Which continuous series gives the most accurate prices for historical study of commodities?
A. In most analytical work, we have engaged Perpetual Contract data as our preferred choice. The constant time to delivery offers stability and makes it possible to jointly analyze several markets under similar rules in the same analytical environment. The industry norm seems to invoke use of the backadjusted series because the current contract is easily identified with current prices. There probably isn’t any best way to view data historically. Opinions seem to be strong about each of the many possible choices.
