# Build the overnight map

**FUT-26 · Equity Index Futures · Core**

**Lesson question:** Which references belong on the chart?

Original fictional examples; educational writing, not live market data, orders or production approval.

## By the end

- Explain the mechanism in the lesson question.
- Reproduce the worked comparison and recognize its failure case.

**Prerequisites:** FUT-01

An overnight map should tell a short, reproducible story. It needs a small set of well-labeled references rather than many ambiguous lines. Each reference requires an instrument, window, timestamp and definition.

Known facts and estimated positioning should remain visually and conceptually distinct.

## Understand the mechanism

Prior cash close, official futures settlement, overnight extremes and regional analysis windows answer different questions. VWAP and volume POC require their own data definitions. Dealer levels add modeling assumptions rather than more raw facts.

Developing references change; completed-session references should remain fixed.

## Walk through the process

Set a cutoff and include only information available then. Mark fixed and developing values separately. Write continuation and rejection branches around the relevant boundaries.

Do not reuse an unlabeled line merely because it appears to align with the current price.

## Operational boundary

All figures are fictional teaching inputs, not current quotes or margin schedules. Product rules, broker requirements and usable liquidity remain separate from the model example. A planned exit and an algebraic hedge are not execution guarantees.

## A worked example

The fictional map contains cash close 5,000, futures settlement 5,015, Asian range 5,008–5,022, European range 5,018–5,035 and current future 5,030. This shows a higher overnight auction near Europe's upper area.

It does not tell whether the cash open will accept it. The graph orders the observations while the lesson preserves the separate definitions.

## Graph: Build the overnight map—worked comparison

**Horizontal:** Reference sequence described in the example  
**Vertical:** Price or index level

Fictional data from the written example. The chart organizes the comparison; its shape is not a forecast.

Complete numerical data are embedded in `scripts/equity-futures/FUT-26.js` and displayed as an accessible table in the HTML lesson.

## What would invalidate the reading?

Combining cash close with futures settlement or including later data makes the map misleading. More lines can create false confluence rather than more evidence.

## Check your understanding

### Are prior cash close and official futures settlement necessarily the same?

**Answer:** No.

**Why:** Their instruments, times and calculation methods can differ.

### What is the critical failure to avoid?

**Answer:** Combining cash close with futures settlement or including later data makes the map misleading. More lines can create false confluence rather than more evidence.

**Why:** Explain this risk before treating the example as a decision rule. A correct calculation does not guarantee a favorable market outcome. **Critical risk check.**

## Takeaway

Return to the question: Which references belong on the chart? State the observed facts, the assumptions and the failure condition separately.

## References and provenance

The cited references support definitions and conventions. The teaching prose, tickets and numerical scenarios are original; they are not attributed as historical market observations.

- [CME Introduction to Futures](https://www.cmegroup.com/education/courses/introduction-to-futures)

- [CME Micro E-mini overview](https://www.cmegroup.com/education/courses/micro-e-mini-futures/micro-e-mini-futures-products-overview)