HardAssetsInvestor

CONTANGO WATCH: WTI is in contango through most of the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: Front-month roll costs rose to 5.65 percent annualized from 4.43 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: The Brent forward curve moved into contango for the first time since January. But the last time the Brent curve was consistently in contango was a year ago. Two events—both geopolitical—have served to keep the oil benchmark in backwardation for almost a year:

The first was the complete shutdown of the Libyan oil industry amid a civil war in the country. This was the biggest theme in the oil market during 2011. Then this year, tough sanctions on Iran by the European Union and the United States essentially halved exports from that country.

Both of these supply disruptions significantly tightened the oil market and led to a premium for the immediate delivery of supply—backwardation.

But now, rising supply from Libya (oil production in the country has almost recovered completely), Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States have more than offset the loss of exports from Iran, creating an oversupply in the market.

Thus, the premium on front-month contracts has disappeared. Should prices fall further and oversupply concerns become more acute, contango across the forward curve should widen as the marginal cost of storage increases.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 4.06 percent annualized to roll front-month Brent contracts, up from a net of 0.37 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: The natural gas contango narrowed last week as prices rallied.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 18.71 percent annualized to roll front-month natural gas contracts, down from 24.5 percent the week before.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Gold is in mild contango across most of the forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: Investors net 0.19 percent annualized from rolling front-month gold contracts, down from 0.41 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Flat/Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Silver is in mild contango throughout most of the forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 1.47 percent annualized to roll front-month silver contracts, up from 0.75 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: The platinum forward curve is in contango at the front end of the curve.

ROLL COSTS: Front-month annualized roll costs fell to 1.21 percent from 1.28 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Palladium is in mild contango.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 0.07 percent annualized to roll front-month palladium contracts, down from a net of 0.51 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Copper is in mild contango at the front end of the curve.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 0.16 percent annualized to roll front-month copper contracts, down from 0.52 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: The aluminum forward curve is in steady contango.

ROLL COSTS: Front-month annualized roll costs moved down to 7.96 percent from 8.15 percent the week before.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Zinc is in steady contango throughout the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 1.34 percent annualized to roll front-month zinc contracts, up from zero.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Lead is in contango across the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 3.55 percent annualized to roll front-month lead contracts, up from 1.89 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Nickel is in mild contango throughout the forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: Roll costs for nickel edged down to 1.24 percent from 1.29 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: The tin forward curve is in mild backwardation in the front of the curve and mild contango thereafter.

ROLL COSTS: Investors net 0.06 percent annualized from rolling front-month tin contracts, down from a net of 0.30 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Backwardation to Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Corn’s backwardation at the front end of the curve narrowed significantly as prices rallied.

ROLL COSTS: Investors net 26.93 percent annualized from rolling front-month corn contracts, down from a net of 51.37 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Steep Backwardation

CONTANGO WATCH: Wheat’s contango narrowed slightly last week.

ROLL COSTS: Wheat’s annualized front-month roll costs fell to 14.75 percent from 18.01 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Soybeans is in backwardation across the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: Investors net 21.96 percent annualized from rolling front-month soybeans contracts, up slightly from 20.35 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Steep Backwardation

CONTANGO WATCH: The live cattle curve is in contango across most of the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 1.16 percent annualized to roll front-month live cattle contracts, down from a cost of 2.61 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: The front half of the lean hogs forward curve is in steep backwardation.

ROLL COSTS: Investors net 33.49 percent annualized from rolling front-month lean hogs contracts, up from 21.16 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Steep Backwardation to Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Coffee is in contango throughout the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: Annualized front-month roll costs fell to 4.33 percent from 7.69 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Cocoa is in contango throughout the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 0.57 percent to roll front-month cocoa contracts, down from a cost of 4.18 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Mild Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Sugar is in backwardation at the front end of the curve and contango thereafter.

ROLL COSTS: Investors net 8.04 percent annualized from rolling front-month sugar contracts, down from a net of 17.4 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Backwardation to Contango

CONTANGO WATCH: Cotton is now in contango across most of the one-year forward curve.

ROLL COSTS: It costs investors 7.85 percent annualized to roll front-month cotton contracts, down from a net of 37.15 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Contango