professor antal fekete has more to say about backwardation. if this isn't confusing enough for you, then you aren't really trying. even so, he's worth reading just for his comments on mish shedlock. on top of that, a blogger then responds that gold is in backwardation in some currencies, but not others:

Here is an update on the backwardation in gold that started on December 2 at an annualized discount rate of 1.98% and 0.14% to spot in the December and February contracts. It continued and worsened on December 8, 9, and 10 as shown by the corresponding rates widening to 3.5% and 0.65%. It is nothing short of awesome. This is a premonition of a coming gold fever of unprecedented dimensions that will overwhelm the world as soon as its significance is fully digested by the doubting Thomases. The worsening of backwardation must be viewed in the context of the gold price bouncing back from the lows of last week. It shows that the ‘gold bashing’ on Friday was done in the December contract. It is quite revealing that the spot price bounced back more than the futures price. The bulls are on the warpath. They have unearthed the hatchet. They have stopped eating from the hands of the clearing members.

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/12...

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008...