Contango
A market condition in which
futures prices are higher in the distant delivery months.
Contango
Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved
contango
In futures or options trading, a market in which longer-term contracts carry a higher price than near-term contracts. The premium accorded to longer maturities is a normal condition of the market and reflects the cost of carrying the commodity for future delivery. Compare
inverted market.
Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.
Contango.
The price of a futures contract tends to reflect the cost of storage, insurance, financing, and other expenses incurred by the producer as the commodity awaits delivery.
So, typically, the further in the future the maturity date, the higher the price of the contract. That relationship is described as contango.
If the opposite is true, and the price of a longer-term contract is lower than the price of one with a closer expiration date, the relationship is described as backwardation.
contango
- an additional payment made by an investor or speculator who has purchased or sold a SHARE, STOCK etc. on the UK STOCK MARKET in return for being permitted to carry over the settlement of the share transaction from one ACCOUNT PERIOD to the next.
- a condition in a FORWARD MARKET where the most distant delivery months trade at a premium to the near term delivery months.
Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson