Contango and backwardation: why a long futures position melts
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Automated material · TradeAlmanac editorial deskPrepared by a language model from our stored data and checked by an editor.
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A futures contract lives until expiration. Holding a position longer means rolling into the next contract, and that roll is not free.
Contango
The far contract is more expensive than the near one. Rolling means selling the cheap and buying the dear — a regular loss at every roll.
Such a structure is typical where storing the underlying costs money: storage costs are built into the far contract's price.
Backwardation
The reverse: the far contract is cheaper than the near one. Rolling produces a gain. It usually appears when the asset is scarce here and now.
What it means in practice
A futures contract is not suited to holding a position in an asset for the long term. Every roll has a price, and across years it accumulates.
How it connects to interest rates
For financial futures the gap between near and far contracts largely reflects the cost of money over the period. A rising rate widens contango — The key rate: how a Bank of Russia decision reaches your portfolio.
Where an investor meets it
In exchange instruments on commodities and in some funds built through derivatives. What has to be checked is not the name but the asset structure — What is actually inside a fund.
Related: Futures: an obligation, not an option and Commodity markets: why access is harder than it looks.
Prepared by a language model from our stored data and checked by an editor.
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