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A comment on Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract ending. Parent comment

Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by greenshackle2 on Monday April 20, 2020 @01:54PM (#22926459)
> selling the June contract at the same time

They would not be the one holding that particular bag.

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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by tempsy on Monday April 20, 2020 @01:58PM (#22926497)
if only arbitrage was that easy...
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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by agseward on Monday April 20, 2020 @02:12PM (#22926639)
That's literally what futures contracts are for.
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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by greenshackle2 on Monday April 20, 2020 @06:11PM (#22929294)
In a discussion about negative future prices no less. If buyers could refuse physical delivery, that's what they would be doing now, not selling at negative prices.
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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by greenshackle2 on Monday April 20, 2020 @02:22PM (#22926736)
You still have to store the oil for a month. Which is expensive right now. Which is precisely why the May future is so cheap in the first place. I'm just rebutting that you will be stuck with the oil after June. Since they specifically said, they would sell a June contract immediately.
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Re:Oil plunges below zero for first time with May contract e... by option_greek on Monday April 20, 2020 @02:55PM (#22927078)
It just implies that any profit made by arbitraging June contract with May by taking physical delivery doesn't cover the storage costs (which is hard to believe at $22 difference but that's what market seems to indicate).
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