Basis

In plain English

Informative about positioning, silent about timing. A persistently wide basis indicates crowding, not a turning point.

Example

A contract trading above spot often reflects crowded long positioning.

See also

• Funding rate
• Futures contract

Used in these lessons

• What Futures Contracts Are
• Funding and Carrying Costs
• Perpetuals versus Dated Futures
• Hedging Basics with Futures
• Strategy Types: A Neutral Overview