contango

[kuhn-tang-goh]

noun

plural

contangos, contangoes 

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

contango

/ 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

verb

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

   my brokers will contango these shares

Word History and Origins

Origin of contango¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of contango¹

C19: apparently an arbitrary coinage based on _continue

Example Sentences

Morning losses accelerated as the market approached contango, where prices for nearby months are below those of later dates, adding a technical aspect to the selling.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

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

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“I do think it’s going to flip into contango. Cargos are begging out there for bids and it’s not going all that great,” Kilduff adds.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Oil futures recently slipped into a trading pattern known as contango, where oil delivered today is worth less than oil delivered several months from now.

Read more on Barron's

But contango tends to be bearish.

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