Quote from ScottD:
That can be true on a brief transient basis, but itâs relatively quickly corrected by Arb Programs. Just because cash is higher than futures, does not mean that the outlook is less than rosy. It typically means that the dividends are higher than the cost of carry interest for the remainder of the contract.
The main reason an indexâs cash price can be higher than its futures price for the bulk of a trading day is that the fair value delta can be negative â i.e., a discount instead of a premium.
Futures price = cash price + fair value delta (where the delta can be negative)
Fair value delta = interest - dividends (where dividends can be greater than interest)
The interest is the carry cost for owning all the stocks from now until contract expiration. The appropriate short term rates from the yield curve are used, for example 3-month LIBOR. From the perspective of the futures contract holder, the interest is essentially gained because you donât have to borrow from your bank or broker to own all the securities.
The dividends are those that happen from now until contract expiration. From the perspective of the futures contract holder, the dividends are effectively lost because you own the futures contract instead of the securities.
The input values are adjusted proportionally for the remaining life of the 3-month contract.
Quote from ScottD:
That can be true on a brief transient basis, but itâs relatively quickly corrected by Arb Programs. Just because cash is higher than futures, does not mean that the outlook is less than rosy. It typically means that the dividends are higher than the cost of carry interest for the remainder of the contract.
The main reason an indexâs cash price can be higher than its futures price for the bulk of a trading day is that the fair value delta can be negative â i.e., a discount instead of a premium.
Futures price = cash price + fair value delta (where the delta can be negative)
Fair value delta = interest - dividends (where dividends can be greater than interest)
The interest is the carry cost for owning all the stocks from now until contract expiration. The appropriate short term rates from the yield curve are used, for example 3-month LIBOR. From the perspective of the futures contract holder, the interest is essentially gained because you donât have to borrow from your bank or broker to own all the securities.
The dividends are those that happen from now until contract expiration. From the perspective of the futures contract holder, the dividends are effectively lost because you own the futures contract instead of the securities.
The input values are adjusted proportionally for the remaining life of the 3-month contract.