I normally do not trade QM much. But I did have one QMF contract. It expires tomorrow 1/19/2022. I always thought that it will be financially settled. But IB just liquidated it (1/18/2022). Is this how IB handles financially settled futures contracts? I normally just roll front contracts days or weeks ahead of expiration.
The QM contract is physically settled, according to IB's overview. You get to see the cut off dates and liquidation dates if you enter QM in the search bar on this page: https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=deliveryExerciseActions&p=physical
They aren't physically settled but if you read the link HobbyTrading posted, IB started closing out after oil settled negative. Also subject to a close-out period are oil-related futures contracts which are eligible to trade at negative prices, which includes those with settlement in terms of either physical delivery or cash settlement at expiration.
QM is not physically settled. I had QM before and if I do not liquidate, the contract stays with my account and gets settled the day after expiration. Then margin goes away. Not sure what is happening now.
You didn't do your homework. IB lists Liquidation for the QMF contract (both long and short) as 2022/01/18 8:00 (ET). Found it using the link above.
As I said before. I owned QM contact before through expiration and had no problem. I like to know what has changed. Normally QM is a financially settled contract and is not subject to liquidation like CL contract.
The May 2020 CL Contract debacle is what happened. And every futures broker on Planet Earth came up with contract liquidation procedures after that mess.
That may have explained it..... But are all those financially settled commodity contracts (even MCL) subject to expiry liquidation?
The real issue here is that you are not receiving the information when the facts have been presented to you.