in front of the curve

English translation: the beginning of the curve

19:43 Mar 8, 2008

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Business/Commerce (general)

English term or phrase: in front of the curve

Can anyone help me understand this term? I have just encountered it for the first time.

Talking about oil prices: '.....so therefore if you drive the price too far below $80 the front of the curve, i.e. the current price, just looks too low.'

Obviously this tells me that the front of the curve refers to the current price, but more generally how is this reference to 'the curve' used? Another expression used in the text is "further down the curve".

Any ideas very welcome!

Emily Justice KudoZ activity Questions: 1375 (10 open) (4 without valid answers) (27 closed without grading) Answers: 62 United Kingdom
Local time: 20:43

Selected answer:the beginning of the curve

Explanation:
If you start the graph with a low price the curve will also be low, then it may go up or down, it goes up if prices rise and down if prices fall, further down the curve is used to describe the last part of a falling curve. For example, you are now at $85, further down(if it goes down) it falls (prices fall) to $ 70.

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Note added at 54 mins (2008-03-08 20:38:06 GMT)
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and back of the curve is generally the end.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-03-08 23:25:32 GMT)
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Yes, what Gary says is that in Emily's text there's a comma missing after $80, and that would make it clearer.

Selected response from:

Beatriz Galiano (X)
Argentina
Local time: 16:43

Grading comment

Thanks to all answerers. I'm still not 100% sure, but I found this answer particularly helpful.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +1

the beginning of the curve

Beatriz Galiano (X)

3 +1

for info

Ken Cox

the trend

Mark Nathan

the flat or rounded part of the curve

Nelida Kreer

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

1 hr confidence:

the trend

Explanation:
More generally, this is I have seen this expression used. The direction of a curve on a graph (i.e. the most recent values) indicates a trend.

Mark Nathan
France
Local time: 21:43
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 27

1 hr confidence:

the flat or rounded part of the curve

Explanation:
Your sentence says it: if you drive the price too far below the round part of the curve, representing the current price, this front or rounded part of the curve will look too low. Picture the curve in your mind as if it were a child's drawing of a mountain [not ending in a peak, but rounded]. If your price goes too far below the rounded part [forget about the sides] then the curve will look sort of flat with respect to the level ground.
This is how I interpret it, don't know if I made any sense or succeeded in explaining myself.

Nelida Kreer
Local time: 15:43
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

the front of the curve for info

Explanation:
This expression refers to the 'yield curve', which is a term and concept used in the investment world. I don't know that area well enough to provide a concise & accurage explanation, but you might learn more from the references listed below.

Incidientally, there is a significant difference between 'the front of the curve' and 'in front of the curve'.

Yield curve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In finance, the yield curve is the relation between the interest rate (or cost of borrowing) and the time to maturity of the debt for a given borrower in a ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_curve

SEC Info - Ing Investment Funds Inc, et al. - N-30D - For 5/31/01
The current price should be in the lower half of the stock's ...... due in large part to our style of taking credit risk in the front of the curve. ...
www.secinfo.com/dsVSc.4F9y2.htm

Financial Engineering Principles: A Unified Theory for Financial ...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
from the front of the yield curve to the back and provide ideas for how a ...... that its value is above its current price, or we can buy the asset if we ...
https://emwesphone.sslpowered.com/emwes.com/data/ebook/Finan...

BC Research Note
combination of LDI flows and repricing of the front of the curve drive an ...... South Africa’s yield curve is very inverted and on a historical comparison ...
www.rybinski.eu/resources/non-modules.d/dispatcher/dispatch...

Ken Cox
Local time: 21:43
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 23

41 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

the beginning of the curve

Beatriz Galiano (X)
Argentina
Local time: 16:43
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 3

Grading comment

Thanks to all answerers. I'm still not 100% sure, but I found this answer particularly helpful.

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