Contents

  1. Highlights of Backwardation 
  2. Causes of Backwardation
  3. Advantages of Backwardation 
  4. Disadvantages of Backwardation
  5. Backwardation vs. Contango 
  6. Backwardation illustration

Highlights of Backwardation 

  • Normal Backwardation occurs in futures requests when the current price of a good is more advanced than it’s in the future.
  • Backwardation may do due to convenience yield which is the benefit artificial directors admit from keeping certain particulars in stock rather using a contract or secondary security. 
  • occasionally dealers will try to make a profit by using backwardation. These dealers will vend certain goods short and also buy the goods at the futures contract price, which is lower, therefore making a profit.

Causes of Backwardation

One cause of backwardation is an advanced current demand which means there’s lower demand for contracts in the request of the future.  still, the main cause of backwardation when it occurs in the request of the future for goods is a deficit of a commodity which also affects the spot request. occasionally the force of a commodity will be manipulated.   This has happened with crude oil painting, where countries have tried to keep the price of oil painting high in trouble to increase their profit.  Investors who choose to invest for the long term can benefit from the increase that occurs in futures prices as time passes and the futures price approaches the spot price, and they will ultimately meet. 

Backwardation in the request of the future can also be profitable for short-term dealers and bookmakers sharing in arbitrage.   There’s also a threat for investors from backwardation since it’s always possible that futures prices could continue their decline and the spot price they’re awaiting fails to change because of a recession or certain request events.   also, if an investor is trading backwardation because of a deficit in a certain commodity, they could find the situation snappily changing due to a new supplier adding the product of the commodity.  

Advantages of Backwardation 

  • Backwardation works as an index that signals to investors a likely fall in spot prices in the future. 
  • Backwardation can be profitable for short-term investors and bookmakers that intend to share in arbitrage. 

Disadvantages of Backwardation

  • Backwardation can beget investors to lose money if futures prices keep declining. 
  • Trading backwardation during a commodity deficit could affect in a loss if a new supplier increases the production of the commodity  

Backwardation vs. Contango 

still, it’s described as an upward-leaning forward wind, if prices are advanced with each consecutive maturity date in the request of the future. This upward pitch known as contango is the contrary of backwardation. Another name for this upward-leaning forward wind is forward action.  In contango, the price of the November futures contract is more advanced than October’s, which is more advanced than July’s, and so on. Under normal request conditions, it makes sense that prices of futures contracts increase the further the maturity date since they include investment costs similar to carrying costs or storehouse costs for a commodity.  When futures prices are more advanced than current prices, there is anticipation that the spot price will rise to meet the futures price. For illustration, dealers will vend or short futures contracts that have advanced prices in the future and purchase at lower spot prices. The result is further demand for the commodity driving the spot price higher. Over time, the spot price and the futures price meet.  A futures request can shift between contango and backwardation and remain in either state for a short or extended period.

Backwardation illustration

 For illustration, let’s say there was an extremity in the product of West Texas Intermediate crude oil painting due to poor rainfall. As a result, the current force of oil painting falls dramatically. Dealers and businesses rush in and buy the oil painting, which pushes the spot price to$ 150 per barrel.  still, dealers anticipate the rainfall issues to be temporary. As a result, the prices of futures contracts for the end of the time remain fairly unchanged, at$ 90 per barrel. The oil painting requests would be in backwardation.  Over the coming many months, the rainfall issues are resolved, and crude oil painting products and inventories get back to normal situations. Over time, the increased product pushes down spot prices to meet the end-of-time futures contracts.