contango

American  

[kuhn-tang-goh] / kənˈtæŋ goʊ /

noun

contangos, plural contangoes plural

1. (on the London stock exchange) a fee paid by a buyer of securities to the seller for the privilege of deferring payment.

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contango British  

/ kənˈtæŋɡəʊ /

noun

1. (formerly, on the London Stock Exchange) postponement of payment for and delivery of stock from one account day to the next

2. Also called: carry-over.   continuation.  the fee paid for such a postponement Compare backwardation

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verb

1. (tr) to arrange such a postponement of payment (for)

   my brokers will contango these shares

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• contangoes
  plural
• contangos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of contango

1850–55; said to be alteration of continue or contingent

Compare meaning

How does contango compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• contango vs. backwardation

Example Sentences

Back in 2020, when the market’s sharp contango quickly corrected itself, it seemed like investors rightly concluded that the pandemic’s effects would ease within months.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

“The curve is flirting with contango, and that alone will feed on itself, once it starts to get going and it becomes pretty abject.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

In a contango market, traders have an incentive to buy oil and store it instead of selling it for refining or other economically productive uses.

From Barron's • Oct. 22, 2025

Typically, owing to storage and financing costs, silver prices are in contango where spot prices are the lower of the two.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 13, 2025

He bought them for the March account, and has been paying contango since then, and holding on in hopes of a rise.

From Charlotte's Inheritance by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)