A note on Positivity of the CM line bundle

We show that positivity of the CM line associated to a family of polarised varieties is intimately related to the stability of its members. We prove that the CM line is nef on any curve which meets the stable locus, and that it is pseudoeffective (i.e. in the closure of the effective cone) as long as there is at least one stable fibre. We give examples showing that the CM line can be strictly negative or strictly positive on curves in the unstable locus.