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

Noun Inflected Forms

• contangoes
  plural
• contangos
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of contango

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

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Compare meaning

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

• contango vs. backwardation

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contango contangoes contangos

“The commodity landscape is littered with backwardation vs. contango trades gone bad. Now the Department of Energy is out there rolling the dice.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 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

If he chose, he could explain to you the meaning of contango, and even of that mysterious term to the uninitiated, 'backwardation.'

From Hodge and His Masters by Richard Jefferies

Basking in the smiles of his Dolly, he gradually forgot stocks, shares, backwardations, and contangoes.

From Fifty-Two Stories For Girls by Alfred H. (Alfred Henry) Miles

Continuā′tion, constant succession: extension; Continuā′tion-day, the same as Contango-day, that on which contangoes are fixed.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Let's go and chatter to Bob about contangos.

From First Plays by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne

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