(1) The resulting contango, in which near-term contracts are cheaper than contracts for delivery in the future, made it extraordinarily profitable to buy crude, store it and sell it forward.

(2) Backwardation is the opposite of contango, representing a situation in which the spot price is higher than the price for future delivery.

(3) Contango incentivizes those who can afford to hold oil to hold on to it.

(4) Got it? Contango cost you 12% in January. And it's worse now.

(5) The floating contango or backwardation of the carry is determined by our brokers. Generally, it depends on the number of days.

(6) While a contango, the more common scenario with futures, implies that nearby contracts are cheaper than forward ones, backwardation refers to the opposite scenario, in which nearby prices are higher.

(7) With low rates, there isn't sufficient contango to create higher prices in the out years.

(8) Contango is the normal relationship between the spot price and the futures price and is the opposite of backwardation.

(9) Aluminum's cash-to-three month spread is now back in contango, last quoted at negative $9.75/ton at 1126 GMT. This compares to a slight backwardation of $2.50/ton a week ago.

(10) The contango is likely to flatten as supply cuts by OPEC and other producers take effect, reducing the availability of oil for immediate delivery, Currie said.

(11) European benchmark Brent crude this month switched to contango, meaning prompt crude is cheaper than oil for later delivery, encouraging traders to build stocks further.

(12) "There is probably a bit more 'volatility of volatility' on an intraday basis this season," said Perry Piazza, director of investment strategy at Contango Capital Advisors in San Francisco.

(13) Some take hope from the upward slope of the oil-futures curve, known as contango, interpreting it as indicating higher prices ahead.

(14) In fact, crude began its most recent backwardation in August 2007 at around $75/barrel and increased dramatically over the next nine months to $133/barrel at contango levels.

(15) One of the most striking short-term pulls on oil prices is a futures-market condition called contango.

(16) Trading firms turned major profits in 2009 by storing crude on tankers for later delivery as crude prices further out on the futures curve traded at sharp premiums(/contango.html), known as contango.

(17) Those higher charges ought to be reflected in higher priced forward oil contracts, steepening the contango.

(18) Some blame this device for pushing the market into contango .

(19) Someone else takes care of the details, ETFs give investors exposure in a liquid tradable format without the risk of margin calls or having to worry about things like contango.

(20) "The financial crisis is a downward spiral with two twists," said George Feiger, chief executive of Contango Capital Advisors in Berkeley, California.