ARSENAL > Roll yield

Roll yield

Trading
Definition
In commodity and futures markets, the gain or loss from rolling expiring contracts into new ones. Positive when futures curve is in backwardation (front contracts more expensive); negative in contango.

Persistent contango drag killed long-only commodity ETFs (DBC, USO) for decades. Why VIX futures ETFs (VXX) are perennial losers: VIX curve is in contango ~80% of the time, costing ~1% per month on the roll.
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