Cash-And-Carry Trade

You buy a security (like a stock, a bond, a commodity, etc...whatever your flavor) at a specific price, and simultaneously sell it for the listed future price (futures contract). Then you have someone hang onto it (or “carry” it) until a future date, when it must be delivered to cover your sale. That someone, of course, charges you a nominal fee to carry and deliver your inventory, but in the end (and if the gods have smiled upon you), you have made some dinero.

If you could buy a new house at a deep discount, and simultaneously sell it for a profit (minus any upkeep costs, of course), but not have to move out until a future date, would you do it? If it took you more than two seconds to answer that question, you're thinking too hard.