Quote from Kicking:
I guess this is a newbie question, why is the 30 year Bond cash trading at 103 and the futures contract for December delivery is at 109? That's a 6 percent of par value difference, why such a large differential?
I guess the premium of the futures contracts over cash in bonds can be due to several factors. One factor is just like options one can control a much larger capital "in dollar value" using smaller capital risk..
The premium is the key factor in "basis trading", if you think the premium is too high then you can "sell the basis" or if you think the premium is too low then you can "buy the basis"....