What happens is that
oil futures contracts in contango are more expensive in future months meaning the USO needs to pay more to roll its contracts forward.
In 2017,
oil futures contracts in New York and London outstripped physical trading by a factor of 23.
With an oil ETF or oil mutual funds, you get a basket of oil company stocks or
oil futures contracts in one fund.
NYMEX crude oil is the largest
oil futures contract in the world and has a current total open interest of around 1.6 million contracts and it would be impossible for any group of speculators to sell or buy 53 days of world production in a year or longer, no less in a week as just occurred in COMEX silver.
Not exact matches
If the
oil traders are right, they can make money by buying
oil at today's spot price, selling a
futures contract for delivery at the higher price expected
in the
future and storing the
oil in the meantime.
The plan is to launch an
oil futures contract on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE), but there are obstacles
in convincing large
oil producers and consumers
in using the yuan and investing
in the Shanghai benchmark.
The roll yield is the profit traders can earn when they roll their investment
in crude
oil futures, which expire every month, into
contracts that expire at a later date.
The Shanghai
oil futures contract is similarly designed to wrest some control over pricing from the main benchmarks
in New York and London — West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent — and to promote the use of the yuan, also known as the renminbi.
Benchmark crude
futures contracts have
in the past week wiped out the gains made since the end of September when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would agree to cut
oil production to shore up persistently low prices.
Oil fund managers are not betting on $ 20 a barrel oil this week because they increased their net - long position by 16,855 contracts to 132,857 futures and options in the week ending Sept. 8, according to the CFTC commitment of traders repo
Oil fund managers are not betting on $ 20 a barrel
oil this week because they increased their net - long position by 16,855 contracts to 132,857 futures and options in the week ending Sept. 8, according to the CFTC commitment of traders repo
oil this week because they increased their net - long position by 16,855
contracts to 132,857
futures and options
in the week ending Sept. 8, according to the CFTC commitment of traders report.
The investment bank argues that the backwardation exhibited
in the Brent
futures market — a situation
in which near term
oil contracts trade at a premium to
futures dated further out — is a clear sign that the market is on its way to rebalancing.
The
contract is an agreement, or promise, for the buyer to purchase
oil at a certain price
in the
future (the spot price) at a certain date
in the
future (the
contract's maturity) from the seller.
So,
in order to hedge against that risk, a supplier of
oil may wish to gain some insulation from the price swings inherent to
oil and sell a
futures contract.
Case
in point: Only about 2 % of
oil futures contracts are actually settled through physical delivery.
Local media have reported that China could launch a crude
oil futures contract priced
in yuan as early as Jan. 18, although analysts and industry executives who spoke to Breakingviews believe a later start is more likely.
If you fall into the former category then
in all candor your best play is probably to sell short crude
oil futures contracts as they offer the most direct play on a bearish scenario for crude
oil.
While the official goal of the new
futures contract is to establish a regional benchmark for more useful pricing of the crude grades prevalent on the Chinese market, analysts see the yuan
oil futures as a step toward China seeking wider acceptance of its currency
in global trade, including the
oil trade, and establishing a petro - yuan that could challenge,
in the
future, the dominance of the petrodollar.
The move comes after the launch of crude
oil futures in March, the first
futures contracts listed on the mainland open to overseas investors.
If you think
oil is on the way up, you can invest by buying stock
in an
oil and gas company, investing
in a limited partnership, or buying the commodity through
futures contracts.
For example, if a large speculator who was very bullish on
oil bid - up the price of the December - 2016
oil contract from $ 64 to $ 70, it would create an opportunity for other traders to lock -
in a profit by purchasing physical
oil and selling the December - 2016
futures with the aim of delivering the
oil into the
contracts late next year.
For another example, if a large speculator who was very bearish on
oil aggressively short - sold the December - 2016
oil contract, driving its price down from $ 64 to $ 60, it would create an opportunity for other traders to lock -
in a profit by selling physical
oil and buying the December - 2016
futures with the aim of eventually replacing what they had sold by exercising the
futures contracts.
While the market benchmark remains West Texas Intermediate crude delivered
in Cushing, Oklahoma, there has been a surge
in trading of
futures contracts tracking the price differences between WTI and
oil sold
in Gulf Coast ports like Houston and the Permian shale fields near Midland, Texas.
Crude
oil futures in the June
contract settled last Friday
in New York at 67.33 a barrel while currently trading at 68.35 up about a $ 1 for the trading week hitting a 3 1/2 year high &
in yesterdays trade prices went up as high as 69.55 before profit - taking ensued.
A possible game changer is the Petro - yuan, the Chinese government's plans to start a crude
oil futures contract priced
in yuan and convertible into gold.
As the yuan progressively reaches full consolidation
in trade settlement, the petro - yuan threat to the US dollar, inscribed
in a complex, long - term process, will disseminate the Holy Grail: crude
oil futures contracts priced
in yuan fully convertible into gold...
The new International Energy Exchange (INE)
in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has admitted more than 150 Chinese
futures companies and is registering foreign firms to trade an
oil -
futures contract denominated
in renminbi, according to a client bulletin from Linklaters
in Hong Kong.
The market is still
in a state of contango,
in which front month
contracts are cheaper than
oil futures further out.
Bets on
oil futures reached 1.47 million
contracts for the week ending on November 15, the largest trading volume
in nearly a decade.
In a circular to customers Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) said that on 19 February it will move trading on 245
futures and options contracts on North American oil and Natural Gas Liquids from London based ICE Futures Europe to ICE Futu
futures and options
contracts on North American
oil and Natural Gas Liquids from London based ICE
Futures Europe to ICE Futu
Futures Europe to ICE
FuturesFutures US.
Investors may be so concerned about higher prices
in the
future that they're willing to pay $ 102 per barrel now for a
contract that promises to deliver
oil one month from today.
If you invest
in a fund that always buys one - month
oil futures contracts, for instance, and that fund has to pay $ 2 more than the spot price for them, the fund will essentially lose $ 2 per barrel each month when they roll their
futures contracts.
Investors who buy ETFs that use commodity
futures contracts are sometimes surprised to see that the ETF does not move
in lockstep with the price of the commodity as seen
in the news,
oil being a good example.
The crude
oil ETF, which invests
in futures contracts, trades near its 10 - year low price of $ 10.48 as of Oct. 18, 2017, after peaking at more than $ 100 on Jan. 1, 2008.
The Shanghai International Energy Exchange is launching a crude -
oil futures contract that's denominated
in Yuan.
As an example, airlines are well known to protect themselves against significant rises
in crude
oil prices, by buying a
futures contract today with a specified price and delivery date
in the
future, on the assumption that
oil prices will be on the rise over the period
in question.
Before rushing to buy a
futures contract or calling your broker about spot prices, consult the following beginner's guide to investing
in oil (including which type of investors are best suited to do it, and how much of your portfolio
oil should comprise).
The investment seeks to replicate, net of expenses, the daily changes
in percentage terms of the spot price of Brent crude
oil as measured by the changes
in the price of the
futures contract on Brent crude oil as traded on the ICE Futures Ex
futures contract on Brent crude
oil as traded on the ICE
Futures Ex
Futures Exchange.
And
in markets as volatile as
oil, entering a
futures contract is often the best bet
in protecting your investment.
The NYMEX West Texas Intermediate Crude
Oil Generic Front Month Futures (Oil Index)(not available in all jurisdictions) is the underlying commodity index of oil futures contrac
Oil Generic Front Month
Futures (Oil Index)(not available in all jurisdictions) is the underlying commodity index of oil futures con
Futures (
Oil Index)(not available in all jurisdictions) is the underlying commodity index of oil futures contrac
Oil Index)(not available
in all jurisdictions) is the underlying commodity index of
oil futures contrac
oil futures con
futures contracts.
The most common
oil ETN is
OIL, which invests
in oil future contracts.
The index reflects the returns that are potentially available through an unleveraged investment
in the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
oil futures contract plus the Treasury Bill rate of interest that could be earned on funds committed to the trading of the underlying
contracts.
For example: 5,000 bushels of corn, 1,000 barrels of crude
oil or Treasury bonds with a face value of $ 100,000 are all
contract sizes as defined
in the
futures contract specification.
All of the PowerShares DB Crude
Oil ETNs are based on a total return version of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index — Oil, which is designed to reflect the performance of certain crude oil futures contracts plus the returns from investing in 3 month United States Treaury Bil
Oil ETNs are based on a total return version of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index —
Oil, which is designed to reflect the performance of certain crude oil futures contracts plus the returns from investing in 3 month United States Treaury Bil
Oil, which is designed to reflect the performance of certain crude
oil futures contracts plus the returns from investing in 3 month United States Treaury Bil
oil futures contracts plus the returns from investing
in 3 month United States Treaury Bills.
Read about a few strategies to limit the risk
in trading
oil futures contracts.
According the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), since March 2012, ICE Brent has been the world's largest crude
oil futures contract with annual volume reaching a record 159 million
contracts in 2013, doubling market share since 2008.
Get
in - depth information about Gasoline RBOB
Futures including Price, Charts, futures contract specifications, news with oil, energy & stock future
Futures including Price, Charts,
futures contract specifications, news with oil, energy & stock future
futures contract specifications, news with
oil, energy & stock
futuresfutures data.
For investors seeking exposure to crude
oil but looking to avoid investing
in futures contracts, the stocks of
oil producing companies may present an interesting opportunity to establish indirect exposure.
The underlying asset
in this case is the crude
oil futures contract for the current front - month.
Futures contracts, traded under the symbol CL, represent 1,000 barrels of
oil for delivery at any pipeline or storage facility
in Cushing, Oklahoma with pipeline access to TEPPCO, Cushing storage or Equilon Pipeline Company LLC Cushing storage.
Trading
in the current delivery month shall cease on the business day immediately preceding to the last day of trading
in the current delivery month of the NYMEX Light Sweet Crude
Oil futures contract.