Severe Oil Backwardation Is Here. It’s Not All Bad for Stocks.

Traders like charts that point up and to the right. They signal optimism and big returns. Right now, the oil futures curve is pointed sharply in the other direction.

It looks like a bearish sign for the market, because it implies that traders expect oil prices to fall. But the shape of the curve is not necessarily a sell sign for oil stocks. In fact, there’s ample reason to believe that producers have major opportunities ahead.

When…