in time.
http://www.interactivebrokers.com/e...calDeliveryLiquidationRules.php?ib_entity=llc
There are some quirks in trading futures and it pays well to spend some
time getting familiar with the specific important dates for the contracts
you are trading. I've made some mistakes in the past
