intercommodity spread

Intercommodity spread


Intercommodity Spread

A spread in which an investor creates an artificial position on a commodity in a certain state. One has an intercommodity spread when one buys a futures contract for a given delivery month and sells a futures contract for a different delivery month on the same commodity but in a different state. For example, an investor can take a long position in crude oil futures for one month and a short position in refined oil futures for another month. This allows the investor to create an artificial position on the price of refining oil. This particular intercommodity spread is called a crack. See also: Crush spread.

intercommodity spread

An investment position in which an investor purchases one commodity and sells short a related but different commodity. An example of an intercommodity spread would be the purchase of a futures contract in silver and the sale of a contract in gold.